TPF

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Icaro

Well-Known Member
I was planning on making a flight (VFR) from PMP to TPF this weekend. I was studying the Tampa terminal chart and see that TPF is within the Tampa Class B and kind of wedged next to McDill airbase - pretty complex airspace compared to what I normally deal with.

If there is anyone who flies around that area I'd like to know if there are any tips/caveats about flying in and out of TPF.

I've only flown through class B airspace (MIA) but never landed at an airport underneath one, and certainly not one so close to an Air Force base ("heavy fast military traffic north, south and east from 1000 to 2500ft" the chart says).
 
Keep your turns in close, and the runway isn't really that long. Oh yeah, and don't listen to that Stan guy on the UNICOM. He gives bad directions and gets pilots lost over Tampa Int'l and MacDill.
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Pretty heavy traffic in the area. Keep a sharp eye. Everything from the jets at TPA to the other cessna's, etc. in the pattern.
I've brought in a C172 there once, and my impression was just keep an eye out for traffic and be very aware of the class B airspace around you. Hope your flight goes well.
 
I took a kid from one of my classes at USF flying today. He is an avid fisherman so we were flying along the eastern side of the bay at 1000ft (checking out the fishing spots)which is just under Tampa's airspace. Anyhow, I was monitoring 119.90, which is a Tampa Approach frequency, and we heard a guy get "reprimanded" for either getting too close to MacDill or actually busting the airspace. The controller said something like this, "Cesnna XXXXX next time you depart runway 21 you need to make an immediate turn towards the east to avoid MacDill arispace." I don't know why he was departing runway 21 anyways because the wind, though slight, was from the east, but I guess that is the name of the game at an uncontrolled field. Flying into TPF isn't that bad. If you really don't want to talk to Tampa you don't have to, you can skim under their airspace, however I would highly recommend against it. Call them on your way in and then you will have an extra set of "eyes" looking out for traffic. They will also help keep you away from MacDill airspace. I always call them even if I'm staying below their airspace just because TPF is very close to the buildings downtown and I think it is kind of a courteous thing to do, just so they're not wondering where I am headed.
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As for the military traffic it is almost always KC-135's (large refueling jets) doing touch and goes. Also be aware that there are several very tall (1649ft msl) towers about 6-7 miles southeast of TPF. Have a good flight and be safe!
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Oh yeah, and don't listen to that Stan guy on the UNICOM. He gives bad directions and gets pilots lost over Tampa Int'l and MacDill.
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LOL the fur will fly as soon as he gets to work
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I was planning on making a flight (VFR) from PMP to TPF this weekend. I was studying the Tampa terminal chart and see that TPF is within the Tampa Class B and kind of wedged next to McDill airbase - pretty complex airspace compared to what I normally deal with.

If there is anyone who flies around that area I'd like to know if there are any tips/caveats about flying in and out of TPF.


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Icaro, I have flown out of TPF for approximately 1.5 years now and have never had a problem.

The key is to keep your eyes open. Not necessarily for military aircraft because they are always way above Traffic Pattern Altitude..., but for others in, flying in, or flying out of the pattern.

It's really a non-event though. 99.9% of the folks flying in and out of TPF give frequent position updates, so all you have to do is start monitoring 122.8 on the way in and you're golden.

Now, if you do Flight Following, you won't have to worry about busting any altitudes or airspace, they'll get you there.

As for taking off from RWY 21 or landing on RWY 3, if you are in a single engine aircraft, or light twin - hell, even a King Air or Citation - you should NEVER have any problems with MacDill. That's the kind of traffic we have landing at TPF every day - all day.

If you are not talking ot ATC, stay below 1200 and you're fine. Traffic Pattern Altitude is 900' at TPF, so make note of that.

Other than that, just monitor the freq and you'll have no problem. If you come in on Sunday, I'll be working the desk. I'm the tall, out of shape dude.
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Best of luck.
 
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Keep your turns in close, and the runway isn't really that long. Oh yeah, and don't listen to that Stan guy on the UNICOM. He gives bad directions and gets pilots lost over Tampa Int'l and MacDill.

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`Tis my yob, main. I does it well.
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As for the RWY...... Dude! You and JT are WUSSES to the INTH degree!!! As my previous post points out, we have King Airs, Citations (and I'll add), Chyennes...hell, we even had a B-25 land there after the MacDill airshow.

RWY 3/21 is: 3405 x 100 ft. If you can't land on THAT, you don't need to be flyinig. Period.
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Hell, even RWY 17/35 is 2688 x 75 ft. and I've seen some pretty high-powered light twins (Navajo's, Cessna 402's/421's/..the Chyenne) land on that one.
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Wusses I tells ya.
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As for the RWY...... Dude! You and JT are WUSSES to the INTH degree!!!

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Hey, we're used to landing on concrete that's twice as long as your little strip in the middle of the water. Besides, the guy flying that Lance was used to CRUISING at that speed, not LANDING at that speed.
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Icaro,

I was flying VFR into Albert Whitted (on the other side of MacDill) a couple weeks ago and had problems making visual contact with the airport due to a pretty intense glare off the water (around 6-7 pm). I just had to request vectors around MacDill which approach had no problems with it (even though I was pretty darn close).

Good Luck!
 
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