The Superbowl is causing all kinds of trouble for those of us in/from Phoenix. My wife and I are wanting to head to Phoenix from San Diego on Sunday. Between the TFR and the reservation system for GYR airport, it’s a no-go. looking at other options. Sigh….. I am frustrated because I am not a football fan and simply want to get in and plunk down on Sunday but it seems not to be. I have been given an option to arrive Sunday prior to 8am. Doing the time backwards, we would have to wake at 2am in Ensenada to make this work. I am looking at options. One of them being, we stay at the beachhouse an extra day or two. (Boo-hoo, eh?)
The POTUS-sized Super Bowl TFR itself is only from about 3:30 PM to 9:00 PM on game day (game starts at 4:30 local time). But the reservation requirement (Thursday 6 pm to Monday 5 pm) for GYR, GEU, DVT and others was implemented without NOTAM and without notice to the airport hangar tenants, at least at Goodyear. We tenants get e-mail blasts from the City of Phoenix (the airport's owner) and/or AZDOT every time a shovel goes in the ground, or a light bulb gets replaced anywhere on this 789-acre airport, but nobody bothered to tell us about this little item. Somebody on a pilots group Facebook page happened to see this on the airport's website, and word finally started to get around. Apparently the FAA basically outsourced the management of the flow-control reservation system to the FBO. https://www.goodyearairport.com/doc...yr-2023-super-bowl-plan.pdf?sfvrsn=880b6489_4
Do you rent a hangar at the airport (any involved) or do you own the hangar? If an owner, then you are being restricted from using your property. Of course there's the fact that you may own the hangar but not the land. I'd find a friend who's a lawyer and bring this to the attention of the airport, the FBO, the FAA and anyone else you care to make miserable. Hm...I wonder what would happen if someone without a reservation, but based at the airport, proceeded to land anyway? When I-70 is shut down from Denver to the Kansas line, only those who live in that area are allowed to proceed. Turns out because I rent a hangar, I'm considered a tenant, and allowed past the line. On the other hand, when I-70 is shut down for weather, I really don't want to drive I-70 to the airport......
City of Phoenix (though the airport is in the City of Goodyear, but that's a long story) owns the airport and rents the T-hangars to us. I suppose the ATCT would just refuse landing clearance and/or instruct the arriving aircraft to remain clear of the Class D area.
Hah! Superbowl XL... Not only was it in Detroit, but it was named after our (at the time) Extra Large mayor.
Hey we have an extra large governor. And he wants to be president. God help us all. He makes Taft look like an athlete.
It would really be a shame if you “happened” to be flying, experienced engine roughness close to GYR, and determined a precautionary landing was necessary… In case any FSDOs are reading, this is sarcasm…
First world problems are problems, too! But let’s forget about the Super Bowl and golf tournament and focus on something with real entertainment value.* Is anyone from POA planning to attend the Buckeye air fair next weekend? I think it may be the highest ratio of air show to airport size anywhere.
I feel your pain. Living near West Point can good fun, a great theater, military reunions, cultural events, but it also has it's down side, particularly during football season.
Yeah, they sent that out this morning. Persons who shall not be named (right, Rusty? ) got in touch with higher-ups at City of Phoenix and let them know that the airport's website was claiming that all arrivals and departures, without exception, had to have a reservation from the FBO (see Post #3, above). Said higher-ups expressed surprise at that and said they would look into it and take appropriate action. Thus the above e-mail, which I posted on another board this morning. I have no intention of flying this weekend anyway; and besides, its gonna be too windy for my li'l ol' taildragger and/or its wimpy pilot.
I stopped counting the number of private jets heading into sky harbor this afternoon, it was nearly constant for a few hours in the afternoon
That same blimp flew over the top of Fullerton this morning at around 9:30. That's some real cross country flying at blimp speeds.
I saw it pass KBXK at 5:07 MST. 7-1/2 hours beats driving it on the 10 even without the infinite style points you get for showing up in an airship. But I bet the headwinds will take some of the fun out of the return trip.
Our GYR annoyance ended quite well. San Diego Brown, against predicted conditions, was VFR. So we simply flew out VFR with flight following. Luke switched us to GYR tower and we followed in a mid-sized bizjet, which arrived IFR with the reservation slot. Had SDM been IMC, I had a flight plan filed to Gila Bend, E63, which was outside of the slot requirements. Then my plan was to cxl midway, around Yuma, and continue to GYR VFR.
