Nashville: BNA vs MQY

BrianR

BrianR

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BrianR
My daughter is living/working in Nashville for the summer. I've never been there, and she has been after me to come visit for weeks now. If the weather and airplane maintenance gods cooperate, I plan to take the Mooney down next week. I'll be VFR.

Normally, the airport choice would be a no-brainer. One of our club members just returned from there, and he used, and recommended, KMQY (Smyrna).

However, my daughter's apartment is practically across the street from BNA.

There really isn't a lot of info on GA operations at BNA on AirNav or in the ForeFlight comments...other than the usual, "...they only want the jet crowd..."

Sure, I can call the FBOs and get their rates, but what say the experts here? More trouble/expense than it's worth? Or not that much of an issue? I fly in and out of a class C all the time, albeit a relatively quiet one. I don't think BNA really fits that description.
 
Sorry, can't really offer anything on BNA.

On our trip out to Nashville we used John C Tune, KJWN. Great service and rental brought out to the plane. We did pick a nice fuel/lunch stop at Big Sandy, K22, in Prestonsburg, KY., friendly folks, good eats and fuel prices at that time.

I avoid landing fees and try not to give any business to the folks who don't want anything but the jet A crowd, but that's just me. I call and compare fees, rental costs and access to where I need to go. I highly recommend a GPS for traveling, their interstate system is like someone spilled out a bag of ribbons.....the GPS made travel very easy.
 
I have flown into KBNA and had a good experience. The controllers were very friendly. The FBO welcomed me in. Yes, they have higher fees and fuel prices than KJWN but call ahead as they will waive some fees with some fuel purchase. So yes you will pay a little more, but to answer your question it is not that much of a deal going in there as a piston. Be aware of the FBO location and likely taxi instructions; I put my taxi to FBO instructions on Airnav.
 
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I landed out at Lebanon because my friends live in Mt. Juliet, but boy the controllers were friendly. They let me come in through a gap in arrivals and did a couple of loops around downtown for sightseeing.
 
BrianR said:
Sure, I can call the FBOs and get their rates, but what say the experts here? More trouble/expense than it's worth? Or not that much of an issue? I fly in and out of a class C all the time, albeit a relatively quiet one. I don't think BNA really fits that description.
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I stopped in BNA when bringing the 'kota home for the first time. Dropped rental car there was only reason for stop. Anyway, Signature waived all fees 'cause my CFI used to work for Sig at a different airport. Controllers were the usual "we service all" crowd ya see everywhere but Chicago. I departed from the center runway while a 737 was on approach to one of the parallels and of course another 737 had just departed. Kept the airport diagram handy and it was no big deal. Specifically the controllers didn't complain about the intermittent transponder.
 
Landed at tunes as they are friendlier to us little piston guys.
 
I like MQY - friendly folks, nice airport, easy in/out. It was a usual fuel stop for me, hung out at the FBO for a few hours one time waiting for a squall line to pass.
 
Hi Brian. I would second or third the John Tune suggestion. Very friendly, east to get in, and you can rent a car for 6 hours (and they bring it out on the ramp for you). Tune is very close to downtown Nashville, actually closer than BNA. That's where I always go.
 
As another alternative I have worked out of M91, Springfield TN. Very open and friendly. Maintenance and avionics on the airport.
 
If she's that close to BNA that is where I'd go. For a larger airport, it's definitely GA friendly. (M91 is probably nice but not close for the drive.)
 
I was based at BNA for a year or so before moving to MQY. I moved for hangar availability, but if she's that close to BNA, there's no reason not to go there. The driving route from MQY to BNA is not particularly convenient.
 
BrianR said:
Sounds like that would have been a cool place.
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I had a meeting with the Gaylord folks back around 2000. The windows in the boardroom at their corporate office overlooks the river with Cornelia Fort on the opposite bank. It was very picturesque and I thought, "I'm gonna' land there one day." Never did...
 
BNA is friendly, but the FBO is hard to find. Fuel is pricey, too, but what is "across the street" convenience worth? Friendly controllers, nice FBO, easy rental cars.

I've heard many good things about Tune, also.

Have a good trip! Departing on the Center runway is interesting, and the shortest taxi.
 
Just wanted to come back and close the loop on this thread for benefit of future readers. I did indeed end up going VFR to BNA. Since my Nashville destination was literally five minutes away, it just didn't make sense to use an outlying airport. Kept the Mooney at Signature there for four days. I called the tower (by phone) and asked when would be the best time of day to take some Nashville passengers on a sightseeing tour over downtown, and they said, "Whenever you want," and it was quite enjoyable and painless.

I landed and departed on both the center and east runways, and yeah, it was cool on the parallel approach next to a line of airliners!

I did find the taxiway layout a little confusing, despite having ForeFlight's interactive taxi diagram in front of me (and FORANE, I did read your description on AirNav). My excuse was, there was a lot of construction going on, with multiple taxiway closures. Regardless, the ground controller didn't get ticked off at all when I took a couple wrong turns. When I departed this afternoon, the clearance/ground controller engaged in a half-minute conversation about flying a Mooney nonstop 600+ miles! They were definitely the most friendly controllers I've encountered.

It wasn't exactly cheap, but didn't break the bank either. Signature's $31 "handling fee" -- whatever that is -- was waived. Tiedown on the ramp is $10 per night, but they only charged for two nights, when I was there for four. 100LL is discounted 50 cents per gallon on the weekend.

Interestingly, I never saw another piston single until today when I left, which was a Saturday. There was a Bonanza and a Cirrus on the ramp, along with the usual biz jets.

In summary, it was a great experience, and I would not hesitate to use BNA/Signature again.
 
They were definitely the most friendly controllers I've encountered.
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There you go, Brian. You were in the South! Ya'll come back now, heah! :).
 
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