by rgrazian » Fri Feb 01, 2013 1:25 pm
Hi Keith,
I had a few spare minutes today and watched the VFR planning video. Great Job…!!! I plan my flights almost exactly the same way and picked up a couple of tips. I’m originally from Dallas and learned to fly in this BUSY area. Since moving back to town, I fly out of Addison (KADS) fairly often (I’m doing my IFR with an instructor based there), otherwise it’s T67 (Hicks in Ft Worth) in my buddy’s Lance II. First of all, with all the great airports in the area (with very easy access via car), why did you need to land at the beast called DFW? Anyway, I digress.
The one item I want to point out about this or any class Bravo area is… Be prepared…! I’m sure the real SoCal is even busier than Dallas. Having been on PE for only a few weeks, I think the biggest difference from real world is the lack of copious conflicting traffic, thus work (for both pilots and controllers). Your controllers are busy, but the planes are all spread out. In real world flying (especially in Dallas), there are planes EVERYWHERE…! “Follow this guy, give way to that guy, traffic here, traffic there, traffic everywhere”. Thus, there are some things that happen that don’t show up on the charts. For example, when landing Addison, the ATIS instructs inbound VFR aircraft to contact approach for landing sequencing. Addison is a Delta airport but operates kinda like a Charlie for inbound VFR traffic not on advisories.
I’m flying the Lance to Galveston in the morning, so I’m off to plan the flight! We’ll have Houston’s bravo to deal with and it’s my first trip to KGLS, so I need to study a bit so I can sweet talk my way through. Hopefully, I’ll get a quick flight in on PE tonight after a planning margarita (limit, one). I have to fly tomorrow, after all…
The 911 story is classic along with the jump starter…! Awesome…! If you’re ever back in Dallas, look me up! We’ll go fly!
Rob G.
Private Pilot
Instrument Airplane; ASEL