Hal Denton, known by many at Captain Hal, sent in this photo, with a brief explanation: “When I knew I had a meeting at the Renaissance Hotel in Atlanta, I thought ‘what a great time to put my license to good use.’ If I could land at ATL, I could walk to my meeting.
However, I was intimidated at landing at “the busiest airport” in the US. I filed a IFR flight plan to be sure everyone knew what I wanted.
The controllers were as nice or nicer than they have ever been, even with me bringing a little piston plane into their space. Leaving at 5 on a Friday afternoon was just as easy and so gratifying to watch the car traffic below while climbing back to altitude.”
I’ve operated into and out of both SFO and ATL in SE GA airplanes and never had a problem. ATC was most considerate and helpful including providing a Low Altitude Warning at night on departure from SFO due to rising terrain.
‘”the busiest airport” in the US’? It’s the busiest airport in the world! Nicely done.
I shoot approaches into Standiford Field / Louisville Int’l (KSDF, Class C airspace) quite often. Standiford is home to UPS Airlines’ Worldport – the main air hub for all UPS flights. My home field (Bowman, KLOU) is only 4-5 nms from SDF and shooting approaches at SDF is good practice (providing your aircraft has the right equipment and you have permission before entering Class C airspace.)
I have landed small piston airplanes at JFK, LGA, PHL, BOS, DCA, JFK, SLC, MDW, MIA and others. The arrivals and departures are really not all that difficult and basically the same as any Class B airspace airport. The hardest part is taxiing, because the taxiways can be quite complicated and hard to see from the low vantage point of a small plane. The controllers work quickly and are sometimes hard to interpret. Be sure to ask for clarification before acting on any clearance that you are unsure about, and ask for progressive taxi if you are at all unsure about your position or taxi route.