Airports you do not like

[imacdog]

I've seen the numbers; who's assuming?

 

[t-bone]

I've seen the numbers; who's assuming?

And back on topic before we stray...

TEX is easy, because I almost always end up in MTJ.

How about best approaches: harbor visual into PWM on a nice day!

 

[rettofly]

FO' REAL? This indeed will suck. It is dangerous enough as is.

Having the tower open didn't help me on one occasion some years ago. I had to push my inbound Ultra pretty close to the East slope to avoid an outbound King Air that apparently didn't want to get close to the West slope. He didn't deviate from his flat climbout or heading at all.

 

[BushwickBill]

Having the tower open didn't help me on one occasion some years ago. I had to push my inbound Ultra pretty close to the East slope to avoid an outbound King Air that apparently didn't want to get close to the West slope. He didn't deviate from his flat climbout or heading at all.

The box canyon arrival departure procedure would need to be clarified. Cleared on course, terrain in sight with another arrival on 3 mile final without a tower?

In a way it leads me to believe that the tower will not be closed at all. This situation is extreme and it involves very powerful figures. It will be interesting to see what happens with tower funding at SUN.

All one can hope for is to not be directly involved while it is all hashed out.

 

[OPECJet]

How about best approaches: harbor visual into PWM on a nice day!

My favorite approaches involve local landmarks the controllers automatically think you can identify. To be fair, many are national landmarks nearly everyone knows, but I had a controller at DAL ask me to aim at "the mixmaster" and turn final. If the captain I was flying with wasn't from Dallas I'm pretty sure we'd have had no idea what he was talking about.

NYC is the same way, but I think most people know what the State of Liberty is and can find the Hudson using it.

 

[t-bone]

I'd have no idea what the mix master was either, but perhaps that was the controllers way of suggesting his favorite nuddy bar! ;-)

 

[hammer2]

I'd have no idea what the mix master was either, but perhaps that was the controllers way of suggesting his favorite nuddy bar! ;-)

Sounds like an 1980s rapper.

 

[rettofly]

My favorite approaches involve local landmarks the controllers automatically think you can identify. To be fair, many are national landmarks nearly everyone knows, but I had a controller at DAL ask me to aim at "the mixmaster" and turn final. If the captain I was flying with wasn't from Dallas I'm pretty sure we'd have had no idea what he was talking about.

NYC is the same way, but I think most people know what the State of Liberty is and can find the Hudson using it.

In the good old days, NY Approach would sometimes allow me to go down the North River (aka Hudson River) in my trusty Dornier and make a right turn at the Lady for a short final to RW 29 at EWR if conditions were right.

Then came the looong taxi to the E Terminal.

 

[OPECJet]

In the good old days, NY Approach would sometimes allow me to go down the North River (aka Hudson River) in my trusty Dornier and make a right turn at the Lady for a short final to RW 29 at EWR if conditions were right.

Then came the looong taxi to the E Terminal.

Similar to us going into LGA. Aim at the statue, follow the Hudson.

 

[DO-82 driver]

In the good old days, NY Approach would sometimes allow me to go down the North River (aka Hudson River) in my trusty Dornier and make a right turn at the Lady for a short final to RW 29 at EWR if conditions were right.

Then came the looong taxi to the E Terminal.

The fun part was departing EWR in the mighty 228 bound for BOS and taking the East River over the LGA tower cab, hit the Whitestone Bridge then up to BOS to park at North Cargo so we could grab a slice of pizza at Sabrarro in Terminal E.

The purple "P" was a good company. I loved the people I worked with but hated the people I worked for.

 

[rettofly]

The fun part was departing EWR in the mighty 228 bound for BOS and taking the East River over the LGA tower cab, hit the Whitestone Bridge then up to BOS to park at North Cargo so we could grab a slice of pizza at Sabrarro in Terminal E.

The purple "P" was a good company. I loved the people I worked with but hated the people I worked for.

Those were the days.

Wonder what Walt and Suki are up to.

 

[pc12_driver]

All you guys crying about KSUN without a tower......waaaaaaa. It's like you've never operated In and out of a non-towered airport. How much longer do you really think its going to take? 5...... 10 mins at the most? If that is the number that breaks your company..... Maybe it's time to find somewhere else to work. And from my experience in KSUN, it's not the "corporate cowboys" who are the problem. Maybe all the non radio taildraggers who think they own the airport are gonna have to learn the AIM and learn to share airspace!!!!!

