Hardest Airport to Taxi At?

[Clutch_Cargo]

You can visit O'Hare with a 152? I was told nothing single-engine was allowed there except turboprops... (Not that I *WANT* to or anything...)

Nahhh, you can do it... but I'm guessing not many do. My first trip to ORD was in a Cessna 340... not a single but I was still peddlin' fast to stay in line that day! Matter of fact, my first time at JFK was in also in that 340... guess it was pretty good to me!

cc

 

[minitour]

You can visit O'Hare with a 152? I was told nothing single-engine was allowed there except turboprops... (Not that I *WANT* to or anything...)

can't see why not...I know of people (personally) that have taken 172s into DFW with no problems, so I don't buy into the stories about people getting in trouble for going into DFW/ORD/etc.

Unless you have a purpose would I recommend it? Nope. But if you need to get in there, I wouldn't avoid it either.

-mini

 

[Kream926]

this is prob for another forum, but why the hassel of landing dfw when theres tons of other a/p to go to within a 30 mile radius.......to each his own. i wouldnt do it. i plugged in my headset on a united flight and heard what goes on there and at ord

(no not my aviation headset, the ones stuffed in the seatback)

 

[BoilerUP]

I knew people who flew an Archer into O'Hare. VFR! Just don't stop, keep your speed up (no flaps until crossing the numbers), and you'd best have another competent pilot with you to operate radios while you drive the thing. And both pilots better have taxi diagrams. If I recall correctly, 22R puts you pretty close to the FBO. Hope you like a hefty 'security fee' if you go into the building, though.

The taxi clearance I got at O'Hare from Signature to 32L was the most convoluted thing I had ever heard. And I think I was lucky enough to 1. understand it, and 2. read it back correctly.

For some reason, IAD always messed me up. From Piedmont Hawthorne, we almost always got 19L for departure for some reason, instead of 30. Its a straightforward taxi, but I struggled a bit with the procedures the first time or two. Dulles is the only place I've ever heard, though, that apologized for the departure delays when the hurricane was passing through (the one that spawned the onfield tornado, we got out of there an hour before that).

 

[SkyBoy1981]

KPWK.....after landing there you have to be careful that you're turning onto a taxiway and not a runway. The narrow runways there are about the same width as a taxiway. We used to park at North American FBO which, after landing on 16 or when departing from 34, can be quite a challenging taxi.

 

[minitour]

this is prob for another forum, but why the hassel of landing dfw when theres tons of other a/p to go to within a 30 mile radius.......to each his own. i wouldnt do it. i plugged in my headset on a united flight and heard what goes on there and at ord

(no not my aviation headset, the ones stuffed in the seatback)

I can understand what you're saying, and I agree. If you're going to an airport like that...have a reason. Maybe that airport is the closest to where you're going...so be it.

To pop in there "just to go" can't necessarily be the smartest thing to do, but...if that's your deal.

Just don't shy away from the ORDs and DFWs because they're busy...if you need to get in there, do it.

-mini

 

[SkyBoy1981]

For some reason, IAD always messed me up. From Piedmont Hawthorne, we almost always got 19L for departure for some reason, instead of 30. Its a straightforward taxi, but I struggled a bit with the procedures the first time or two. Dulles is the only place I've ever heard, though, that apologized for the departure delays when the hurricane was passing through (the one that spawned the onfield tornado, we got out of there an hour before that).

Yup, been there, done that. Gotta talk to west ground, then ramp control to get through the alley area, then east ground. Its quite an adventure.

 

[EagleRJ]

Airports like ORD and DFW don't ban small planes, but they do everything they can to discourage them. DFW's GA facilities are minimal, with not much ramp space and just a small office, and the landing fee is around $50. ORD charges over $100 as a minimum, even for a 152. Plus, there's the issue of getting cleared into the airspace promptly.
I don't think they can legally ban certain aircraft types for other than safety reasons, but they can let you know that both you and ATC would be much happier if you went to one of the numerous GA reliever airports.

One of the aviation rags ran a story a few years ago about a guy in a C-152 that was returning home late at night. It sounded quiet, so he figured what the hell- he requested inbound to Atlanta Hartsfield for closed traffic! There wasn't much going on, so they accomodated him! Make left closed traffic- report base. Probably gave him something to talk about for years!

 

[minitour]

One of the aviation rags ran a story a few years ago about a guy in a C-152 that was returning home late at night. It sounded quiet, so he figured what the hell- he requested inbound to Atlanta Hartsfield for closed traffic! There wasn't much going on, so they accomodated him! Make left closed traffic- report base. Probably gave him something to talk about for years!

