Airport comments for the World
Comments 15,314 to 15,363 of 15,868
Lodgings
Parking at the Sheltair got me a big hotel discount.
re: A better, but less interesting place
XingR: Kai Tak is in the system now:
Closed in 1998
This airport closed in 1998 and was replaced by the new Hong Kong Intl (HKG). Because it was close to skyscrapers and hills, pilots had to do an irregular approach to runway 13, turning just before a hill covered in a checkered pattern, hence the name "checkerboard approach". Here's a video of a 747 following the approach, taken from the checkered hillside:
Druxy's on site
There is a Druxy's (deli chain) in the FBO. The food isn't too bad, standard deli stuff like smoked meat sandwiches, bagels, and salads. Not gourmet, but it's better than Subway, and it's easy if you're stopping at Buttonville.
Smile, you're on candid camera!
This is your best chance to end up on airliners.net! Just remember that everyone at the Sunset Beach Bar is listening to your transmissions so put on your best "pilot voice" and don't mess up those radio calls!
plane crash
a very dangerous place for joyflights never go there
Not open to public
This airport is in an ideal location, right in the middle of metro Toronto near the end of a subway line, but unfortunately it's not normally open to the public. It's a former military field, long used by Bombardier for flight testing. The closest public airports are Buttonville (YKZ) to the northeast, City Centre (YTZ) to the south (right by downtown), and the very busy and expensive Pearson (YYZ) to the west. Oshawa (YOO) and Brampton (CNC3) can also be useful for the extreme ends of Toronto.
Fees and fuel costs
On Saturday 4 August 2007, at Flite Line Services:
Landing fee (airport): CA $7.00 + tax
Parking: CA $8.14/night + tax
100LL: CA $1.47/litre + tax
Tax is 7% GST. Flite Line collects the landing fee on behalf of the airport, so you have to pay it no matter where you park. Flite Line has a ramp fee that it waives when you take fuel, but you still have to pay the first night's parking.
Best airport for Blue Jays baseball
This airport is a short walk from Skydome (now the Rogers Centre), where the Toronto Blue Jays play -- you could probably watch a bit of a game from your plane on short final when the roof's open (check out the satellite picture).
re: Car rental
Don't worry about the car rental hours (see my previous comment). National was happy to leave the keys and contract for me at the Flite Line FBO, so my arrival time didn't matter. Flite Line itself rents Hertz, but they'll handle keys for the other companies as well.
Busy
This is a busy GA airport. Arriving on Saturday morning on a nice VFR day, tower sent me several miles on a downwind -- all the way over the city -- and then turned me number 4 for landing. Be ready to get off the runway quickly so that you don't hold up other traffic. My past two visits were during the week, when it wasn't quite so busy.
Car rental
Hertz rents out of Buttonville, and the rates are reasonable (make sure you use your COPA or AOPA discount if you have one). After hours is no problem -- I called earlier then arrived Sunday night long after the desk was closed, and my contract and keys were waiting for me at the FBO with no fuss. Renting a car is the only realistic way into Toronto from Buttonville, but it's easy since the airport is right beside the 404, which turns into the Don Valley Parkway and leads straight into downtown Toronto. Outside of rush hour, you can expect to be downtown in about 25 minutes. I still prefer City Centre (YTZ) for downtown, since it's in walking distance, but Buttonville is better for the 905 area code or anywhere else you might need to drive.
Don't plan on landing here!!!
Georger Farms Airport no longer exists. It was a private grass airfield that was removed in 2001.
Randy Georger
Effectively a 1-way strip
100 mile house's runway has a favourable gradient for landing eastbound and taking off westbound. This combined with a big hill to the east makes it effectively a 1-way strip. Watch out for your density altitude as the hot summer days can reach > 30 degrees C regularly. If your runway length is tight, you can begin your takeoff roll on the ramp as only a very slight turn is required from there to line up with the runway. The airport itself is quite scenic, and it's close to the town - either a medium-length walk or a very short cab ride.
Nice little airport
Beloeil is a fly-in community where people live in the second story of hangars, and park their planes and cars on the ground floor. It's very easy to spot from the air as all the hangars have red roofs. There's not much in the way of publicly available tie downs, but there is room to park, and theres a TON of GA aircraft that are permanently based here to avoid the CYHU landing fee.
Nice little airport
Nice little strip. There's a fairly large grass parking area just north of the field that's coned off. It's close to the road, but I didn't see any tie-downs. There's also private hangars off the west end of the runway. The runway is in decent shape, but there's often lots of gulls sitting (and crapping!) on it.
Normally closed
This airport is PPR, and as a military aerodrome is normally closed to civilian traffic. The Air Cadets do sometimes run glider ops out of here though.
