Airport comments for the World
Comments 15,417 to 15,466 of 16,002
Wings of Eagles
I landed here to visit the Wings of Eagles Museum. Decent museum. For me, the highlight was a rare Douglas BTD (a project scrapped in favor of the Skyraider).
Home Sweet Home
Le Roy is my home base. Tips for transient pilots:
With quarries north and northwest of the field, wind from these directions can create enough turbulence to keep you on your toes during takeoff and landing.
Though the airport is rarely attended, fuel is self serve and the there's an unlocked restroom available to visitors on the south side of the terminal building.
South Haven
South Haven was my home base from April 2004 until December 2005. Great airport, one of those places where the locals cook out every Saturday during the summer. Self serve fuel prices are generally competitive for the region.
Tips for transient pilots:
The wind off of Lake Michigan is often a direct crosswind for traffic on the pavement (4-22), but coming right down the grass runway (14-32). Despite this, we've noticed a lot of transient pilots shun the grass, sometimes accepting brutal crosswinds. The grass is well maintained and used regularly by the locals. During the warmer months, there are a pair of Piper Pawnee crop dusters operating at South Haven that do not broadcast on the radio. They are very good at working among the rest of the GA traffic, but it's good to be aware of them. Transient pilots are most likely to be interested in the new ramp east of the intersection of the two runways - this is where the fuel and terminal building are located. The ramp at the south end of the field is where the maintenance shop is located.
Nice Cafe
Just after buying my first airplane in Oklahoma, I was flying it home to Michigan when I stopped here for lunch. The folks in the Plane Cafe were talkative and asked about my cross country trip. The food was excellent. I don't know that I could have picked a better, friendlier place for a stop.
Renovating
New hangars and restaurant open. Home of the Collingwood Classic Aircraft. Eden Flight Inc flying SportStar advanced ultralights.
Toussus le Noble
This is one of the BIG General Aviation Airport in Paris for Pistons and Small Jets. Airport of Entry 7 days a week. No public transportation available to Paris, a better option if you dont mind grass strips is LFPZ 6NM north with two parallel runways
Good ATC
I've flown in and out many times professionally. The ATC system is efficient and designed to move airplanes rapidly - the parallel runways sure help as compared to Chicago where so many runways intersect. Also, because thunderstorms are a normal occurrence the ATC adjustments to difficult weather are as fluid and adaptable as possible. There'll still be weather-related delays, but as minimal as safely possible.
True grass roots aviation
This little airport is one of the nicest, and friendliest places to fly in/out of in the country. An active COPA wing operates here and there is always an interesting mix of ultralights, homebuilts and general aviation machines of all types - some real classics.
There is a certified ROTAX service center located here, and the Jabiru Canada agent is based here too (or was until recently - has Gord moved to his Lancaster home airport now?) ...
Shell FBO very helpful
Last year I had to overnight unexpectedly due to a problem with my aircraft which took me a couple of days to sort out. The operator of the Shell FBO also owns a motel and he was very helpful - providing me with an excellent room rate and a car rental on short notice at a great price.
You can't ask for better service than that!
Jackson
My favorite food stop while living in Michigan. Usually lots of transient aircraft on the ramp. You can watch arrivals from the restaurant which sits near the base of the control tower.
Bradford
Good home cooked food in the Runway Cafe
Lock Haven
Great airport! FBO will provide ground transportation into town for a meal or over to the other side of the field to visit the Piper Aviation Museum. The collection is modest, but worth the trip for anyone interested in Piper history.
Dowagiac
Not much going on here. But I had my first light aircraft flight here in a Citabria. A year later, I did my first solo here in a Cessna 150. Nice long runway, good place to practice (there's never anyone around).
World's highest landing fees
This is the world's expensive airport -- http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2005/11/15/gtaa-051115.html
If you're a private pilot, you can get dinged with a landing fee close to CA $200 even in a light plane, and that's before ramp fees, parking, etc. If you're an airline passenger, your share of the obscene landing fee (over $13,000 to land a 747, vs around $3,000 at other Canadian airports) is tacked onto your ticket price.
The high fees have nothing to do with the fact that the airport's busy -- it has about the same traffic as Philadelphia Intl (PHL), which had no landing fee for light aircraft when I visited in 2003 and charges around US $2,000 for a 747 to land. Something's just broken somewhere, and nobody will take responsibility for the problem.
If you're coming to Toronto, use CYTZ (downtown), CYKZ (northeast), CYOO (east), CNC3 (northwest), or CZBA (west). CYTZ has a landing fee of around $10 for a light plane (watch the ramp fees at Porter, though!), and the others have no landing fee at all.
