Best airport to get to downtown Dallas

Jeanie

Jeanie

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Jeanie
My husband and I might be flying into Dallas from the west and need to go to downtown. North Harwood off Woodall Rogers. I don't want to fly into Love field... I'm thinking maybe Redbird or Lancaster?

Any local recommendations?
 
There is Addison, not far from Love. Frankly, I find Love to be easier to fly into than Addison, YMMV.

Both Addison and Love are GA friendly, close in, and not cheap.
 
Easy...Dallas Exec. Closest to Woodall Rogers by a long shot, other than Love Field of course.
 
I prefer Dallas Executive.... Ambassador gives great service. They treat a 182 like a Gulfstream. Jet Center is fine as well. Great restaurant on the field with a great bar and wine selection if you aren't flying.
 
I take it Dallas executive used to be Redbird
 
Jeanie said:
I take it Dallas executive used to be Redbird
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Correct. KRBD.

And +1 on the description of Ambassador.

Coming from the west, be mindful of the cluster of very tall towers near Cedar Hill.
 
KRBD it is then. And thanks for the reminder of the antenna forest ... I'm familiar with it but it's good to be reminded.
 
KDAL is closer, but I used to used Redbird (Exec) most of the time. Rental cars available.
 
Don't know why anyone would suggest KDAL. Too much heavy traffic going in there (SWA). "Caution wake turbulence" and expect a lot of vectoring if you're slow. And expensive.
 
RBD is fine, but I don't get the dislike of KDAL. Land on 17L/31R, park with Busness Jet, they'll treat you the same whether you have a jet or a perky little Citabria.
 
Jeanie said:
My husband and I might be flying into Dallas from the west and need to go to downtown. North Harwood off Woodall Rogers. I don't want to fly into Love field... I'm thinking maybe Redbird or Lancaster?

Any local recommendations?
Click to expand...

Love.

Its a "busy" 737 field BUT… they have several runways, they are used to small guys and if you can bring it in on a tight base and are used to talking to ATC then its a non issue. Its been years since I was there, but there was a very good FBO on the north side of the field next to the FSDO that had clean restrooms and rental cars on the property. Not sure they are still there.

Its the closest field to downtown.

I went in there several times in various spam cans and never had a problem.
 
If you go to Love, Business Jet is a vey nice FBO. I met ARFlyer (Andrew) there this past summer when he came in in one of his Maule's.
 
SCCutler said:
RBD is fine, but I don't get the dislike of KDAL. Land on 17L/31R, park with Busness Jet, they'll treat you the same whether you have a jet or a perky little Citabria.
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Agree. I have always been treated well at DAL and ended up on a "GA" runway without busy commercial jet traffic.
 
Only problem with Business Jet is that courtesy cars have 2 hour limit. It's a little farther but Meacham is easy .Dont have to worry about vectoring. Texas Jet will treat you great.
 
SCCutler said:
RBD is fine, but I don't get the dislike of KDAL. Land on 17L/31R, park with Busness Jet, they'll treat you the same whether you have a jet or a perky little Citabria.
Click to expand...

Traffic on 17L/31R seems to be much heavier now that the new terminal is open. That runway allows quicker access to Southwest gates.

Texastaildragger said:
Only problem with Business Jet is that courtesy cars have 2 hour limit. It's a little farther but Meacham is easy .Dont have to worry about vectoring. Texas Jet will treat you great.
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I was at Meacham earlier this week, the construction on 820 and 183 makes it pretty tough to get there and back from Dallas. But Texas Jet looks like a nice FBO. Not much traffic at Meacham...

I would choose KRBD. It's a nice airport.
 
BobThePilot said:
Don't know why anyone would suggest KDAL. Too much heavy traffic going in there (SWA). "Caution wake turbulence" and expect a lot of vectoring if you're slow. And expensive.
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Never had any problems going into DAL. I always used to enjoy the challenge of single pilot IFR into the DFW bravo and landing at DAL. Approach and tower were very accommodating, no vectoring, in fact one time they slotted me neatly between two SWA's on final and all I was asked for was best speed, which in a 182 going downhill was no problem. Another time I was asked to keep it tight and not do an XC circuit. Used to go to either DALFORT or Signature.

Lancaster is a bit out there IMHO if you need to get to downtown DAL.

Don't forget the local Bush permanent TFR (oxymoron alert) but ATC should keep you out of harms way. Best to bring your A-game, be very proficient on the radio and also go IFR. If I had a $ for every time I heard "aircraft calling Dallas approach, stay clear of Bravo" I'd be, well, slightly less poor!
 
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