Airport comments for North America
Comments 4,651 to 4,700 of 4,735
C172 rentals, self service fuel.
Was down in NC for vacation, decided to check out in and rent a 172 to give some friends a short tour of the southern NC coast. The check out instructor was nice and pointed out many sightseeing and local landmarks. Check-out was a *little* longer than I felt necessary, but again, was partly a sightseeing tour.
Not the most friendly airport ever...
Flew in one to buy a flight bag from the FBO on-field, and was unpleasantly surprised at the brusqueness of the local pilots. It is a small, lumpy-bumpy strip with no visibility end to end (due to the grade) and very limited taxi space. The locals there, at least the one time I was flew in, seemed to barely tolerate visiting traffic. Granted its a private airport, but sheesh....lighten up, guys.
Flying Turtle Restaurant on-field.
One of my favorite $100 hamburger trips. Good restaurant (popular with locals,) and home to an ANG base. You can usually see some big KC-130s and occasionally something a bit faster out on the tarmac.
Eagle's Nest Restaurant on-field (sort of.)
Eagle's Nest restaurant is a very short walk (hundred yards or less.) Good food, good service.
Fantastic diner on field. Pies for miles!
Great food, service and PIES at this local hotspot in Urbana. Get there early for a seat on weekends.
Restaurant on field.
Can't say the Italian dish I had there was great, but I'd go back to try something else another time.
Small diner counter, friendly staff. Customs port of entry.
Very small but friendly grill on site. This airport is a US Customs Port of Entry from Canada. I believe there might be a shuttle available to Cedar Point, the best amusement park in the country.
JP's Barbeque on field. banner towing ops during OSU footbal
Decent ribs and BQ chicken on field.
Fun to watch banner towing during OSU football (if you aren't watching the game, that is.)
Permission required
I came in here in 2005 for a Hope Air flight. There is a civilian terminal, but because it's a military airport, you need prior permission to land. I called the operations and got a special authorization code to provide on first contact with ATC (they never asked for it, because they were expecting me).
Chicoutimi airport is nearby for regular civilian traffic, along with several other, smaller airports in the Saguenay/Lac-St-Jean area.
End of my First Commute
Landed here 4 October 1965 to begin my Air Force career and nearby Lackland AFB. I've been back many times for Air Force conferences. Traveling through here one day is where I knew I was on to something good when I was considering entering the GPS tracking business. A taxi driver who took me to my hotel had a high-class GPS tracking/taxi management/credit card terminal in his cab. The fellow was well into his 70's and I asked him how he liked the new technology. His response? "You young guys are too slow to adopt new things that make you money .. see this screen? Since I picked you up I already have my next fare lined up three doors from your hotel." I was sold.
Do not miss the river walk, San Antonio is a great tourist city.
My Home Base
Boundary Bay is home base to my little Piper Archer. It's a very busy GA airport about a 30 minute drive south of Downtown Vancouver.
Runway 07-25 was recently restored back to it's original 5000' length. There is no proper FBO here, just a managment company that runs the field and sells the fuel and acts as landlord to the many flying schools and other aviation related businesses. Services are minimal and the fuel price tends to be one of the highest in the region, no self serve, truck only.
Still, this is a reasonable option if you are flying yourself in to Vancouver. No landing fees and it's the closest airport to downtown other than YVR itself. It's a Canpass airport if you are coming from the US, but note that the Canpass hours are limited, typically 10:00PM is the latest you can arrive.
Transit here is poor, a few buses a day, so plan on arranging a rental car to be delivered or take a taxi. Be warned the taxi fare will be well over $50 and in rush hour there can be significant traffic.
There's a Nav Canada PIK (pilot information kiosk) in the main terminal building, and if you hang out near the Pacific Flying Club building you can usually log in to their WiFi.
Because of the intense flight school traffic and the proximity of this field in and under the airspace for Vancouver International, you need to study arrival and departure procedures in the CFS with great care, and if possible enter the VFR reporting points in to your GPS. The tower expects you to know these procedures and fly them accurately. Pay special attention to the various airspace ceiling heights, they are a bit unusual.
Awesome downtown airport!
This is a great airport if you are visiting Toronto. You land on the island, right next to downtown. The approach gives you a dramatic view of the CN Tower, the baseball stadium, and the downtown core. A quick ferry ride takes you to the mainland. Hop public transit, or grab a cab, and you're in the core in a matter of minutes. The city is quite walkable and has fabulous public transit. No need to rent a car to visit the main sites in Canada's largest city.
