Today's Message Index:
----------------------
1. 10:07 AM - Airport Tower Closures (Robin Marks)
2. 12:33 PM - Re: Airport Tower Closures (Scott)
3. 01:32 PM - Re: Airport Tower Closures (Tracy)
4. 02:20 PM - Re: Airport Tower Closures (vanremog@aol.com)
5. 02:25 PM - Re: Airport Tower Closures (mail.comcast.net)
Message 1
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| Subject: | Airport Tower Closures |
I was reviewing the published list of 149 airport tower closure
s and was really surprised that I have landed 26 of the 149 on the list. I
was further surprised that one of my home airports Whiteman (WHP) is slated
for tower closure. Now I totally understand that if some towers MUST be cl
osed than choices need to be made and I further understand the NIMBY attitu
de of sure close some towers but not MY towers. That being said let me desc
ribe WHP to you and you can decide if this tower closure is a good idea.
WHP is a one runway airport that sits under the Los Angeles Cla
ss B veil for LAX. WHP is 4 miles from Burbank commercial airport and 4 mil
es from Van Nuys airport both very busy hubs if aviation. Furthermore WHP s
its near the Newhall pass which is a bit of a funnel for aircraft feeding i
nto and out the San Fernando Valley. Additionally WHP hosts 5 of LA's news
helicopters which park and hover taxi maybe 90 feet from the runway centerl
ine adjacent to the 30 run up area. Whitman is also home for the CDF (Calif
ornia Fire Department) heavy lift fire helicopters. Wikipedia says that Cal
Fire is "one of the largest non-military air programs in the country that
includes 11 UH01H Super Huey helicopters flying out of WHP. I know because
they park and take off right behind my WHP hangar. The launch/landing area
for CDF is "not visible" from the tower and requires extra tower control ca
re for transitioning in and out of this area. WHP also hosts a modest amoun
t of student training. Not a great deal of student training because costs h
ave driven away many who may be interested in learning to fly. Additionall
y there is a fair amount of police helicopter activity in the area because
WHP is near some major highways 5, 118, 405, 101, 134, 210. Police tent to
hover right at TPA for WHP.
So the typical WHP weekend scenario is the student pilot doing
T & G's while 3 737's are queued up to land Burbank as Golf streams are roc
keting out of VNY with police helicopters hovering over the nearby freeways
while the news choppers hover taxi back to their landing pad after their m
ornings work and small aircraft transition into and out of BUR or VNY. All
while CDF heavy lift choppers fly in and out of their compound directly und
er the Left Downwind but blind to what is happening on and around the activ
e runway. This is all occurring under LAX's Class B vial, under the VNY air
space and in a little carve out of the Burbank airspace (SFC/4800'). All th
is with mountain peaks covering 180 degrees and within 5 miles of WHP. I ha
ve heard the tower chew out oblivious pilots dozens and dozens of times for
clueless & illegal transitioning of the airspace. I literally fear what i
t will be like w/o any control. It is not unusual for me to see 15+ traffic
targets on my display.
Last week I flew into WHP VFR but reporting 3 miles and haze. N
ot that uncommon. I have flown into WHP well over 500 times and it was very
difficult for me to pick up the runway 3 miles out even though I am quite
familiar with the topography. I am fortunate to have beautiful large PFD/MF
D with traffic but I am painfully aware that most aircraft in the area do n
ot have nearly my experience and knowledge of the area or my selection of e
quipment.
This is just one story of 149. I hope it does not end up a horr
or story.
Robin
Message 2
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| Subject: | Re: Airport Tower Closures |
You could always move to the upper midwest where we have several towers
slated for closure that probably won't even be missed. The strangest
one on the list to me is Oshkosh. How will they do the big airshow?
They just built that new huge tower a few years ago. Maybe they can
turn it into an apartment complex for pilots. ;)
On 3-23-2013 17:06, Robin Marks wrote:
>
> I was reviewing the published list of 149 airport tower
> closures and was really surprised that I have landed 26 of the 149 on
> the list.
>
--
Message 3
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| Subject: | Re: Airport Tower Closures |
There may well be some closed towers that are really needed but I'm wonderin
g why there is no coverage of the opposite side of the story.
