if must be fun both RL and FS when you...

[legoalex2000]

fly a little cessna to a major airport. i know of some friends who own aircraft and have 'em tied-down at O'Hare, which they say is not cheap (signature flight, ick).

but the flying part, i mean, it's always dun when your flying a cessna, and the aircraft behind you holds 100x what your weight is. i love that feeling of power, until they tail-gate you (those damn speed demons ). does anyone here actually fly into big airports, such as O'Hare or Midway?

also, read the airnav reviews of airports
www.airnav.com

[Ben_M_K]

I know just what you mean, thought I'm not much for flying to big airports in FS, but it would be sweet to do it in real life!!

[beaky]

I started out in RL in a C150 at KTEB, and that was usually not fun. That and KALB are probably the two biggest fields I've flown to in light aircraft, and that's big enough for me. Landing fees, takeoff delays (also expensive!), taxiing for miles (the Hobbes is ticking... cha-ching!)... and having a CJ, Falcon, or GS screaming up your butt as you dive for the runway isn't as fun as it sounds, either ("Use best possible, you've got a Lear behind you on a two-mile final..."). Flew many "modified base" approaches at TEB, and actually earned a "nice drop!" from one of the crankier controllers there, one time. Sometimes it was interesting being among the big guys, but mostly it was a pain- for me, and for them, too, I'm sure.
 I can't imagine paying to keep a light single at the Signature ramp at O'Hare- cha-ching!! If it's in the hangar- even worse! May as well buy a nice expensive warbird and keep it at some uncontrolled strip.  And at most Class B airports, you need to reserve your spot for landing or takeoff weeks in advance, if I remember right. Then there's the fees...
Even in FS, if I'm flying a small plane, the smaller the airport, the better. More challenging; less annoying.

[legoalex2000]

oh no, it gets better, about signature. even when you pay for 20 gal. of gas, they still won't remove the ramp fee as a courtesy. fly in FS, you can still land at the airport, and they waive all the fee's. they deserve a good tip

i i forgot to say, if coming to chicago as GA, DO NOT land at O'Hare (unless in FS)

24 hour advance to any ramp here in chicago.

[MarcoAviator]

Even in FS, if I'm flying a small plane, the smaller the airport, the better. More challenging; less annoying.

Actually in RL I have almost the opposite problem ... I have the hardest time landing on big runways.

the narrower the runway is the better ... I need a goat path to do a good landing.

On a big runway there's a point where you sink below all your visual cues (runway edges) and you find yourself surrounded by asphalt and white numbers bigger than your plane ... kinda hard to do a smooth landing for me ... I tend to get lost in all that asphalt blackness ... and can't figure out how to flare right. All my landings tend to be a bit on the rough sides on big-ass runways.

[beefhole]

Yeah, I'd have to go with Rotty, I can't imagine operating out of PHL.  I have enough to worry about at my little airfield

[MattNW]

Biggest one I ever flew into IRL was Indianapolis International (KIND) about 20+ years ago and that was about the biggest airport I ever want to fly into.

Learned something there. The speed you are supposed to taxi don't mean a thing to that big Boeing behind you. He's got a schedule to keep and no little Cessna is going to keep him from it.  Those front LG tires looked almost as big as my whole airplane.  ;D

[Jared]

meh, don't worry! They say they don't bite...:-)

[beefhole]

meh, don't worry! They say they don't bite...:-)

But they do crush, savagely I might add

[Foxtrot Sport]

The only flight I have logged, which I did a month ago or so, was in a Trinidad something-or-other, and we took off from just a small former AFB, Mather field, not that big, but yeah, i know that feeling when we were sitting there and the Evergreen International 747 is taxiing towards you.  It never really got behind us, but taking off, we sure felt small.  

That was my little story for the day, but yeah, what you mentioned is  fun when you run out of bridges to fly under with your BRAND NEW Sukhoi, sorry, that plane is just awsome!

-HF

[Rocket_Bird]

Been doing flight training out of our local airport in a Cessna 172... which is an international airport (CYYC).  I mean, I tell ya, in a busy day, its SCARY!  Ya gotta get moving... like gogogo, when your say, taxiing to the active runway and theres an A320 behind you!.  And if your following behind a heavy, better get that plane in the air or the wake turbulence will get ya.  Plus landing... although in theory, its easier to land on a bigger and longer runway, a lot of times ATC makes us keep speed up, stay above the heavies (make a really high approach), and to land and hold short at intersections.  Thats where the challenge really comes in!

[Nexus]

Only airliner jets I ever encounter are the Ryanair 738's. And they pretty much runs the show at ESGP.

[Brett_Henderson]

I wanted to land at KCMH (Columbus, Oh).. just for the class C practice and was bored. I was cleared for a long downwind, runway 10L. Right at midfield, the tower called.. " 757 on 7 mile final.. fly at the numbers or extend the downwind". It was a descending (rapid) 130 degree turn that was pretty much the base AND final.. right over the numbers. Got on the ground quickly enough that he let me taxi the runway length (avoiding traffic waiting to depart). However.. leaving.. I got in line with several BIG planes. All in all.. it was worth it.. even taxiing for miles on the Hobbes.

[beaky]

Great photo, Brett- yeah, it's cool once or twice, but on a regular basis it gets tired. And I'm never comfortable taxiing among AC whose exhaust could easily flip my plane over... then there's the fact that they can roll right over you from behind.

I agree with the comments about landing on wide runways; when you're used to a 50-ft. wide runway it's easy to flare high when landing on some huge strip. Having started at TEB, I had the opposite problem when the school opened a new facility at N07 and I went there to continue my training... it was like trying to land on a piece of rope by comparison...!

[Brett_Henderson]

As for runway width ?  There was a pretty stiff crosswind that day.. about 12 knots. I kept thinking.. if it were say, a 25 knot crosswind.. with a flaring grondspeed of about 20 knots.. I coulda landed on the 200'  WIDTH of 10L