Pearson (Toronto's major Int'l airport) is way out in the west end - there is no efficient public transit into the downtown core, and a car/cab ride is going to take at least 45 minutes, if the highways aren't jammed with traffic. The smaller airports (Buttonville, etc.) are great if you're visiting the 'burbs, but not so great for downtown.
Very busy airport
For a small airport, it certainly is busy. Very active flight school, with lots of people training.
Aviation Museum as well
I should also have mentioned the Aviation Museum which is right behind the airport.
Airpark Living
One of the nicest airparks in the US. Taxiways (grass) are separate from the streets. Driving around you wouldn't even know it's an airpark. Paved and lighted runway. Self-Service fuel.
A Home on the Prarie
I first flew in here as a pax in December 1965. This was one of the USAF's finest Technical Training Centers. Went to my first USAF tech school here, became a technical classroom instructor and worked in the school for a while (training ran 24 hours a day at the time, 4 six hour shifts, LBJ was serious about getting bombs on target).
I went back to Chanute someyears later and became a computer geek, back when core memory was a significant step up from drum memory, which was the main memory (and system timing) for the early-day full task mission flight simulators. That was about the time that my technical life seemed to start accelerating at an ever increasing rate.
Since it was probably the best equipped tech training facility the USAF in its infinite wisdom selected Chanute to be closed in a down-sizing move. The people of Rantoul have done a marvelous job converting the former base property to useful functions.
Close In
One of the nation's better airports for the passenger, even though it's cramped and shows its age. Get right on the Metro, or if you're Pentagon-bound the hotels around the Puzzle Palace all have free 5 minute shuttles.
Not so much fun for aircrews because of the extensive security procedures and the "interesting" approach into 19.
Designed by Committe
There's an old joke about an animal looking like it was designed by a committee. If the animal were an airport it would be Dulles. Dulles is the "poster child" that proves letting government agencies and retired generals named "Bozo" is a bad thing. When I was traveling extensively for the US government there was a secret "caste' system that we insiders knew. If a government traveler was allowed to buy his/her air tickets into Washington National (DCA) s/he was "somebody". All others were forced to fly into Dulles.
I was here the first time for a scheduled two-hour stop here the night of 4 October 1965, so I've been a customer for a while now. Those clumsy, swaying "people movers" that go between the terminals used to drive right out the the aircraft and pick-up/drop off at the aircraft door. back in the design phase the "committee" decided that since most delays seemed to happen at the gate, they would eliminate the gate. Hmmmm. Dulles now has taxi-up gates like every other intelligent airport, but they had to keep those automotive dinosaurs around for something, government property after all.
When you die after holding high office one of the disadvantages (aside from being dead. that is) is that they will likely name something after you, and being deceased you will have little choice in the matter. People today may not realize that John Foster Dulles was a heck of a lot better Secretary of State than Dulles is an airport.
Love It/Hate It All In A Day
This is one of those airports that can provide an object less on how to do it or how not. The ground transportation is set up nicely, few other American cities have high speed rail right in the terminal (heck, few other American cities even have high speed rail ... better to whine about the price of energy than to change anything for the better), but the walks are looooong, the concourses are narrow and dark ... it's utilitarian but hardly appealing.
Found out here one day how long it takes to change the fuel control on #3 engine of a DC-10 ... 4+20 as I watched the whole thing from the concourse window ... guess Delta didn't need the gate. They did still get me home that night, though, so I won't complain.
Only lasted 38 years
Took of from here in the evening of 4 October, 1965 to do a little tour with the USAF. Didn't know it would last 38 years.
Nice little airport
I grew up around this airport, so it holds a special place in my heart. These days, its a nice little airport with a nice long runway. I hear the cafe is quite good for a home cooked meal.
Wisconsin Aviation - My FBO
This is the FBO I train out of. Great facility, and great instructors. Highly recommend the restaurant located inside as well.
Fun grass strip.
Nice farm strip. Drop in to watch the Sky Ranch Flyers fly R/C. If one of the Hahns is around, you might get a golf-cart tour of the few gopher holes on the field.
Cool!