 

[727gm]

Dusseldorf sucks:

The gate etc. people are airport employees, and don't believe in flight crew bag exemptions. Got my bag back at home thru fedex a week later, smashed frame(PurdyNeatStuff/LW)

Buenos Aires sucks:

Loaders/ground support are airport/government employees...Lazy as hell except in conniving to delay loading cargo until Euro widebody pax flights have left (to avoid having to work them), to the point of pushing cargo OFF the K-Loader to smash on ramp.

 

[gutshotdraw]

All you guys crying about KSUN without a tower......waaaaaaa. It's like you've never operated In and out of a non-towered airport. How much longer do you really think its going to take? 5...... 10 mins at the most? If that is the number that breaks your company..... Maybe it's time to find somewhere else to work. And from my experience in KSUN, it's not the "corporate cowboys" who are the problem. Maybe all the non radio taildraggers who think they own the airport are gonna have to learn the AIM and learn to share airspace!!!!!

I agree there are a number of airports on the list where not having a staffed tower won't be a big deal. I mean, I was in Waukegan over New Year's and the place was practically a ghost town.

But Sun Valley is completely different because it's one way in and one way out. Pilots coordinating head-on departures and arrivals on a common frequency with other pilots will be next to impossible.

It's true there will be delays in IFR releases but safety is the more pressing issue here. Because of its unique topography, heavy traffic, and runway alignment, an untowered Sun Valley is a recipe for a mid-air.

 

[OurMoney1]

Bogota..

Night, Hot, Humid, Heavy....

Fly it by the numbers and dont be a hero.

 

[gunfyter]

Bogota..

Night, Hot, Humid, Heavy....

Fly it by the numbers and dont be a hero.

But the good thing is its high too. So you are closer to your cruise altitude.

 

[t-bone]

All you guys crying about KSUN without a tower......waaaaaaa. It's like you've never operated In and out of a non-towered airport. How much longer do you really think its going to take? 5...... 10 mins at the most? If that is the number that breaks your company..... Maybe it's time to find somewhere else to work. And from my experience in KSUN, it's not the "corporate cowboys" who are the problem. Maybe all the non radio taildraggers who think they own the airport are gonna have to learn the AIM and learn to share airspace!!!!!

Who said anything about the extra money or time this will cost us? That isn't my concern at all, and will happily explain the reason for delay to our passengers so they can pass on their discontent to their Congressmen friends next time they see each other at the country club.

However, comparing a non-towered KSUN to any other non-towered airport makes me wonder how many times you've actually flown into SUN? One way in, one way out, landing/departing with a tailwind, narrow canyon, VFR traffic doing their own thing, no radar coverage? This is not your typical uncontrolled airport.

Amazingly, we managed to coordinate our departure out of AVQ a couple weeks ago, 1 of 15+ departures and a few arrivals within an hours time, with all the jets having to cross the departure runway downfield in order to taxi to the departure end. It was a perfect example of how professional pilots were all able to coordinate their movements on CTAF. SUN will not be near as easy/safe during their big events. BCT and APF will be interesting as well due to the VFR traffic, fortunately the migratory pattern of the winged-rich starts moving north towards ACK and MVY this weekend!

Stay safe out there.

 

[OPECJet]

However, comparing a non-towered KSUN to any other non-towered airport makes me wonder how many times you've actually flown into SUN? One way in, one way out, landing/departing with a tailwind, narrow canyon, VFR traffic doing their own thing, no radar coverage? This is not your typical uncontrolled airport.

That. Sort of like comparing a simple engine failure to an engine fire that's still burning after you shoot both bottles into it. One is no big deal. The other is a very big deal.

 

[Pervis]

Aren't the only airports affected by the sequester federally operated towers? Doesn't that mean privately controlled towers will not be affected in the least? Honest question-I don't know. That said, how many of these civilian airports with more private jet traffic than airline will even be an issue? Is SUN, ASE, TEL, etc private or federal?

 

[t-bone]

Aren't the only airports affected by the sequester federally operated towers? Doesn't that mean privately controlled towers will not be affected in the least? Honest question-I don't know. That said, how many of these civilian airports with more private jet traffic than airline will even be an issue? Is SUN, ASE, TEL, etc private or federal?

I understand it to be the opposite...because the federally operated towers are not as easy to close on short notice, it's the contract towers that are all affected by the sequester, even though these towers are significantly cheaper to operate.