At which Class B airports have you landed?

timwinters said:
Personally, I'd far rather chalk up how many grass strips I've been to than how many class bravos, but that's just me.
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I'm with you on that one. I personally wish there were more grass strips with FBOs (fuel and services). I'm finally living in an area that has a lot of grass strips, but finding one that can be used as a cross-country stop seems to be a challenge.
 
StinkBug said:
Only difference is how much it costs to land. I'm a cheapskate (read: poor) so I choose to land at the little airports next door.
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Somewhat true, but it is definitely not universal. BOS cost me about $300 in fees plus $9/gallon fuel while PHX cost me less than $50 and $6/gallon fuel.

I fly to PHX once or twice a year. The Class B is considerably cheaper than SDL. It is more than FFZ, but traffic flow is much smoother since everyone going into PHX is IFR. Now that I am feeding two R-985s (40gph) the fuel cost alone may drive me to FFZ, but for most piston GA, the cost at PHX really isn't that bad.
 
Fearless Tower said:
I'm with you on that one. I personally wish there were more grass strips with FBOs (fuel and services). I'm finally living in an area that has a lot of grass strips, but finding one that can be used as a cross-country stop seems to be a challenge.
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Same for me...there's a grass strip I use as a staging point to get gas before going anywhere. It's about 15 minutes north of where my plane is tied down. I don't think there's actually any other non-private grass strips that provide fuel in my state..
 
Fearless Tower said:
You assume hubris is the driving factor.

For me, it's typically more about convenience than going further out to save some money and depending on the airport, it may not be that much extra. It is much cheaper for me to fly into PHX than SDL for example.
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You can turn it around and say that avoiding Class B is a fear factor. Not only Class B but Class C and sometimes Class D.

For example, some years ago I did a coordinated Angel Flight with a passenger transition in the Amarillo, TX area. The other pilot wanted to use one of the small nontowered airports in the area and was very hesitant about going into the KAMA Class C - an airport so quiet, there was one landing other than the two of us during our stay there, which included having lunch at the airport.

I agree with you that sometimes the"busy" airport can be the more convenient one. I was planning a trip to visit relatives in the Charleston area. Among the 4 good choices, the best from both a cost and convenience factor was clearly Charleston International.
 
vkhosid said:
...they have to let you do a touch and go...
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I landed at CLE, hung out/napped in the FBO for a bit after I dropped a guy off. Went to leave the FBO after midnight, asked what the fee was, she said "don't worry about it, you weren't here long enough." Never got a bill in the mail either. Probably because the FBO never reported me as landing to the city.
 
vkhosid said:
...they have to let you do a touch and go...
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I tried this at MIA once - requested touch and go VFR on a Sunday morning. They kept me over Biscayne Bay for over 15 minutes, transferring me between different approach and tower controllers - up until I gave up and asked for FF to my destination ;)... Probably should've asked for full stop, but I didn't want to.
 
Back in the day I liked landing at new to me airports whether they were big or small. In fact I still do, although I don't get to choose the airports myself.
 
Everskyward said:
Back in the day I liked landing at new to me airports whether they were big or small. In fact I still do, although I don't get to choose the airports myself.
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You might get to choose them if your engine(s) started running a "teensy bit rough" :D
 
EdFred said:
You might get to choose them if your engine(s) started running a "teensy bit rough" :D
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The joy of landing at a new airport would not be enough to offset the headache an unscheduled stop and out-of-town maintenance would entail. Especially if they found nothing wrong.
 
jordane93 said:
All the Class B airports I landed at were IFR. Makes it easier and they can't really deny you.
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They can delay you a lot however. Actually sometimes it's easier to get in VFR. Otherwise they try to feed you in through the gate in a train with a bunch of higher speed traffic. Dulles used to let you spin out on base leg until there was a gap.
 
Everskyward said:
The joy of landing at a new airport would not be enough to offset the headache an unscheduled stop and out-of-town maintenance would entail. Especially if they found nothing wrong.
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iu
 
That's not chicken. That's Foghorn Leghorn, "Boy, I say boy, that's a joke."

(yes, I know you aren't a boy)
 
Just Tampa (TPA) for me. Missed my golden chance to land at Atlanta Hartsfield a couple of years ago. Coming back from an Auburn football game and got to transition the Atlanta Bravo airspace diagonally. Didn't dawn on me until too late to ask for a touch-n-go. :(
 
PHX. I also went there as a student pilot, before there was a such thing as class B. I've never been to Lindbergh as PIC even though it's in my area. I want to go though. I want to experience the cockpit view of flying past nearby building on final that are higher than I am.
 
flyingron said:
They can delay you a lot however. Actually sometimes it's easier to get in VFR. Otherwise they try to feed you in through the gate in a train with a bunch of higher speed traffic. Dulles used to let you spin out on base leg until there was a gap.
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Yep. Some airports are easy to get into VFR. The 4 or 5 times I've been to PHL, twice was VFR. The 3 times I've been to Dulles it was dead and probably could have went VFR.
 
I'll go to the big airport if it's more advantageous to me. I was based at IAD for years. Often however, there are closer better solutions. OWD is almost always faster for me in the BOS area than Logan itself. LNK is better than CVG for Cincinnati.

I mourn the loss of places like Miegs and Blue Ash.
 
flyingron said:
I'll go to the big airport if it's more advantageous to me. I was based at IAD for years. Often however, there are closer better solutions. OWD is almost always faster for me in the BOS area than Logan itself. LNK is better than CVG for Cincinnati.

