Coolest Arrival / Departure / Airport

Mr.Maximus

New Member
Since recently switching from 121 to a corporate jet, I haven't seen the same airport more than twice. I love the diversity of the flying I'm doing and never know where I may go from month to month. Could be anywhere on the surface of the earth.

With that in mind, I'd like to hear from all you JC'rs which arrival, departure or airport is your favorite and why.

Look forward to reading some fun stuff!!!


Max
 
A couple of votes on the DCA river visual. I'll have to put that one on my list to hope for. Keep em' coming!

Two of my favorites thus far have been the VOR into ASE off DBL and the Parkway visual at JFK.
 
A full pattern visual into 22 at BHB (Bar Harbor, Me) is a treat. Fly up the coast, and downwind, for a jet, is over Acadia national park. 35 (the short runway) has a SXM style arrival to it.

35 in AUG (Augusta, Me) is different, The airport is on top of a hill, and there is a hill (all wooded) on either side of the final.

Anything at RKD (Rockland, ME) is fun out over the water.

Heck flying in Maine is pretty darn cool.
 
Just looked at the DCA river visual - definately looks cool and is rapidly moving up my list. Good one - what else you guys (gals) got???



Max
 
Well, anything going into LGA on a clear day will afford a nice view of NYC.

For runway 13 the path is Verrazanno Bridge > Statue of Liberty > Up the river as base leg then turn final ("direct the b!tch and up the ditch"). If you saw the DCA approach plate, check out LGA Expressway Visual 31.
 
LGA Expressway Visual - Turning around the Empire State building at 2500' is great but I love the turn around Shea ( HUGE METS FAN! )

Lets Go METS!!
 
coolest i have ever been on is the old hong kong kai tak airport. it was a clear day and made it all worth while. scary as hell too as a passenger. seeing the insides of apartments while still on approach. good times!
 
About any arrival when I get to hand fly from up high on a visual is great!

Departure? Vancouver, BC in the early morning with light fog and the sun rising :)
 
Quito Equador is at the top of my list. IAF is at 17,000 feet. Escape routes and major planning required. Airport is at 10,000' msl.

Tegucigalpa is a close number two. Waaay exciting, especially in weather.
Very close to rooftops and vehicles coming over the numbers.


Runners up:

DCA rwy 19 river visual

San Diego 27 LOC approach

LGA expressway visual

Bogota, Columbia
 
Favorite by far has been Catalina (KAVX) out on California's barrier islands. The best is a day when the fog doesn't get high enough to cover the airfield but the rest of the island is obscured by fog. Great upsloping runway and DC-3 landing spot. Try the buffalo burgers and give the town of Avalon a flyover as you depart back to LA.
 
Ruby, Alaska (PARY / RBY). Either direction. Picture a ski jump, then at the other end of the jump, have the terrain continue at the same rate as the other side. That's Ruby. We tend to take off downhill and land uphill. On landing you clear the top of the hill and drop the power about to idle to catch up to the terrain and the runway (or many times to idle, especially with a tail wind, this with a B1900). On takeoff you rotate just as you get to the bottom of the dowhill portion and get to start outclimbing the terrain.


Close secong is Nulato, Alaska. (PANU / NUL). Sloped runway. Lower end has a cliff, upper end has a good sized hill. Just a really cool sight picture, winds can be tricky (get some good sinkers with the cliff sometimes), but mainly just the picture when you are looking down the runway coming in for landing and this hill that now looks like a mountain is directly at the other end. The cliff drops directly to the Yukon River.

Both of those top two are gravel runways as well. It gets more fun in winter when they are icy.


The Knik 6 departure in Anchorage coming off of the 7s is cool. Puts you over downtown Anchorage and overtop Elmendorf AFB. You're also pointed at some rather large mountains on takeoff. The Highway Visual to 25s is kind of nice, but not as exciting once you've done it a dozen times or so.


The LDA approaches into Juneau and some others look really cool, but we don't operate down there on a scheduled basis so I haven't done those myself.


And the NDB-DME approaches are neat to do just because they are so rare these days.
 
Best Departure:
Orange County, California (SNA) noise abaitment departure off on 19. Best if done in a Boeing 757. Full power, steep climb, then sudden reduction in power as the aircraft levels off to reduce noise until it is over the ocean.

Best Arrival:
Golden gate arrival into SFO. From Point Reyes to the Golden Gate Bridge. Over Alcatraz, the Embarcadero, Bay Bridge, downtown SF, Pac Bell Park, and then over the bay for right downwind to runway 28R.


Also, the Bay Tour departure is a fun one. I see Aloha does it daily. If you are in SFO and there is no fog, request to do a bay tour. All your pax will love it.
 
Anyone flown "The Widowmaker" HI-TACAN/ILS into Roswell?

Not "cool" but probably the biggest P.I.T.A. approach I've flown.
 
I'm surprised no one's mentioned SXM yet. The approach over the beach has to be seen to be believed! I know it's a thrill both as a passenger and an observer! :)
 
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