Tracon Consolidation

NealRomeoGolf

NealRomeoGolf

Final Approach
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Farmer Jim (aka @Jim K ) clued me in on my local tracon being consolidated. It made me sad. Apparently it was announced back in 2017. Being a native Chicagoan, I detest all things St. Louis. Now my tracon is going to be staffed there. The guys at Peoria tracon are top notch and very friendly. When I've flown through St. Louis....well, not always the nicest. Oh well. I hope my favorite Peoria guy still shows up on the radio from time to time after the consolidation.

https://www.aopa.org/-/media/Files/...ty-Consolidation-Fact-Sheet/Part-3-Report.pdf

I have passed through the denial phase and have now gone into mourning. Too bad they didn't give it to C90 so @Radar Contact could get bored guiding me into 3MY. :)
 
I was really surprised to hear him say that. It was a really great presentation. He mentioned that they got the memo allowing facility tours, so you ought to get over there while you can. He said most of the pia controllers would get moved to stl. I wonder how much longer cmi approach will last. Hate to see the loss of local knowledge & connection.
 
NealRomeoGolf said:
Farmer Jim (aka @Jim K ) clued me in on my local tracon being consolidated. It made me sad. Apparently it was announced back in 2017. Being a native Chicagoan, I detest all things St. Louis. Now my tracon is going to be staffed there. The guys at Peoria tracon are top notch and very friendly. When I've flown through St. Louis....well, not always the nicest. Oh well. I hope my favorite Peoria guy still shows up on the radio from time to time after the consolidation.

https://www.aopa.org/-/media/Files/...ty-Consolidation-Fact-Sheet/Part-3-Report.pdf

I have passed through the denial phase and have now gone into mourning. Too bad they didn't give it to C90 so @Radar Contact could get bored guiding me into 3MY. :)
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If your favorite guy is one of the ones who moves to St Louis, you may find you will be hearing more of him. He won’t be splitting his time between Approach and Tower anymore.
 
NealRomeoGolf said:
Farmer Jim (aka @Jim K ) clued me in on my local tracon being consolidated. It made me sad. Apparently it was announced back in 2017. Being a native Chicagoan, I detest all things St. Louis. Now my tracon is going to be staffed there. The guys at Peoria tracon are top notch and very friendly. When I've flown through St. Louis....well, not always the nicest. Oh well. I hope my favorite Peoria guy still shows up on the radio from time to time after the consolidation.

https://www.aopa.org/-/media/Files/...ty-Consolidation-Fact-Sheet/Part-3-Report.pdf

I have passed through the denial phase and have now gone into mourning. Too bad they didn't give it to C90 so @Radar Contact could get bored guiding me into 3MY. :)
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While I would have enjoyed working you into 3MY, my guess is C90 is in no position to take on anything additional. Hopefully they still retain some of your favorites when they consolidate.
 
Radar Contact said:
While I would have enjoyed working you into 3MY, my guess is C90 is in no position to take on anything additional. Hopefully they still retain some of your favorites when they consolidate.
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Yeah, the FAA memo clearly stated that putting us in C90 was a no go. T75 has half your traffic.
 
Reviving my old thread. Peoria is moving to St Louis effective this Sunday. I am sad.
 
We lost Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo Muskegon, Lansing, Flint, and Saginaw Approach to the renamed Great Lakes Approach in Kalamazoo a few years back.
 
So it turns out, not only did Peoria Approach (and Springfield) move physically to St. Louis, we now have to call them St. Louis approach. I guess I should've expected this, just like the Great Lakes Approach thing. This may cause me to move, as I dislike all things St. Louis.

What would the FAA do to me if I refuse to call them the correct name and always used Peoria Approach instead? Uh, asking for a friend.
 
NealRomeoGolf said:
So it turns out, not only did Peoria Approach (and Springfield) move physically to St. Louis, we now have to call them St. Louis approach. I guess I should've expected this, just like the Great Lakes Approach thing. This may cause me to move, as I dislike all things St. Louis.

