Advice: Indy on Memorial Day?

Erice

Erice

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Erice
I have an Aunt that would like to drive back to Pennsylvania for a graduation celebration on Memorial Day Weekend. She is staying in Indianapolis at the moment, and is on the list for an organ transplant, so must be available on short notice to come to the hospital should something become available.

The family asked me if she gets the call while she is in Pennsylvania, could I fly her back to Indy? Sounds like a great mission for GA. The plane I would have access to is a C150, certified for IFR (localizer or VOR approaches only). It would be about a 6-hour flight, broken into 2 or 3 legs.

The concern I have: Isn't this Indy 500 race weekend? What kind of difficulties might I encounter with this event? I remember reading about Tony flying into SBN for a Notre Dame football weekend, and something about IFR slot arrival or departure reservations. Might this be the case with the Indy 500?

Does anyone have a tip on which airport to use? IND? EYE? MQJ? UMP?

Alternatively: How does one sign up a passenger for Angel Flight? I'm 100 hours short on PIC time to be an Angel Flight pilot, but I know there are A/F POAers. Are Angel Flights done spur of the moment, or are they mostly for scheduled treatments, etc.? Is there a distance limit for A/F flights or legs?
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drug test
 
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Erice said:
The concern I have: Isn't this Indy 500 race weekend? What kind of difficulties might I encounter with this event? I remember reading about Tony flying into SBN for a Notre Dame football weekend, and something about IFR slot arrival or departure reservations. Might this be the case with the Indy 500?
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I hope your aunt gets the call she needs. The program you are asking about is the Special Traffic Management Program (eSTMP). I'm not sure when the race is, but the eSTMP site says there are no "current" events; I'm not sure if that means "this weekend" or "in the near future". The site is:

https://www.fly.faa.gov/estmp/index.html

Does anyone have a tip on which airport to use? IND? EYE? MQJ? UMP?
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I'm sure somebody on this site from that area will!!

Alternatively: How does one sign up a passenger for Angel Flight? I'm 100 hours short on PIC time to be an Angel Flight pilot, but I know there are A/F POAers. Are Angel Flights done spur of the moment, or are they mostly for scheduled treatments, etc.? Is there a distance limit for A/F flights or legs?
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Angel Flight would be great for this, and yes, they will do organ transplant flights, for both the organs and the donors--you make the request through the local chapter. They will line up potential pilots who are available short notice, with IFR capability.

LifeLine pilots service the Indiana area... there is at least one LifeLine pilot on this board (Dr. Bruce). http://www.lifelinepilots.org
 
i can't remember if the blanket NOTAM for open air sporting events includes the Indy series or not, that could be a consideration for you unless you are thinking IFR.

I did go into South Bend for a Notre Dame game using the slot thing. It worked OK, really wasn't too hard to set up.

I have flown into Indianapolis Intl. Its a busy airport. FBOs are on the NW side. When I was there I landed at like 1 AM and I was wondering why this wasn't a Class B field. I left mid morning and it was still really busy. I was definitely the small guy in the 421. Don't recall what the ramp fees were for parking.

There is a nice uncontrolled airport on the north side of town that I also was in to. Can't remember the name, maybe Indy Executive? They have a canopy over the ramp in front of the FBO, and a really nice building.

I would suspect that if you time your arrival and departure for during the race, and can negotiate any TFR issues, it shouldnt be too bad. I'd try to avoid being in the area before or after the race though. It will be chaotic.
 
Eagle (EYE) is the GA Jet port. There's also an airport called Speedway right next to the track. They may close that just to use the space.

I suspect that all of the airports down to Hulman in Terre Haute (70 miles east) are full, full full. Even though Hulman is the Hulmans that own Indy it might be the best way to get there during speed week.
 
Dang, I just lost my entire reply! Okay, this'll be brief then.

Indianapolis 500 is memorial day weekend. There will be a TFR and STMP (Special Traffic Management Program). Troy gave the link earlier, and it's the same system used to get into AirVenture IFR, IIRC. It's not too bad to use, but I don't know how full the slots will be.

Air Care Alliancehttp://www.aircareall.org is the umbrella public benefit flying organization. Members include Angel Flight East , Angel Flight Central, and Lifeline Pilots. They all have financial need as one of the criteria for qualifying for a flight. The hospital should be able to hook you up with them too, and usually helps to demonstrate both medical fitness to fly (a doctor's note is required) and the need aspect. That paperwork must be in before the flight, so it may not be appropriate for a flight of such short notice.

AFC has min pilot requirements of 500hrs TT or a commercial certificate. Lifeline pilots is 250hrs PIC.

I fly into Eagle Creek because of a nearby restaurant. It's a nice airport, and they have a courtesy car, too. Never tried the others.
 
no mike, the one i flew into was Indy Exec (TYQ). I just actually looked at the sectional and it is a bit north of town.
 
I have no info on Indy having never been there, but doing that trip in a 150 is going to be a long one. If she gets the call, I'll have the Mooney and (probably) the Aztec available, and would be glad to help out. Going into busy airports in a 150 is not really something I'd want to do, I far prefer something that's able to go faster and get going quicker. If the 421 is the little guy, you want at least a fast single.

Send me a PM if this might work for you/her.
 
Thanks to everyone for the replies and PMs.

As it turns out, my Aunt will NOT be coming on Memorial Day weekend after all. So the reason for my original question is not as urgent. However, she may come out some other weekend this summer, so I'll keep all the advice you have given and shift into the future!

I've had 3 or 4 offers for rides (in faster airplanes) from various POAers, and it really warms my heart. I'd like to think that I'd be just as generous if I ever get the chance to pay it forward.

The advice of which airport to use is still appropriate. The hospital is St. Vincent's, which is on the north side of Indianapolis, and looks like it is 10 miles from both UMP (Indianapolis Metropolitan) and TYQ (Indianapolis Executive).

To hijack my own thread . . .
On a side note, I remember as a kid flying into IND in the 1970s with my dad in a C172. We parked next to some kind of cabin class twin, and I still remember the N-number: N500MA. We both figured that it was Mario Andretti's, and I guess we were right. The FAA database registry shows that it is now registered as a Gulfstream II, but that is not what it was back then! Does anyone know how to find all the previous airplanes that were associated with a specific N-number?
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Buell S2
 
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