Airport info
I'd recommend calling ahead to COPA flight 53 which is based here for the latest update on conditions. When I was there the Air Cadets were running glider ops off of runway 17/35, which is still in very good shape. The other two runways have deteriorated significantly with lots of cracks and grass, and small loose rocks scattered over the surface. Most of the ramp is much worse, with many areas that have loose nails, broken glass and gravel lying around. The flying club is located at the N-W corner of the field, tie downs are available there, and the ramp is cleaner there too. Also remember that the closest fuel is at Tyendinaga, or Kingston if you want it for cheaper. Picton is an extremely scenic airport though, and thoroughly underused so you'll have no problems parking or anything.
Wigram
Actually, just remembered that I made a number of dual flights from Wigram in an RNZAF Airtrainer way back in 1982, but they were all dual, so don't really count.
Taupo
First time here was in Oct 05 in CNY with BSC. Can't remember who landed - might have been me?
Wanganui
Did some touch and gos here in a CT-4E dual flight in 2004
Ohakea
First time here was when going for a dual flight in a CT-4E in 2004
Wigram
First landing here late 2006 - precautionary landing after experiencing a total electrical failure.
Hokitika
First visit in ZK-CUY on a pre-PPL cross country from Christchurch
Glentanner
Winter 05 in an Archer
Oamaru
Touch and go in ZK-RBn 31 Dec 05
Timaru NZTU
I first landed here in ZK-RBN on 31 Dec 05.
Challenging Approach/Landing
This was the first time landing at an aiport with a "shorter" runway (~2500'). The worst landing I've ever done (almost a 90 degree crosswind). Obsticals on both end of the runways (trees) so be careful on those hot/humid days.
Approach for 27 flies right over my friends cottage.
This is in Syria not Turkey
Syrian land not Turkey. The Stolen Sanjak
Landing Fee
It is a small world - I stopped in Rockliffe today for a burger and started talking to someone. It turned out that Roland is the President & CFI of Eagle Flight Centre in Sudbury. He told me that what I was charged in Sudbury was the terminal parking fee, but there is no landing fee. He said that if we visit, we should park at his Flight Centre, he does not charge a parking fee. He welcomes visitors, his 100LL is cheaper than the main FBO and he will sell fuel to transients.
Finally, if you know of any flight instructors looking for work, he needs instructors at his schools in Sudbury and Timmons for both wheels and floats.
Medugorje Mostar Airport
Mostar airport is the closest destination to Medugorje. I was travelling from Ireland to Mostar (via Zagreb). It takes me only 30 minutes from Mostar Airport to Medugorje.
I was travel via Split before, but it takes me more than 3.5 hours. Mostar Airport is much more better solution.
Radio Comms
This is a message to the instructors at Cooking Lake: Teach your students how to use the radio properly! Quit yammering on the ATF all damn day. Other people use that frequency, you know!
Nice grass
Seasonal Air Cadet Glider Ops here. Nice place and great people.
Fuel Thumbs Up
Swan Aero=goodness
RIP
RIP PEACE AIR
Nice Scenery
Lot's of hot women in Calgary. Most of them are married, but that's okay! I'm cool with that. I can keep a secret.
The jet fuel tastes funny in Calgary.
Car rental
National and Avis rent through the public terminal, while Hertz rents through the Flite Line FBO. It was hard to get a car on the August Civic Holiday weekend -- Hertz and Avis had nothing available, and I had to guarantee a car (which is unusual) through National.
For an economy car, National charged $40/day before taxes+fees including the COPA discount. It's worth noting that the opening hours are unusual, so plan your arrival carefully (for example, National is closed from 12pm-2pm on Saturday).
FBOs
There are two FBOs on the field:
Flite Line: http://www.fliteline.ca/ (off taxiway B, if I recall correctly)
Waterloo-Wellington Flight Centre: http://www.wwflightcentre.com/ (end of taxiway C)
Flite Line usually has the cheaper gas.
The longest wait ever
Not my favorite place...
Must have been due to rush hour with all the transpacific flights landing pretty much at the same time, after a very long flight from Sydney, took over an hour to go thru immigration, almost missed connecting flight to ATL... how stressful and frustrating.
Another time on the way back to Sydney from Atlanta, flying with UA via O'Hare, the connection was missed due to weather delays. Stuck there for 24 hours, UA wouldn't give me my luggage back (so I had to wear the same stinky clothes for 48hrs), only got a lousy hotel room, no compensation or apology. Compare that to SQ when in a similar ordeal I was given a pack with some clothes and toiletry, plus about US$100 cash equivalent.... Shall I also mention that I was flying business on UA and economy on SQ when this occured. I understand the operational constraints, no worries there, but when it comes to customer service UA, DL and AA have a lot to learn from asian carriers like SQ, CX or TG.