What would the FAA do to me if I refuse to call them the correct name and always used Peoria Approach instead? Uh, asking for a friend.
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They would answer with STL approach. Happens all the time after consolidation. I still hear pilots call it “Richmond Approach” even after they got consolidated into Potomac Tracon 19 years ago.
 
NealRomeoGolf said:
So it turns out, not only did Peoria Approach (and Springfield) move physically to St. Louis, we now have to call them St. Louis approach. I guess I should've expected this, just like the Great Lakes Approach thing. This may cause me to move, as I dislike all things St. Louis.

What would the FAA do to me if I refuse to call them the correct name and always used Peoria Approach instead? Uh, asking for a friend.
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Ain’t no thang. Have some fun. Call them Spalooey Approach or something like that.
 
I like to use “Approach”. I was in Texas once and I got handed off to Gray approach - I was unfamiliar with the area and couldn’t for the life of me get the name right until the controller told - like the color - Approach alone might have made things simpler then. Ptown approach is on the same frequency as Memphis Approach (125.8) and I’ve heard FEDEX flights call Memphis Approach more than once when flying around Peoria - suppose using the location helps there. Seems to me years ago Peoria tower also used to be on one of Milwaukee’s frequencies - used to occasionally hear them also - they eventually changes Peoria’s tower frequency to 124.0 - always wondered if that was why.

Relatedly, my life’s best twilight zone moment was years ago near Champaign when talking to Champaign approach and an Atlanta controller started hearing me and I started hearing him. It only lasted for about 3 minutes but was long enough to get the ATL controller real ****ed about someone on his frequency who wasn’t supposed to be. It was a strangely cloudy day and my HAM buddies tell me when things get just right it can happen.
 
So I could not resist looking back on my Champaign approach twilight zone moment - so the frequency I was on was 121.35 which is Champaign’s North approach frequency. 12.35 is also Atlanta Center’s Sector 49 “LOGEN Low” frequency. Interestingly, that Atlanta center remote transmit is on Mt Oglethorpe around 3600 msl - thus, go figure!
 
I think the tower guys here at KBMI have given up after having to correct themselves ("contact Peoria, correction St. Louis departure") after the switch and have just gone to "contact departure, have a good day".
 
I haven't flown since the move. Maybe I'll just call them Peoria St Lou Approach.
 
baboss said:
I think the tower guys here at KBMI have given up after having to correct themselves ("contact Peoria, correction St. Louis departure") after the switch and have just gone to "contact departure, have a good day".
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Was in BMI Wednesday. What is up with your tower guys? That tiny little tower surely couldn't support the length and breadth of stick up his empennage. And we were his only customer that morning.

I took a comment card from the FBO soliciting my input about your tower staff. I'm crafting my words still.
 
schmookeeg said:
Was in BMI Wednesday. What is up with your tower guys? That tiny little tower surely couldn't support the length and breadth of stick up his empennage. And we were his only customer that morning.

I took a comment card from the FBO soliciting my input about your tower staff. I'm crafting my words still.
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So what happened?
 
luvflyin said:
So what happened?
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Morning flight, literally nobody around -- we wanted to do a local city tour for my client's parents and show off his new plane. Immediate attitude on first callup asking for a scenic loop -- "you want to what?" "fly around the city" "Well where do you wanna go?" "basically all around the town at about 2000'" "for how long?" "10, 15 minutes or so" "well I need you to remain clear of the runway centerline" "okay how about we remain south initially?" ... "okay, remain well clear to the south" -- then airborne we wanted to check out the north side of the town, same inquisition pattern repeated all over again.

We were up for about 20 minutes, and not. one. single. other. plane. came in, making me wonder what all the fuss was about.

Ever get that "go away" vibe from a tower controller? That was him. We were interrupting a very important sudoku or porn browse sesh or something, and he wanted us to just die and crawl away.

