Gary IN to CVG?

Maule Driver wrote:

So RDU remains a Class C and can't seem to make the big time from an ATC
perspective. But there are new facilities all over the place. New
parking, new ramps, new hangars,the FBOs seem successful and flush, big
iron GA floods the ramp, and *visiting* spam can flyers benefit from it
all. A GREAT place to fly into for whatever. Yaaay!

Yeah. I landed there just before the spamcan FBO closed one night. Both landing
lights were out, and I bought bulbs there just as they were shutting the
register up. When I landed, the dew point and temperature were about 4 degrees
apart, so I was interested in staying over.

My sister lives in the area, but she was on the road and nobody answered the
phone. A big hurricane (Hugo?) had blown through a few weeks before. The guy at
Piedmont called every hotel in Raleigh. They were all full, including the
$150/night places. He got off the phone just as I finished up with the landing
lights and just tossed me the keys to one of their pilot "emergency" rooms. No
charge.

OK, the gas is a bit pricey, but the people are great!

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.

Well George, you would barely recognize the place now. All new
buildings and ramps and taxiways in the FBO area.

I know people considered Southern Jet the spam can FBO and Piedmont for
big iron. Before the last set of renovations, I always went to Piedmont
when I couldn't get home due to weather. I'm ashamed to say I never
spent a dime there but they never charged one either. Parked on their
ramp overnight many times, several days on occassion. Charging me never
seemed worth the effort. I just made myself at home and did whatever I
needed to do.

I've since used SJ and like them too. Always willing to drive a
passenger to the terminals or whatever.

Little known secret of RDU - the new GA 'terminal building' situated
between Piedmont and SC is empty but has a little grill upstairs with a
glassed in balcony to watch the traffic from. During normal daylight
hours you can eat in peace and splendor while watching your plane and
traffic. You'll usually be alone with the grill man.

George Patterson wrote:

Yeah. I landed there just before the spamcan FBO closed one night. Both
landing lights were out, and I bought bulbs there just as they were
shutting the register up. When I landed, the dew point and temperature
were about 4 degrees apart, so I was interested in staying over.

My sister lives in the area, but she was on the road and nobody answered
the phone. A big hurricane (Hugo?) had blown through a few weeks before.
The guy at Piedmont called every hotel in Raleigh. They were all full,
including the $150/night places. He got off the phone just as I finished
up with the landing lights and just tossed me the keys to one of their
pilot "emergency" rooms. No charge.

OK, the gas is a bit pricey, but the people are great!

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.

writes:
They serve the flying public well. And they don't 'deny' services to
anyone. Want to practice an ILS while a bunch of 767s are inbound?
Great. Proceed direct HOLGR and hold...expect further clearance in 4
hours. You want to do some touch and goes in your 152 during the Delta
push? No problem at all...right turn 360, expect a turn inbound in 40
miles. Want to take back off? Sure. Excellent. You will be number 23
for takeoff behind that 15th RJ.

Why should one expect anything else? Class B airports, by definition,
are air carrier airports. That is their primary reason to exist. The
controllers understand that, and act accordingly. You 'can' go into a
Class B airport if you'd like in your 152. But is it wise? generally
not. You know it, I know it, and the controllers know it. This is how
they let you know that they don't like it. And I completely understand.

I got my commercial and instrument licenses flying in the
Denver area (class A). Denver had the only ILS at the time.
There was no "push" time since United training flights
filled the lulls in the normal traffic. The controllers
didn't park me in western Kansas until the continuous
stream of big iron was handled before I got to make an
approach. It may have been a nuisance but the controllers
made a hole in the line and vectored me alongside the line
until the hole caught up with me. I was then vectored over
to the localizer (and told to keep my speed up, of course).
No fuss and all in a day's work for the controllers.

I've also been given the "treatment" by controllers in
Rhode Island. I once asked for an ILS approach to PVD
and was told to expect a two-hour delay. There was no
other traffic in the area of any kind but there were
controllers in the area who thought all small planes
should be banned from the air.

Maule Driver wrote:

So RDU remains a Class C and can't seem to make the big time from an ATC
perspective. But there are new facilities all over the place. New
parking, new ramps, new hangars,

Take a look at the Airport Authority membership at

http://www.rdu.com/aboutrdu/meet.htm

Notice some of the same names that you see on the construction vehicles for the
companies that are pouring all that new concrete?

Cynicism aside, I'm based there and I like the facilities. Y'all come on down.

Dave

Lunken airport is only 12 miles from CVG, more GA friendly and is closer
to downtown. CVG is actually in Kentucky. Unless you have a specific
reason to go to CVG, I would choose LUK.


"Michael 182" wrote in
:


"John Doe" wrote in message
news
I don't recall anything that says some big shot in a jet has a higher
priority reason to land there than you do. That's why it's called a
public airport.

Of course they have a higher priority. They have 100+ passengers, they
are trying to make a schedule, their fuel costs more than your plane,
they fly at speeds that match the local traffic, they are almost
always perfect at low IFR approaches - they fit in the system that was
designed for them. You don't. If you want to use a Class B, go for it.
But don't get ****ed off when you get vectored for half an hour to fit
you into the pattern - that's like getting angry that New York has
more traffic than Peoria. It's just part of the environment.

And, by the way, if you get upset at the approach end, wait until you
have to wait on line to depart behind 18 stinking jets at 105 degrees
because you couldn't get the taxi clearance you wanted. Sure, we have
every right to fly in and out of Class Bs. Sometimes, like in the case
of the OP, it probably makes sense. But 99% of the time life is much
easier landing at one of the local GA airports.

Michael