I mourn the loss of places like Miegs and Blue Ash.
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I'm not so sure about that. ;)
 
timwinters said:
I won't argue that point. There are very legitimate reasons to fly into a class B...especially some of the less busy ones...STL and KC come to mind as fields that really should be Charlie and are an easy in/out.

A lot of guys though want to go there just so they can mix it up with the big boys. They are the ones I really don't get at all...to each his/her own...but I just think it's dumb. (It kinda reminds me of that one ugly girl in high school who always hung out with the cheerleaders, she didn't realize that it made her look uglier...not prettier.)

Personally, I'd far rather chalk up how many grass strips I've been to than how many class bravos, but that's just me.
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The only one on my list is Tampa, and that was because a college football bowl game we went to was next to the airport. It was literally a 2 mile walk to the stadium from the FBO; they gave us a ride though. Going to a smaller GA airport would have meant a rental car and high parking prices at the stadium or long cab ride. It was a lot quicker and easier to got to Tampa.



I'm the opposite, I've never landed on grass, nor much desire as they are usually not as near to where I'm going.
 
KNONE

I'm neither inclined nor opposed. I just haven't had a reason... yet.
 
Never had a reason to land in one while GA in the states. Overseas, Kadena AFB (RODN) because I had to.
 
We almost never have a need to go to Class B airports as military tankers but did get to do MSP in the tanker once. Kinda neat when it is a bunch of E-145s and CRJs waiting for take-off and you roll up in a gray DC-10. GA I have done CVG, ORD, CLE, PHL, CLT
 
When I was younger and didn't know any better, I flew into JFK and LGA in a 172. I've come to realize that even though I have a right to fly into a Bravo, unless there is some compelling reason, it's a bad idea. There's a higher risk of wake turbulence plus the speed differentials creates extra workload for everybody. Having said that, some B's are pretty GA friendly like SLC and so landing at those airports is no issue. If you burn Jet A, PHX is the best deal in town.

However if I ever have to pay a user fee to fly in the system, I retract everything I said and I'll land at every Bravo I can.
 
Landed (I assume that 2 touch & gos count)?! Only DTW... :(

Transitions: LAX, LAS, PHX, DTW :)
 
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IAD in a TrammaHawk
DCA in an Arrow
BWI as a flight of two C150s....at night....that brought laughs from the tower.

There were others .....but not so memorable.
 
Velocity173 said:
Never had a reason to land in one while GA in the states. Overseas, Kadena AFB (RODN) because I had to.
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Was that Class B? It was in 1985 and I was a kid and didn't care about airspace at the time.

I was going to say none but that's where I soloed first so....RODN.
 
Timbeck2 said:
Was that Class B? It was in 1985 and I was a kid and didn't care about airspace at the time.

I was going to say none but that's where I soloed first so....RODN.
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It was, it still is. Not sure if it counts as a primary airport of the B but their airspace is a bit strange. Gotta be the busiest airport on the island though. We could actually see their tower from ours (Futema) with binos.
 
ircphoenix said:
You landed at LAX as GA? How'd that happen?
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You put LAX in the destination box on the flight plan and then go where ATC tells you. You even have a choice between two high price FBOs: Atlantic or Signature.....big catch is that you better be burning Jet A because there is no 100LL.
 
If Naha was class B then I can add that too. I wasn't a controller back then, I was a jet engine mechanic. I left my solo shirt tail hanging on the bulletin board when I left. It was an REO Speedwagon concert tee. Wish I had it.

Coolest thing about flying at Kadena was that I bet I'm one of the few if not the only pilot on this forum that has been in the pattern with the SR-71. Unless of course there is a former SR-71 pilot on this forum then they can possibly say that they were in the pattern with me. :)
 
I don't land at the one near me (KCVG) because we all want them bumped down to Class C. Traffic is far lower than it used to be.

Fingers crossed...AOPA is working on it.
 
Timbeck2 said:
If Naha was class B then I can add that too. I wasn't a controller back then, I was a jet engine mechanic. I left my solo shirt tail hanging on the bulletin board when I left. It was an REO Speedwagon concert tee. Wish I had it.

Coolest thing about flying at Kadena was that I bet I'm one of the few if not the only pilot on this forum that has been in the pattern with the SR-71. Unless of course there is a former SR-71 pilot on this forum then they can possibly say that they were in the pattern with me. :)
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Oh they were long gone by the time I got there. Just the usual F-15s. I remember holding short of 5R for probably 30 minutes because one took the cable.

Shoguns!

 
vkhosid said:
OAK is Class C...but still, which runway?
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and here I thought it was a Bravo. I knew I was in B aitspace but didn't care to know it was a C airport.
Landed there twice. C208B straight from Black Rock City Nevada. And another time in a DA50EX
 
NJP_MAN said:
and here I thought it was a Bravo. I knew I was in B aitspace but didn't care to know it was a C airport.
Landed there twice. C208B straight from Black Rock City Nevada. And another time in a DA50EX
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Lol...technically, its below the SFO Class B. And you can get in/out without having to enter the SFO Class B
 
midlifeflyer said:
You remind me... Do you recall the GA fly-in into DIA before it officially opened? It was sponsored by the city and, if I recall correctly, it was part of an exercise for the controllers at the new field. I still display my landing certificate from the event.
We were lucky. When we got to the FBO, there was a KOA reporter who got there too late for a flight she was going to take. So we had the pleasure of an extra passenger for a fun flight.
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Forgot about that. But the airshow was spectacular.
 
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