Flying in for GA Tech game?

[AlleyCat67]

I'm planning to fly my Tiger in for the day (or overnight) to Atlanta for a Georgia Tech football game. Would you recommend FTY, PDK, or some other GA airport in the area? I see past threads where the consensus is that FTY isn't great for basing a plane or leasing a hangar, but I'm not sure if that translates to a transient parking/services/fees.

 

[wayne]

Both are good options; I've been based at both previously, currently at RYY. I've give PDK the edge in that you can get the FBO to take you to the MARTA station and you can ride rail down to midtown; the North Avenue station is closest to the football stadium. Then you don't need a rental car or Rideshare.

 

[Dave Theisen]

Go to Athens for a UGA game instead.

 

[AlleyCat67]

Go to Athens for a UGA game instead.

Yeah, I'd much rather head to Athens, but my cousins are VTU fans, so we're going to root for the away team. Hopefully we make it out alive

 

[steingar]

I learned to fly my Mooney at PDK. Don't recall any nasty surprises fee wise, and there is a nice restaurant on the field if it matters. Big place, one of the biggest and busiest GA airports I've seen.

 

[kyleb]

Go to Athens for a UGA game instead.

‘Cause you’ll definitely be the smartest guy in the room.

 

[MtPJimB]

Yeah, I'd much rather head to Athens, but my cousins are VTU fans, so we're going to root for the away team. Hopefully we make it out alive

Shouldn't be any problems for you making it out. As a Citadel grad, went to the GT game 2 years ago when we beat GT in overtime and had no issues with the home team fans even after suffering an unexpected loss.

 

[EdFred]

As someone headed into that area, anyone dealt with Hill at FTY. I am flying a group of us down and that's the closest to our destination. Well Hartsfield is closer, but, well, Hartsfield.

I looked at rampfee.me but I am not sure I trust that site since people have listed Signature as having 0 fees, and we know that is never the case with Signature unless under a CMF callsign

 

[Dave Theisen]

They are good folks at Hill, but I really can’t tell you what their fee structure is. The area around the airport really isn’t the best section of town.

I’m partial to Epps at PDK, (ok, I work there ). I’d have to ask to see what our current fees are. I do know that fuel is 50 cents off on weekends.

 

[EdFred]

They are good folks at Hill, but I really can’t tell you what their fee structure is. The area around the airport really isn’t the best section of town.

I’m partial to Epps at PDK, (ok, I work there ). I’d have to ask to see what our current fees are. I do know that fuel is 50 cents off on weekends.

We are going into East Point, it's for a bachelor party and sister of one of the guys has 2 airbnb we are staying at. Looked at Hill's website. $20 parking. No other fees.


Also if IFR in a Comanche (or Cherokee 6) am I going to get a STAR ?

 

[wayne]

As someone headed into that area, anyone dealt with Hill at FTY. I am flying a group of us down and that's the closest to our destination. Well Hartsfield is closer, but, well, Hartsfield.

I looked at rampfee.me but I am not sure I trust that site since people have listed Signature as having 0 fees, and we know that is never the case with Signature unless under a CMF callsign

We are going into East Point, it's for a bachelor party and sister of one of the guys has 2 airbnb we are staying at. Looked at Hill's website. $20 parking. No other fees.

Also if IFR in a Comanche (or Cherokee 6) am I going to get a STAR ?

Hill is good at FTY. Or as Dave said, Epps at PDK.

IFR, yes you will get a STAR. Coming from Michigan it would be BUKHD THREE, DEHAN THREE or DIFFI FOUR, depending upon your route. BUKHD and DEHAN are the two most likely from Michigan. BUKHD is pronounced Buckhead, like the area in Atlanta.

I fly a single piston into here IFR and I get a STAR pretty much every time; got them in the Baron too. Typically they are not on the initial flight plan / IFR release, but once you get near you get, "Nxxxxx, I have an amendment to your route. Tell me when you're ready to copy." Currently I'm based at RYY, but I've been based at PDK and FTY before with different planes.

Oh, 18nm to the west is 20GA and private airfield that is open to the public. 100LL is $2+ / gal cheaper than at FTY. So, if you need a bunch....

 

[wayne]

I learned to fly my Mooney at PDK. Don't recall any nasty surprises fee wise, and there is a nice restaurant on the field if it matters. Big place, one of the biggest and busiest GA airports I've seen.

