Hpn Tower

[starvingcfi]

so much ranting to do...but i'll try to condense a little.

how can white plains controllers suck so bad? really. they're all standing in the same little area. how can ground have no idea what tower is doing and vice versa? i understand that it's probably a stressful and difficult job...but c'mon. teterboro does a great job (usually).

also, how can they possibly be "training" new people on thanksgiving weekend. it's busy. makes no sense to me.

i accept a 29@hotel departure when i'm empty. picture this. 34 is backed up on both sides. 29@hotel is backed up to the point of blocking kilo. they land someone on 34. they could immediately send someone out on 29 while someone is positioning on 34. i can be around the corner and gone in seconds in the 402. so why not send them out? they're idiots. i'm constantly asking "what's the holdup on 29?" i've seen times they've held singles from departing 29 because of a 172 on a 2 mile final to 34. meanwhile, they could get at least 2 planes out. it wouldn't even be close. a non-issue. incredible.

not sure if this makes any sense. i had a couple drinks with the boss earlier. just ranting. ok. gonna go watch some tv. just looking for some feedback. thanks.

 

[bart]

Does old Bruce have some insight on this one? He is our resident expert on HPN and the AOPA/ALPA merger and chairman of the GA Strike Committee.

 

[Dash8]

Annnnnnd...... it took only one post for a Bruce comment in an HPN thread!

ROFL
surprised it wasn't him as the first reply FlyChi lol

 

[I.P. Freley]

Have you considered that maybe they aren't allowed to just launch anybody at any time... That they've got some restrictions placed on them due to their proximity to NYC? Their arrival and departure routes, depending, do conflict with some corridors for LGA, especially.

I dunno, I haven't experienced any such problems, at least once we get beyond the cluster that is often experienced in the fight for gate space. That is definitely not the controllers' fault, it's the fault of the restrictions placed upon the airport by the locals. As a native of the area, trust me, the fight over the allowable size of that airport was a hot topic for twenty years leading up to its' (re)construction in the first half of the 90's.

 

[mike1mc]

HPN is a training tower for new controllers, butthey usually do a good job of keeping things rolling. When they have a student in the tower things get a little crazy. You can sometimes hear the senior controllers giving the students instructions as theybarking orders at you. The senior controllers will also break in occasionally, but only after the student has REALLY screwed things up. That's about all the insight I can provide.

 

[88_MALIBU]

You said in was light aircraft, so wake turb probably wouldnt be the issue, I am gonna go with others that a trainee fresh out of the academy is being trained in at that facility. Its harder than it looks, strip marking, boss yelling at you, traffic inbound calling, and then you on the end of the runway

 

[Vector4fun]

I don't know a thing about HPN, but regarding the comment about training on Thanksgiving, we TRY to train when traffic is busiest, except with very new employees. OJT is the only way to get realistic training, and the more traffic, the more learning opportunities. You also learn who's going to go down "fighting" as it were, and who's gonna fold. Better to find out in training, than when the chips are down and there's no one to back them up. Sounds harsh, I know, but it's the way we do it. It's also the only way to prove and document that somebody is not suited for the job. How do you fire/transfer somebody when all the training reports say "No problems noted, light traffic."?????

Thanks for everyone's patience while we train.......

 

[Dash8]

just because they serve you, doesn't mean they like you

 

[starvingcfi]

i just think hpn is one of the worst towers i've seen. they are incredibly inefficient. it amazes me that they can do such a bad job. even the controllers i've been hearing all year seem to do a bad job.

i'm not trying to be a d*ck. just saying. there are a lot of towers out there that do a much better job. being so close to nyc and in such a congested area, you'd think they'd have/be better controllers. i couldn't do it. i understand it's a neverending battle. but teterboro controllers seem to hold their own.

flame away ladies and gents.

 

[PC12Driver]

I have had a number of bad experiences at HPN but I must admit that the day before Thanksgiving (wed 11/26) I was at HPN and the worst delay I saw was 40 minutes for an IFR departure to SAV. Not too bad considering.

 

[Diesel]

i fly out of hpn eveyday.

Remember the montone lady at hpn. They just moved to aproach control on long island. Basically she's the eye on the world and she sucks. I had her vector me over lga before i reminded her i was landing hpn.

 

[Diesel]

hey pc12driver we saw you in sav. We knew the 12 next to us was from hpn and mht. Give me a shout.

 

[FlynSuperD]

I remember on my 2nd day of IOE going into HPN getting a TCAS RA at 1000' because tower decided to put a helicopter under us and forgetting to mention it to us. There is just was too much traffic and too much of a mix of traffic in a small area.




-Any day I don't see HPN on a trip sheet is a good day.

 

[mike1mc]

I guess I'm just a little bias since HPN is where I learned to fly. All the traffic is just second nature now (not sure if that's good or not)

 

[LearLove]

Been in and out of there for many years and can't remember a time when I didn't leave their airspace without the word a$$hole running thru my head. I hate that place and not because of the traffic. I don't think I've ever flown with someone who didn't feel the same. Everyone from security to departure control need a attitude adjustment at HPN. They are second only to the guys up in ROC who sometimes match or exceed the a$$hole likeness of the HPN people.

BTW - the worst FBO people of all time isn't far from HPN. Just down the road in New Jersey sits an FOB at TTN called RONSON. Ronson has by far the worst FBO employees I've ever seen (except for a few upstairs in the flt. dept. which is no longer).

From that thin old man who hobbles around the ramp to that old bitch behind the counter (I fvckin hate her the worst of all) that place makes me cringe. Even though its been 5+ years since I've been based there I still meet pilots today that hate the place.

 

[starvingcfi]

finally someone who feels my pain. they're all idiots.

 

[sf3boy]

Trying to fly a visual approach into HPN in a jet is much like flying into SCE or STC on a nice clear fall weekend....dangerous. I have never heard such dire radio calls from GA aircraft and the tower until I went there. What a cluster. And the people on the ground once outside the airplane and airport are ever soooo friendly.

 

[abev107]

Im am a year after I discontinued my training at HPN (everywhere actually) and this is a very interesting thread. Not that I ever had any real problems with the Tower, unless I caused it.

A few 'incidents' stick in my head tho: 2mi final in a 172 to rwy 34. I am cleared to land, then the citation behind me on final cleared. By the time I cross the threshold, we get a go around cuz the Citation is apparently about to land. Was fun for lesson #2.

Another time I am doin t&g on 29 when a jet on final for 34 calls in and says "I dont think the 172 is gonna cross before we land". Tower basically says "you got plenty of space". At this point I started to ask myself questions about my saftey.

My favorite one was the day or two after Christmas last year. i guess everyone wanted to fly somewhere. So after 50 mins of taxiing (waiting in line) we were off! Was a costly lesson that day. I felt guilty for flying that day - Me holding up Jets burning god knows how much fuel on the ground.