Luckily the parents seemed none the wiser. :D

When I loudly expressed glee at the "comment card" discovery at the FBO, the desk girls like combo lit up and cringed -- and I asked "so that guy, huh?" "YES we get so many complaints!" -- so it's apparently a problem.
 
schmookeeg said:
Morning flight, literally nobody around -- we wanted to do a local city tour for my client's parents and show off his new plane. Immediate attitude on first callup asking for a scenic loop -- "you want to what?" "fly around the city" "Well where do you wanna go?" "basically all around the town at about 2000'" "for how long?" "10, 15 minutes or so" "well I need you to remain clear of the runway centerline" "okay how about we remain south initially?" ... "okay, remain well clear to the south" -- then airborne we wanted to check out the north side of the town, same inquisition pattern repeated all over again.

We were up for about 20 minutes, and not. one. single. other. plane. came in, making me wonder what all the fuss was about.

Ever get that "go away" vibe from a tower controller? That was him. We were interrupting a very important sudoku or porn browse sesh or something, and he wanted us to just die and crawl away.

Luckily the parents seemed none the wiser. :D

When I loudly expressed glee at the "comment card" discovery at the FBO, the desk girls like combo lit up and cringed -- and I asked "so that guy, huh?" "YES we get so many complaints!" -- so it's apparently a problem.
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Oh, that guy. I know him. Well not actually him, but he has a few clones out there.
 
schmookeeg said:
Morning flight, literally nobody around -- we wanted to do a local city tour for my client's parents and show off his new plane. Immediate attitude on first callup asking for a scenic loop -- "you want to what?" "fly around the city" "Well where do you wanna go?" "basically all around the town at about 2000'" "for how long?" "10, 15 minutes or so" "well I need you to remain clear of the runway centerline" "okay how about we remain south initially?" ... "okay, remain well clear to the south" -- then airborne we wanted to check out the north side of the town, same inquisition pattern repeated all over again.

We were up for about 20 minutes, and not. one. single. other. plane. came in, making me wonder what all the fuss was about.

Ever get that "go away" vibe from a tower controller? That was him. We were interrupting a very important sudoku or porn browse sesh or something, and he wanted us to just die and crawl away.

Luckily the parents seemed none the wiser. :D

When I loudly expressed glee at the "comment card" discovery at the FBO, the desk girls like combo lit up and cringed -- and I asked "so that guy, huh?" "YES we get so many complaints!" -- so it's apparently a problem.
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I'm glad we don't have comment cards.
 
:goofy:
Timbeck2 said:
I'm glad we don't have comment cards.
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You should put one down in Base Ops. Comment/Suggestions cards on a table and a box to drop them in hanging on the wall above it. Box has no bottom. The table also has a paper shredder on it under the box.
 
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I have had more instances where I wished for an ATC "Tip Jar" than I've wished for a comment card.
 
To be fair, if someone called me up for a tour over the city I’d ask questions too. I need that information to keep you away from the helicopter enroute to that hospital, the drone over at these cross streets and I want to protect my arrival and my departure centerlines.

i get the same request too. Not that any of this applies to your situation, but a lot of pilots think that they are the only ones in the sky and should be approved to just fly willy nilly anywhere they want. Then said pilots complain about ATC because they weren’t given traffic on that helicopter that flew within 600’ of them.

It would have helped mr grumpy if you had been more specific in your request. I’m just sayin…

I get requests to fly over the boneyard all the time. Due to a federal notam that was implemented after 9-11 we are no longer allowed to approve that. Plus recently someone flew over while in Tucson tracon’s airspace and took a long lens pic of an F-16 they were outfitting for secret squirrel stuff and posted it on the internet. The AMARC commander lost his chit and demanded ATC stop flights over the boneyard. It wasn’t my tower’s fault yet we still got the blame. Now pilot’s use every trick they can think of to fly over the boneyard such as request a heading that takes them over the boneyard and once there they change their mind and request another heading that keeps them there as long as they can. Or they say they want to overfly a golf course next to the boneyard. It never ends. Personally, I don’t care but I’m not about to lose my job over it. I’ll be as grumpy as I have to in order to keep my job.
 
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Yeah if the first response had been "ok but I have a helo coming in..." we'd have folded ourselves in half trying to be agreeable and no nuisance to anyone. Instead, just got the 20 questions grouch game, plus, no helicopter ever manifested.

I'm actually mostly over it, as evidenced by I forgot where I put the comment card and haven't gone looking.

