Tower visitation

[Murdoughnut]

Question for you guys - I'm helping a group of boy scouts earn their aviation merit badge. I thought a trip to the tower at KPIE (Class D) would be a cool experience. Just wasn't sure how feasible this was. I went a couple years ago with my ground school class, but I wasn't sure if they allowed kids up there. This may be a request that I'll just have to send along to the tower folks at KPIE, but I thought I'd get an initial opinion from some of you folks.

Thanks!

 

[ajf005]

I was in the exact same situation last year and we went on a tower tour with no problem. Just call ahead and schedule it so someone is available to be the "tour guide." They only allowed groups of 5 or 6 up at a time for about 20 min, so depending on how many you have you could be there a while.

 

[avi8tor]

A class "D" tower is not that hard to get a tour in. Just call the tower ahead of time and ask for a tour, let them know what date you were thinking, and about how many people will be on the tour.

 

[Murdoughnut]

Good to hear - I'll call them up when I get a solid date/number. Thanks!

 

[Fox Xray]

The tour should not be a problem ... the main factors is the facility manager and alert color. One or two of the SECON colors suspends tours... though I can't for the life of me remember which color(s) it is.

Instead of St. Pete / Clearwater did you ever think about checking out TPA ??? They're a level 11 up/down (tower and tracon). I toured the place once waiting out a cancelled flight, you might be able to land a tour there. It might be more interesting for the kids seeing the radar room and tower. If need be PM me and I'll forward you some contact info.

Good Luck