Event: Gathering of Mustangs and Legends, 27-30 September 20
There's a huge gathering of P-51s and other vintage warbirds coming up here next month:
About Katama Airfield
Since 1924, Katama is one of those special airports: it's located right at Martha's Vineyard South Beach and there is a special parking area right at the beach - get out of your airplane, cross the road and you are at the ocean. There is a nice diner on the field, called the Right Fork Diner - you can enjoy a meal while watching aircraft land and take off on runway 03/21. And if you want to go into Edgartown there is a bus that runs every 15 minutes during the summer season - $1 each way.
Fantastic GA airport
This airport is possibly the nicest GA airport I've ever been to. The Kingston flying club has free tie-downs, and they sell fuel at some of the cheapest prices in Ontario when they're open. For odd hours, the Esso has reasonable prices too. Also a very scenic airport, and very straightforward uncomplicated procedures. Highly recommend visiting Kingston.
Visited for the first time the other day
The airport is very scenic, especially at night. The ramp and fuel prices are tough to swallow though. The airport closes at 11pm, and the last ferry runs at midnight.
Videos
Here are some videos of landing, takeoff, and the nearby town from private pilot Rori Stumpf, who flew in on 11 August 2007:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qeryfLZ-DOM
http://youtube.com/watch?v=WS5q9qAmAbw
http://youtube.com/watch?v=B9NghYyBEA0
The first one includes taxi into parking, and gives a good overview of the airport.
Old photo
The crosswind runway is closed and there is now a parallel runway. -Tom W
Rockcliffe Flying Club visit, 25-27 August 2007
The Rockcliffe Flying Club from Ottawa to PEI on the weekend of 25-27 August 2007. I expect that everyone will be planning to land here at YYG.
Taxi
The airport is a short taxi ride north of downtown Charlottetown -- it's been a few years, but I don't remember it being too expensive.
Rates and fees
Here's the schedule of rates and fees for the airport:
Long Runways
During the summer, the density altitude is over 10,000 ft and the runways are extra long - I made the mistake of landing on 17 and had to taxi two miles to the FBO.
Lots of executive jets and charters fly in here during the ski season. During the summer, there is less traffic and rates are better at the FBO.
Friendly FBO
Landed here in the Husky just to take a break and stretch my legs. Didn't buy fuel or souvenirs, but the staff made me feel welcome. Lent me the courtesy car to have a look at the downtown. The FBO manager and I sat on the porch and discussed flying and life in general.
There is a crosswind runway here, it is grass/gravel and hard to see. Actually, it is easier to see here on Google Earth than in the afternoon sunlight.
9927 Ft Elevation
North America's highest airport - land here, buy the Tee shirt, get the certificate. Check the weather before you proceed, the mountains on both sides of the valley here exceed 14,000 Ft.
A Nice GA-Friendly Airport
A nice GA-friendly airport with a steady stream of visiting and local traffic, and competent tower controllers and a reasonable set of IFR approaches for those endless summer stretches when the coastal stratus covers everything within 25 miles of the coast. Lots of training flights in the pattern and around the area due to the Japan Airlines ab initio training facility there and the other local FBO's. The airport restaurant "Jonesy's" is fairly famous, but I'm not sure why -- it's really just a rather average steak house. But hey, it's a steak house right next to the ramp, so it's a lot better than nothing.
Transient parking on the main ramp is usually easy for small GA aircraft, but when the nearby Sears Point raceway is hosting a big event, or there's something else in the area (a wine fly-in :-)), parking can be very difficult. Call ahead and ask...
One thing to remember here is that although it's "Napa" airport, it's actually quite some distance from the main vineyards and wineries you think of when you hear "Napa Valley" -- and some wineries are probably quite a long drive away in a rental car through really heavy traffic; if your winery is actually in Sonoma County, you're probably better off with Healdsburg airport. But this is still the main Napa Valley airport, and it's a good place to start...
Lodging
Stay at the Riu Funana all inclusive resort. All meals and booze are included in the room price. It's a beautiful place and only one of two places I would stay at Sal. The rest of the island is barren and primitive...like Mars.
Good FBO but cheaper self-serve fuel (Texaco)
There is a small self-serve fuel stand at the western end of the ramp. I needed to get a car, hotel, washrooms, etc so I taxied to the Flowers FBO. It was late and they were a little disorganized because of an airshow that weekend, but they came and towed my taildragger to a better spot after I unloaded my gear. They gave me their well-published 40 cent discount on the fuel, so it was competitive with the self-serve fuel.
Dulmes Field
The Dulmes Family has sold this property. The new owner does not have aviation interests. I do not know if the runway is useable.
Not currently in use
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.
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.
This airport has a new identifier.
🔗 Sat, 18 Aug 2007
— @FLUNKN at Chester County G O Carlson Airport, United States
KMQS