Here in Florida we had the most tower closures. I thought for sure the Her
nando County airport would be among them as the recently built tower was a w
aste of money in my opinion. No commercial operations and I've never had t
o wait for traffic landing or taking off, so light is the use. But nope, H
ernando's tower will not be affected.
Tracy Crook
RV-4 1900 hrs
RV-8 130 hrs
Sent from my iPad
On Mar 23, 2013, at 3:32 PM, Scott <acepilot@bloomer.net> wrote:
> You could always move to the upper midwest where we have several towers sl
ated for closure that probably won't even be missed. The strangest one on t
he list to me is Oshkosh. How will they do the big airshow? They just buil
t that new huge tower a few years ago. Maybe they can turn it into an apart
ment complex for pilots. ;)
>
>
> On 3-23-2013 17:06, Robin Marks wrote:
>>
>> I was reviewing the published list of 149 airport tower closu
res and was really surprised that I have landed 26 of the 149 on the list.
>
> --
> <sig.jpg>
Message 4
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| Subject: | Re: Airport Tower Closures |
There certainly is a case to be made for some of these towers to continue w
ith moderate and/or sporadic traffic, if it can be shown that they are high
ly useful for training purposes. I know my little airport at Livermore CA
is a sleepy little place during the week that gets a little gnarly on the n
ice weekends.
How this situation might be best staffed is really the question. Furthermo
re, there needs to be some objective way to evaluate these cases for keepin
g them open other than you happen to have a Senator who is owed a favor, or
knows where the bodies are buried.
BTW, I don't think that KOSH is that crowded most of the time and I would t
hink that they have controllers falling all over themselves to work during
Airventure week.
-GV
-----Original Message-----
From: Tracy <rwstracy@gmail.com>
Sent: Sat, Mar 23, 2013 1:32 pm
Subject: Re: RV-List: Airport Tower Closures
There may well be some closed towers that are really needed but I'm wonderi
ng why there is no coverage of the opposite side of the story.
Here in Florida we had the most tower closures. I thought for sure the He
rnando County airport would be among them as the recently built tower was a
waste of money in my opinion. No commercial operations and I've never ha
d to wait for traffic landing or taking off, so light is the use. But nop
e, Hernando's tower will not be affected.
Tracy Crook
RV-4 1900 hrs
RV-8 130 hrs
Sent from my iPad
On Mar 23, 2013, at 3:32 PM, Scott <acepilot@bloomer.net> wrote:
You could always move to the upper midwest where we have seve
ral towers slated for closure that probably won't even be missed. The
strangest one on the list to me is Oshkosh. How will they do the big
airshow? They just built that new huge tower a few years ago. Maybe th
ey can turn it into an apartment complex for pilots. ;)
On 3-23-2013 17:06, Robin Marks wrote:
I was reviewing the published list of 149 airport to
wer closures and was really surprised that I have landed 26 of
the 149 on the list.
--
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Message 5
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| Subject: | Re: Airport Tower Closures |
Is Hernando an FAA tower or a contract tower. Busier contract towers are
being closed before sleepy FAA towers.
Connected by DROID on Verizon Wireless
-----Original message-----
From: Tracy <rwstracy@gmail.com>
Sent: Sat, Mar 23, 2013 20:31:29 GMT+00:00
Subject: Re: RV-List: Airport Tower Closures
There may well be some closed towers that are really needed but I'm
wondering why there is no coverage of the opposite side of the story.
Here in Florida we had the most tower closures. I thought for sure the
Hernando County airport would be among them as the recently built tower was
a waste of money in my opinion. No commercial operations and I've never
had to wait for traffic landing or taking off, so light is the use. But
nope, Hernando's tower will not be affected.
Tracy Crook
RV-4 1900 hrs
RV-8 130 hrs
Sent from my iPad
On Mar 23, 2013, at 3:32 PM, Scott <acepilot@bloomer.net> wrote:
> You could always move to the upper midwest where we have several towers
slated for closure that probably won't even be missed. The strangest one on
the list to me is Oshkosh. How will they do the big airshow? They just
built that new huge tower a few years ago. Maybe they can turn it into an
apartment complex for pilots. ;)
>
>
> On 3-23-2013 17:06, Robin Marks wrote:
>>
>> I was reviewing the published list of 149 airport tower
closures and was really surprised that I have landed 26 of the 149 on the
list.
>
> --
> <sig.jpg>
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