No big deal flying into here. Just be on top of things. Cheap landing fees and very accomodating FBO
Expensive fuel, great staff, and Rich_B is based here
Expensive fuel, great staff, and Rich_B is based here
Cheap fuel!
Chrap fuel!
Ralph Fox is based here!
Use ILM Aero when you are here!
re: Free aircraft parking
I was thinking about flying my family from Ottawa to Quebec City in my Warrior for a couple of nights -- the free parking is excellent news.
re: Alexis Park Inn
I've never been to the airport, but I remember Jay well from the aviation Usenet groups -- he seems like a good guy, and I'm glad to hear that the hotel is still working out well.
Alexis Park Inn
Nice aviation themed hotel. Say hi to Jay!
Food
Good diner
Food
Home of the monster tenderloin
Fun!
20 foot wide runway.
Sporty's
Free hotdogs.
Chik 'Fil-A
The mall North of airport has a Chik 'Fil-A. Yum.
Look out below
Lots of skydiving here.
Great Atlanta Alternative
Fulton County (or Charlie Brown as the locals call it) is a great alternative to Peachtree Dekalb (PDK) on the other side of town. It's home to Home Depot's corporate fleet as well as the former BellSouth fleet. Coca-Cola also has a large presence here as well. There is a fair amount of flight training at the field and it's also home of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Flying Club.
Home sweet home
.
Flight school and aircraft rental
Maui Aviators has instructors and aircraft for rent. It's an beautiful area to fly over, you can visit some of the smaller islands this way.
Victoria Flying Club
The folks at the local flight school, Victoria Flying Club, are nice and competent and their aircraft are very well kept. Very nice area to fly around if you're visiting.
Visiting pilots
Dorval Aviation, a flight school located on the field, can rent you a C172 to fly around the area following a short rental checkout with an instructor. A C172 floatplane is also available on the river northeast of Montreal.
Great beach within 5 minutes walk
If you park on the western ramp, there is a path that takes you through a campground and then accross the road to a beautiful footpath through the woods and a fantastic beach. Beautiful place. I'm jealous of all these west coast folks.
Free aircraft parking
The local pilot's club "Les Ailes Québécoises" welcomes transient aircraft to stay for free on their ramp for up to two nights.
Mind the gap!
There's a pretty good dropoff (for the midwest) at the end of 03. With the trees there, the winds can get squirrelly while on final to 21. Not a bad idea to land just a little long on 21.
The turf runway is underused, but decent.
My aviation birthplace.
I did my Private Pilot training here.
Home base
Nice airport though it would be nicer with a restaurant on site.
Trudeau's legacy
Flew out of Mirabel once, on my way to Italy (via Amsterdam). Huge beautiful terminal. It has since been closed to passenger planes, now strictly used for freight (UPS, FedEX, etc.), I believe.
Canada's PM at the time, Pierre Elliot Trudeau decided that Montreal was going to be the largest city in Canada some day (Toronto ended up winning that title), so confiscated farmland north-west of Montreal to build the airport. It never had the anticipated traffic, and was closed a number of years ago to passenger traffic.
Ironically, the power's that be decided to re-name Montreal's commercial airport, Dorval, to Pierre Elliot Trudeau, after Trudeau died.
My favourite airport!!!
This is truly my favourite airport. Not only can one consider it the gateway to beautiful Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, but I had the best reception ever, walking into the "terminal". This is a very small operation ... but a number of the local men (airplane enthusiasts all) were just hanging out there, chatting away, happy to talk to me about our plane, the flight, their planes and so on. We really had to tear ourselves away, as I think they would have chatted with us well into the night ...
A foggy place
Landed here in our four-seat plane. Very cool to be in line in between huge jets, some landing after a trans-Atlantic flight. Halifax proper is very foggy, and even at the airport, the early morning can be a bit iffy. There is a Tim Horton's (coffee/donut shop) just outside the terminal, maybe a 5-minute walk, tops.
Cheapest AVGAS in Ohio!
🔗 Thu, 19 Jul 2007
— @lauridsd at Madison County Airport, United States
Trained here a *lot* (home airport was KOSU), solo'ed here, took my practical here. Countless touch and goes. This is *the* place to buy AVgas in central Ohio...cheapest bar none. (Usually a quarter or more less per gallon than any of the airports closer to Columbus.)
Say hi to Roscoe, the friendly airport dog, if he's still out there...