Steingar is not kidding. PDK is the second busiest airport in Georiga; a far distant second to Hartsfield though. It's busier than many Class C airports I've been to, but then so is RYY and LZU. If that bothers you, FTY may be a better choice as it only has 1/3 the traffic of PDK. It's not chaos, just busy. Busy enough that it has a separate Clearance frequency, unlike using Ground at most Class D airports I've been to. Good tower and ground people though, so it is a good option. Plus, riding MARTA rail could be a good benefit with the crazy rental car prices.

Some people wig out about being #4 on arrival and using parallel runways.

 

[EdFred]

Hill is good at FTY. Or as Dave said, Epps at PDK.

IFR, yes you will get a STAR. Coming from Michigan it would be BUKHD THREE, DEHAN THREE or DIFFI FOUR, depending upon your route. BUKHD and DEHAN are the two most likely from Michigan. BUKHD is pronounced Buckhead, like the area in Atlanta.

I fly a single piston into here IFR and I get a STAR pretty much every time; got them in the Baron too. Typically they are not on the initial flight plan / IFR release, but once you get near you get, "Nxxxxx, I have an amendment to your route. Tell me when you're ready to copy." Currently I'm based at RYY, but I've been based at PDK and FTY before with different planes.

Oh, 18nm to the west is 20GA and private airfield that is open to the public. 100LL is $2+ / gal cheaper than at FTY. So, if you need a bunch....

Thanks for the info. Got a question on the DEHAN3.

The segment from AWSON to DEHAN says 4000. But then it says DEHAN expect 8000 with the upper and lower lines. Soooooo......

 

[wayne]

Thanks for the info. Got a question on the DEHAN3.

The segment from AWSON to DEHAN says 4000. But then it says DEHAN expect 8000 with the upper and lower lines. Soooooo......

You actually read it?

Looking at my track from Sunday they had me descend to 6,000 in there; I started at 10,000. Storm cells were keeping me off the track, so not a great estimate on where I crossed AWSON as I didn't cross AWSON due to heavy precip. Looks like I started descending for 4000 around TFALS.

I don't see it on this STAR, but they often run the pistons lower than the turboprops which are lower than the jets. The WRGNZ arrival spells that out, but you won't be on that one as it comes up from the south-southeast; I get that one coming home from Florida or south Georgia. Atlanta Arrival may be doing something similar on the DEHAN3 without it spelled out.

 

[EdFred]

You actually read it?

Looking at my track from Sunday they had me descend to 6,000 in there; I started at 10,000. Storm cells were keeping me off the track, so not a great estimate on where I crossed AWSON as I didn't cross AWSON due to heavy precip. Looks like I started descending for 4000 around TFALS.

I don't see it on this STAR, but they often run the pistons lower than the turboprops which are lower than the jets. The WRGNZ arrival spells that out, but you won't be on that one as it comes up from the south-southeast; I get that one coming home from Florida or south Georgia. Atlanta Arrival may be doing something similar on the DEHAN3 without it spelled out.

You bet I did. I always check out all the approaches and STARs on fields I might go into well before I make the flight. I had already looked at all the STARs and saw those 3 were ones I might get, depending on wind and approach. Saw the 4000 8000 disagreement.

 

[TheFB]

Shouldn't be any problems for you making it out. As a Citadel grad, went to the GT game 2 years ago when we beat GT in overtime and had no issues with the home team fans even after suffering an unexpected loss.

That’s because they never expect to win.
A UGA game at Tech normally has more UGA fans than Tech.

Back to the subject, PDK is legitimately kind to GA. They surely prefer big iron, but so much better than others.

 

[AlleyCat67]

Thanks everyone... sounds like PDK is the best option, considering that rental cars are unobtanium these days.
I recently inquired about renting a compact car for two nights at a Northeastern FBO, and was quoted a price of $220. Whelp... MARTA in Atlanta sounds like a pretty good deal!

 

[CJones]

We are going into East Point, it's for a bachelor party and sister of one of the guys has 2 airbnb we are staying at.

Leave nothing valuable in your car. Can be a rough area. Have fun at GoldRush.

 

[EdFred]

Leave nothing valuable in your car. Can be a rough area. Have fun at GoldRush.

We aren't getting a car. Just doing the Uber thing. Not even sure exactly what's going on, since the groom is like, "look unless I'm taking it back home, I don't really have a big interests in strip clubs."