...the Rivian plant was neat to look at while we dragged our cashews all through his little class-D fiefdom. Next time we'll do it at 2,501 feet NORDO and he can gargle them.

...I do actually expect to be cleared anywhere reasonable that I request, or be told unable and I'll give benefit of the doubt that there's a good reason (such as local tweaked colonel who make ATC's life hell). If there is no traffic in the class D, I expect to be able to use it to the fullest extent possible. Or given instructions on how to fit with the other puzzle pieces I may or may not know about or understand.

When it annoys me again and I feel like channelling some Karenpower, I'll find the card and write someone a howler. More likely though it will appear after a thorough wash cycle as a lint ball, and that will be my missed opportunity. :D

It was a contract tower if it matters.
 
I thank you for taking my post in the manner I intended. I get grumpy too especially if it involves C-130s but that’s another issue and the fact that I haven’t flown since the end of March but a lot of that is self-inflicted
 
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schmookeeg said:
Yeah if the first response had been "ok but I have a helo coming in..." we'd have folded ourselves in half trying to be agreeable and no nuisance to anyone. Instead, just got the 20 questions grouch game, plus, no helicopter ever manifested.

I'm actually mostly over it, as evidenced by I forgot where I put the comment card and haven't gone looking.

...the Rivian plant was neat to look at while we dragged our cashews all through his little class-D fiefdom. Next time we'll do it at 2,501 feet NORDO and he can gargle them.

...I do actually expect to be cleared anywhere reasonable that I request, or be told unable and I'll give benefit of the doubt that there's a good reason (such as local tweaked colonel who make ATC's life hell). If there is no traffic in the class D, I expect to be able to use it to the fullest extent possible. Or given instructions on how to fit with the other puzzle pieces I may or may not know about or understand.

When it annoys me again and I feel like channelling some Karenpower, I'll find the card and write someone a howler. More likely though it will appear after a thorough wash cycle as a lint ball, and that will be my missed opportunity. :D

It was a contract tower if it matters.
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I think I know who you're talking about. To be fair, he shows up to the pilot/ controller q&a sessions the eaa has occasionally, and is friendly in person. I agree he's a grump on the radio though.
 
Jim K said:
I think I know who you're talking about. To be fair, he shows up to the pilot/ controller q&a sessions the eaa has occasionally, and is friendly in person. I agree he's a grump on the radio though.
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Why are we glossing over the fact that @schmookeeg was in our neighborhood and didn’t try to get a free lunch out of us?
 
schmookeeg said:
Was in BMI Wednesday. What is up with your tower guys? That tiny little tower surely couldn't support the length and breadth of stick up his empennage. And we were his only customer that morning.

I took a comment card from the FBO soliciting my input about your tower staff. I'm crafting my words still.
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Yep, I know the voice you're talking about but don't know him. I've had a few WTF moments with him. I needed to stick close to the airport for a couple post maintenance flights not terribly long ago and he made it way harder than it should have been. Wouldn't even let me orbit directly overhead well above the pattern. I should have just climbed above the D. Hell, Madison (KMSN) Tower let me loiter on the dead side of the airport with 0 hassle for the same type of flight a couple years ago.
 
On the trip to Arkansas from DPA I got passed to STL approach before I even reached Peoria. Unlike you guys I had no idea about the consolidation, so I thought this was definitely an error!
... But luckily they still answer to "Peoria" and "Springfield" app/dep, and even the controller(s) who passed me off used their legacy names :)
 
NealRomeoGolf said:
Why are we glossing over the fact that @schmookeeg was in our neighborhood and didn’t try to get a free lunch out of us?
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Haha fair -- I was with a dual instruction learner, having spent alllll day coming out of Maine into some seriously fierce headwinds. I'd have been a damp rag of exhaustion, and also passing on the local refreshments, other than water. You'd have been filling out comment cards about what a bore I was :D

Raincheck? I secretly want to arrange myself to be in that dude's airspace again, solo, with my own plane and a fund of time and avgas to spend as I please. The comment card is gone, but my memory is long, and my capacity for spiteful trolling near infinite.
 
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