Airport comments for North America
Comments 4,751 to 4,800 of 4,820
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.
The best way to get to Gaspe!
Gaspe is a beautiful part of Canada, but it's so far away!!! Flying over the interior, all one sees are a few logging roads ... most of the settlement is on the shores of the peninsula. The airport staff were helpful ... the place was not busy at all. Car rental at the airport was no problem.
Scary take off
As a reluctant small plane flyer, I found the landing, but particularly the take off a bit scary at this airport. There is a very tall rock formation (cliff?) at one end of the runway, and one has to climb quickly, and navigate past it. Coming in to land, we executed a number of steep turns to position ourselves, and I really hate that tilty feeling ... Still, when you land, you're in Canadian Shield topography, with a beautiful view all around. Don't miss the ice cream at the Dairy on the far side of town!!!
Easy Manhattan Access
Yes, the FBO will drive you to the LIRR station, and it's only an hour or so into Penn Station. Allows you to ease into the craziness of NYC. And who can resist taking a picture of the "Hicksville, USA" sign when the train stops there???
If I recall, the landing fee was something ridiculously low. $2 US or so.
Great Airport for Visiting Manhattan
We have flown to Teterboro the past few years on our annual trip to Manhattan. While we feel out of place landing in our four-seat plane surrounded by business jets, it's very convenient to get into NYC.
The staff, from the ground crew to the desk people are universally kind and attentive (even the customs officers were friendly!!!). They make us feel like royalty. My kids love the toiletries in the women's bathroom.
It's only a 30-minute cab/car ride to Manhattan (depending on time of day and where in the city you are headed).
Decent food
Linday has a small restaraunt on the airfield that has decent food and seems to attract a fair amount of locals from town. One of the better on airport restaraunts in southern Ontario
Just had to get this one in while it is still on the map
One of the airports I visited on my solo cross-country training flights. I note thta it is now NOTAMed permanently closed so I guess it will be off the map soon. The approach into runway 29 at night, past the arprtment houses and condos wwas "interesting".
My Fourth Airport
The forth airport I ever landed an airplane at ... long before I was a licensed pilot but flying with my surrogate father, Eddie Gorski. (too bad we don't have away to add "fallen flags", the airports of our youth now gone forever ... who remembers Towaco and Totowa-Wayne?) Among many other things Eddie was the manager of Teterboro from the mid-30's until WWII forced all General Aviation operations west of the Delaware River. If you zoom in you'll see a large building at the northwest corner of Malcolm and Industrial Ave's ... this is the site of what was in my youth the "Bendix hangar", named for the owner of Teterboro for many years, the Bendix Corp. but originally the site of Tony Fokker's US manufacturing facility. The Borough of Teterbor in which the airport sits in had a population of 25 in the last US census and was known as the Borough of Bendix during the years 1937 through 1943. A fascinating place. If you fly in there take the time to visit the NJ Aviation Museum and Hall of Fame just east of the field.
Where it all began
As a boy I lived across the street from this airport and it's part of my earliest memories. I "hung out" there nearly every free moment from the time I was 6 years old or so until I left for the USAF in 1965. Got my private there in 1964. Lincoln Park is notable as the long-time business interest of Ed and Jue Gorski (see NJ Aviation Hall of Fame). Other CFI's there who helped shape my life were Johnnie Schump, Charlie Stephan, Lenny Landers, Tony Farrell and William (Wild Bill) Fedishen. Still an active and well-run little operation, close in to the NY Metro area.
re: Disneyland?
I think Long Beach (LGB) has better facilities, but I'm not sure of the costs. I have a friend who did flight training there a while ago, so it at least used to be GA-friendly, but things might have changed.
Permission required
🔗 Thu, 19 Jul 2007
— @david at Saguenay-Bagotville Airport, Canada
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.