That's pretty sweet right there.

-mini

 

[Kream926]

That's pretty sweet right there.

-mini

why so sweet mind me asking?

 

[SkyBoy1981]

I had a friend do the same thing at ATL. It gives the guys working graveyard shift in the tower something to do, they don't mind.

 

[minitour]

why so sweet mind me asking?

Because it's not something you hear about every day...and with all of the "oh you can't go ___" people out there, it's nice to hear about people going to ___ just to hang out in the pattern for a bit...not that I got wood from it, but it's pretty sweet.

IMO

-mini

 

[ifleyelearz]

My taxi nemesis...BWI. Not so bad after landing because you can use the short rwy. If you have any type of fuel load leaving there, you have to take the round about way to the long rwy. Not fun...

 

[WMUSIGPI]

DTW when arriving from the west when it's busy. You get 22R when needing to park by 21R. Then you are heavy and need to keep your speed up so you end up using most of the runway on landing and get the grand F'n tour of southeast Michigan to get to the GM ramp. The captain says so what you get to log all 30 minutes worth of taxi. Then I remind him we are on salary and we haven't had a chance to eat all day (going on 12 hours) and still have to reposition home.
Guess it coulda been worse.... we coulda been dropping off at $ignature.

 

[Iceman21]

You can get into ORD if you call ahead of time and you are prepped to fly outside of a SOP for a single piston. They will give you a window of when they will take you. Early morning or late evening will get you the least resistance but if you call for a slot during the day be prepared to going down final with the throttle firewalled over the numbers because you have a 757 behind you.

I've seen it done before and it looked like a lot of fun.

There was a late night 172 dropping parts over to South cargo one night, he happened to get out before an Air France 747. They both departed 9R. The 172 left first and the controller issued the following clearance to the Air France freighter: "Air France XXXX, caution prop-wash, turn left heading 020, runway niner right, cleared for takeoff."

There was a momentary pause as the captain and FO looked at eachother and the reply was: "uhhh.... Roger, left turn heading 020 cleared for takeoff niner right, Air France XXXX."

 

[EatSleepFly]

BWI is a pain at night, but luckily I flew in there late doing the freight thing and controllers always left a trail of bread crumbs out for us to the Signature ramp.

Yeah, BWI was a royal pain the first time I flew freight in there. My paperwork said "Signature," so I went to the FBO. Little did I know, that "Signature" for freight dogs, is some completely unmarked, incognito trailer over on the west side of the airport. Grrr....

I think large airports when it's busy are the easiest to taxi around, esp. if you listen to what's going on before you pick up your taxi clearance. There's usually a pretty definite flow to things thats not too hard to figure out. I have more trouble with smaller airports with confusing taxiways/markings in the middle of the night that I've never been to before.

 

[wrigley23]

LGA is hands down the worst.

Not only confusing, the taxi ways are real narrow. Plus it is real hard to get a word in edgewise to ground. Don't screw up or confront the controller because it maybe several days before you leave.

I loved the challenge.

LGA is easy man! Bravo or Alpha. Depends on the runway in use. Probably the best controllers in the industry on tower and approach. "Traffic on 1 1/2 mile final you are cleared for take off". Not really a confusing taxi but once they get congested, we'll all screwed! LaGuardia actually runs very well at capacity, but throw in bad weather or rush hour, might as well cancel. I've seen planes rotating off 31 as landing traffic is over the lights on 22. Works well until someone screws up.

I will say this, I've gone missed at ATL, CVG, JFK, ORD, and BOS because of separation, but never at LGA.

 

[Alchemy]

KIAH...at night when you haven't been there in a while and you land on a runway as far from the FBO as possible...just a sea of lights and ambiguously marked intersections that seem to split eight diagonal ways. We got lost even after briefing where we were going and with the diagram in front of us...

Taxi to trajen via november charlie, november echo, left on sierra delta, right on whiskey charlie, hold short of november foxtrot, give way to the continental 737 with winglets and a smudge mark on the left windshield, then taxi via whiskey november and whiskey bravo to parking.

I hear ya man. IAH still confuses me sometimes, and I'm based there. Nothing sadder than the daily GA bird who gets lost on the west side of IAH.

 

[PastFastMover]

Any busy airport that you rarely or never go to. Alot of airports that you go to regularly but make it at night with major fog or heavy rain. For some reason DTW when it is dark and foggy always makes me get very alert.