Finding an airport's CTAF callup name?

Pilawt said:
How's this?

:D
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Keeping the earthlings out...

Second picture is of the runway.
 
Pilawt said:
Years ago the government-published approach plates were arranged alphabetically by airport name, instead of city. I was looking for Fox Field in Lancaster CA (KWJF).

'L' for Lancaster? No.
'F' for Fox? Nope.
'W' for William J. Fox Field? Uh-uh.

It was under 'G' ... General William J. Fox Airfield, thank you very much.

:D
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Well now I know why the identifier is WJF (although I suppose they could have used GWF).
 
Seanaldinho said:
Same. Seemed like all the army guys called it South Alabama Regional though.
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Rib night! Actually I hate ribs so I usually opted for chicken fingers. Then again, usually I went with Florala and BBQ pork sandwiches instead of Andalusia. :wink2:
 
Old Geek said:
Does anyone know of a directory of the commonly used callup names for some of the smaller airports?
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I always just use the name of the town or airport....Aurora Tower, Rochelle Traffic, Champaign Approach, etc.
 
TexasAviation said:
All I know is, whoever named it "Greater Green River Intergalactic" is probably somebody I'd like to hang out with :)

That's just funny.
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I met someone here in town who originally came from Green River and knew the mayor who came up with the name. From what I heard ... you're right.

The full name, in the A/FD, is "Greater Green River Intergalactic Spaceport".

:D

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Velocity173 said:
Rib night! Actually I hate ribs so I usually opted for chicken fingers. Then again, usually I went with Florala and BBQ pork sandwiches instead of Andalusia. :wink2:
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Im with ya on the chicken fingers! Florala has that great breakfast buffet right? I flew in there a few times but never stopped to eat.
 
Seanaldinho said:
Im with ya on the chicken fingers! Florala has that great breakfast buffet right? I flew in there a few times but never stopped to eat.
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Actually never got there early enough for breakfast. I was a afternoon & nights guy.
 
Clark1961 said:
If you are flying to Vance Brand on purpose you'd know that you are going to Longmont. It's really not as tough as you are trying to make it.
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I think his point was that there are often a number of airports using the same frequency that are all readable at the same time and it makes things more confusing when you cant figure out where someone is. I've certainly been flying in unfamiliar areas and been questioning where people were on the radio. Maybe Longmont is well known or obvious, but I've see plenty that weren't.

Hell the other day I was flying around a practice area roughly above my own house and heard a guy on the air to air frequency calling out a location I had never heard before. Turns out he was only a couple miles north of me, and with both of us doing training maneuvers there were times where we were within what I would consider uncomfortable range.
 
StinkBug said:
I think his point was that there are often a number of airports using the same frequency that are all readable at the same time and it makes things more confusing when you cant figure out where someone is. I've certainly been flying in unfamiliar areas and been questioning where people were on the radio. Maybe Longmont is well known or obvious, but I've see plenty that weren't. .
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My point is that a pilot should be aware of the destination town name. It isn't that difficult.
 
T82 is Gillespie County Airport, at Fredericksburg, Texas; some folks call it "Fredericksburg," but most say "Glespy Cow Traffic."

Dr. Dave observed that, and he's right.

KRBD was, from its inception, Redbird Airport (see the code?), but it has for some inexplicable reason been renamed, "Dallas Executive," and while I don't intend to do so, I sometimes still call it that, which seems to irk controllers.
 
I would occasionally get controllers who would give me a clearance starting with, "cleared to the Arapahoe County airport....". I think they meant it as an inside joke. I haven't heard that in a while, probably because all the controllers who knew it as that are retired. KAPA has been Centennial Airport since the early 1980s.
 
Clark1961 said:
My point is that a pilot should be aware of the destination town name. It isn't that difficult.
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And if the airport is being called something other than the towns name, and also something other than what's on the chart?
 
Everskyward said:
I would occasionally get controllers who would give me a clearance starting with, "cleared to the Arapahoe County airport....". I think they meant it as an inside joke. I haven't heard that in a while, probably because all the controllers who knew it as that are retired. KAPA has been Centennial Airport since the early 1980s.
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It's still Arapahoe to me. It's also still Jeffco and not Rocky Mountain International Spaceport or whatever they're calling BJC to me :)

Potomac Tracon seems to take it in stride when I call them Dulles Departure.
 
DJTorrente said:
I find the AeroNav airport diagrams to be the most reliable source for what to call a particular control tower. For example in New York, the sectional margin lists "Long Island Mac Arthur" and "John F Kennedy Intl"; the airport diagrams will tell you to call "Long Island Tower" (not "Mac Arthur Tower" -- though the tower controllers will usually answer you as "Long Island Tower" by way of gentle correction), or "Kennedy Tower".