Oh well other than that I never been to LA before so I went to see the Getty museum, quite interesting really.
The reason why I want a PPL
Or at least something to look forward to !
Every year Phillip Island is home to the Australian Moto Grand Prix. In October 2004 I rode there with a mate all the way down from Sydney to attend the Grand Prix and witness Valentino Rossi historic win on the Yamaha, claiming back-to-back championships on two differents bikes (he won the 2003 championship on a Honda).
It's a very scenic but also a very long way from Sydney (we got there via Princes Hwy, and back via the Great Alpine Road which caused some overenthusiastic riding and subsequently claimed the life of a soft-compound rear tyre).
I sold my bike 2 years ago and when I resumed flying, I made it an objective to get my PPL in time for the 2007 MotoGP in order to fly there (safely). I am not flying often enough to reach that objective though.
Still, am going this year, flying commercial via Melbourne, and will fly there as a PPL pilot in 2008 (hopefully)
Delta
It was my homebase from 1997 to 2000. This airport is a model of efficiency with all its concourses linked by underground rail, everything goes fairly smoothly when you consider the huge number of passengers and rotations.
I flew in and out from Hartsfield more than anywhere else, and racked up zillions of frequent flyers miles with Delta Airlines in the process. As I remember it, Delta is your typical American carrier. Unless you fly business, you feel like cattle. Compared to Singapore Airlines, service really sucks.
Other than that it feel pretty safe and is usually on time.
Terminal 1
I dont know what drugs were being used at the time by the architect that imagined that soviet-style concrete monstrosity. Not only is it ugly, but the baggage claim is an embarrassment with people walking on one another. When you think it's the first impression that so many holidaymakers are getting of France...
Other than for the bits that collapse on people underneath, T2 is somewhat more practical.
Well I am from the south of France, and we don't like Paris there, so maybe I have a bias.
Home
This place is dear to my heart because this is where I grew up, and most of my family still live here....
About 25 years ago my father had a little 20ft sailboat which was berthed at Port-Saint-Laurent (the marina you can see just west of the airport on the satellite picture). I remember once we were sailing and the Concorde just flew overhead on short final (it used to come every year in May for the Cannes festival and Monaco GP, one year there were five of them parked on the tarmac). I still remember this magic roar ! Simply out of this world !
I subsequently saw Concorde take off or land in CDG, LHR and JFK, but nothing beat that memory. I always wanted to fly on Concorde but unfortunately that will never happens, however I feel privileged for having seen (and heard) it in flight.
I listed Bankstown at my home airport but I could have liste
I live fairly close by, walking down the street to the beach I can see the main runway 34L which is reclaimed on Botany Bay, I drive next to it every morning going to work (actually, in the airport tunnel under the runways) and my job is so close to the airport that the building is shaking when heavies e.g 747 are on very short final on runway 25 - so close you can almost touch the aircraft !
We get to see some interesting aircrafts land there now and then. Indeed there were quite a few of us to watch the A380 land here for the first time almost two years ago.
Flying around volcanoes
We did a scenic flight in a C172 out of Taupo, over the huge Lake Taupo (itself filling the caldera of a massive volcano that erupted last 1,800 years ago, and there are some theories that the Ice Age would have been caused by the ashes from its largest explosion 26,500 years ago), then down to Ruapehu, a 9000ft volcano which is still active. A unique experience and a must-see for anyone visiting New-Zealand north island.
Where I caught the flying bug
I was leaving in nearby Marietta at the time and this is where I took my first flying lessons back in 2000 in a C152. Nothing memorable about the place itself though.
I moved to Australia by the end of the same year, and didn't resume flying lessons until 2005.
Viva The Whitsundays
Landed here on a short (maybe 15 minutes) shuttle flight in a Cherokee 6, from Hamilton Island where we just arrived from Sydney. Absolutely fantastic views of the Whitsundays Islands :-)
The grass runway is located between two big hills so you basically can't see the circuit on the downwind leg (which is itself above water) and keeping the runway centerline is not just an option here...
Oh I almost forgot the subsequent sailing around the Whitsundays was awesome too !
Simply the best
Arguably the best international airport in the world, ahead of Hong Kong then Sydney.
And I dare say home to the best airline in the world as well (SQ), which I believe is no coincidence !
Careful here - no dead side
The southern side of Camden is dedicated to gliders, so gotta be careful in joining the circuit here - circuit always on the northern side of the field, and there is no dead side to the circuit.
Not currently in use
π Sat, 11 Aug 2007
β @david at Jerusalem International Airport, Israel
While this airport isn't officially closed, it hasn't been used since 1995, and has been controlled by the Israeli Defense Force since 2001. The airport has two ICAO codes: OJJR for Jordan (who originally controlled the territory), and LLJR for Israel.