Not sure what to do for uncontrolled fields other than listen if available and follow custom if able.
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Haven't flown in there yet but I would have tried "Islip Tower" if I didn't hear anyone else on the freq first.... thanks for the heads up!
 
The correct name, at least for towered fields, is in the A/FD under communications. For instance, the KISP entry lists "Long Island Tower" and the KSMF entry lists "Capitol Tower", to address a couple of examples given in this thread.

The CTAF call up name? That one I don't have a good answer for. "All traffic in the vicinity of xxx Airport, please advise"? :goofy:
 
At my home airport in Connersville (CEV) It is listed at Mettel Field on the sectional. I here people call it that sometimes. We always use Connersville.

I usually here Fayette County Traffic too.. Since Connersville is in Fayette County, IN... The interesting thing is this... There is a Fayette County, OH on the same CTAF frequency 122.8 and it always makes me even more alert when I am on final and I hear someone yelp out that they are on final for Fayette county.. then they say the runway number... :)
 
I think, in general, that when there is only one public airport in a town, most people use the town name rather than the official name, which may be the name of a person in history unfamiliar to everyone except locals. The exception is when it is xxx County. I have heard KRIL referred to as both Garfield County and Rifle about equally. Same with Fremont County AKA Cañon City.
 
Everskyward said:
I think, in general, that when there is only one public airport in a town, most people use the town name rather than the official name, which may be the name of a person in history unfamiliar to everyone except locals. The exception is when it is xxx County. I have heard KRIL referred to as both Garfield County and Rifle about equally. Same with Fremont County AKA Cañon City.
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and then there are the "Regional" airports...I don't care much but Akron is still Akron and shouldn't a "Regional" airport at least have *some* activity?
 
Clark1961 said:
and then there are the "Regional" airports...I don't care much but Akron is still Akron and shouldn't a "Regional" airport at least have *some* activity?
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It's an empty region...
 
Everskyward said:
It's an empty region...
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Kind of like Central Jersey Regional Airport. Frankly, not a whole lot of people would know what region "central Jersey" entails. At least I know where Akron is. 47N will always be Kupper to me (or Manville). Calling it a "regional" airport is delusions of grandeur, there are nicer airports in the region.

As for Akron, not a bad airport. Stopped there one year on the way to Oshkosh and it had a decent Italian restaurant in the old terminal. Flying in, I could see some odd thing I couldn't identify until I got closer and then I knew (having spent a lot of time in Sunnyvale over the years) that it was a blimp hangar. The "Rubber Bowl" and the "All American Soapbox Derby" track are right off the field.

When my son ran the Soapbox Derby his sister was impressed that winning the local contest got you a free trip to Akron. I told her second prize was two trips to Akron.
 
flyingron said:
Kind of like Central Jersey Regional Airport. Frankly, not a whole lot of people would know what region "central Jersey" entails. At least I know where Akron is. 47N will always be Kupper to me (or Manville). Calling it a "regional" airport is delusions of grandeur, there are nicer airports in the region.



As for Akron, not a bad airport. Stopped there one year on the way to Oshkosh and it had a decent Italian restaurant in the old terminal. Flying in, I could see some odd thing I couldn't identify until I got closer and then I knew (having spent a lot of time in Sunnyvale over the years) that it was a blimp hangar. The "Rubber Bowl" and the "All American Soapbox Derby" track are right off the field.



When my son ran the Soapbox Derby his sister was impressed that winning the local contest got you a free trip to Akron. I told her second prize was two trips to Akron.
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I know where "Central Jersey" is. I grew up there...

I also suspect you and Clark are not thinking of the same Akron.
 
Moisant Tower is a lot easier to say than Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, and even though "Moisant" hasn't been in the AF/D or on a sectional for at least 20 years, that's still what it's called by most.

Adams Tower is a lot easier to say (and doesn't make one want to puke) than Bill and Hillary Clinton National, and so most people flying into Little Rock will probably always ignore the proper name.
 
Everskyward said:
I know where "Central Jersey" is. I grew up there...

I also suspect you and Clark are not thinking of the same Akron.
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Well I was going to admit that I missed the blimp hangar and the restaurant, much less the terminal....I did see a couple planes take-off once though...

I go over there to practise GPS and VOR approaches. I've seen activity there once.
 
You don't need the name if you call up with ATITAPA :D

:stirpot:
 
I remember Littleton Airport. A little airstrip south of Denver between the highway to Castle Rock and the river. Near Sedelia.

Now what were we talking about. Oh yeah, names. Best way is to listen on the frequency and call it what he does. Now if you don't know, just look at the chart and use that or the AFD. I guess in desperation you could use the letter ID. Any of that will work. If you use the wrong name, you will be known and a newcomer, but that's not a bad thing.
 
The airport diagram has the tower name.
 
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