Departing PDK to the south

Jim K

Jim K

Final Approach
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Richard Digits
Planning our winter Florida trip...

I'm planning to make our halfway stop at PDK because it's one of the few airports that have restaurants on the field.

We'll be coming in from the north, and it looks like they commonly assign the BUKHD3 arrival, so that's easy enough. I was surprised to not find any SID's for PDK. Looks like SOTWO GRANT is the common routing departing south. Does that sound right?

Last time we passed through the ATL bravo we were on vfr flight following and they sent us directly over the field at 4000. It was pretty easy. If weather permits, am I better off going VFR to give them more flexibility on separation?

Any other airports in that vicinity with a restaurant within walking distance and cheaper gas?
 
KLZU - cheaper fuel, restaurant and easy to stay east of the Bravo on the way south. Or GA2 if you are cool landing on grass, much cheaper fuel and restaurant right on the field. Need to get class B transition for it to make sense to go there though.
 
Also KGMU, only a few miles before PDK.
 
PDK is a zoo - very busy. KRYY is next door and much easier, and has the Elevation Chop House. Fuel is going to be costly at PDK as well as KRYY.

Cheap fuel can be found at KPUJ (Paulding), but no restaurant.

GA2 is a fun, small grass strip airport with a short, sloping runway. It is on the other side / on the south side of Atlanta. I'd do it in a Skylane, 180 HP Skyhawk, and certainly a Piper Cub. Not sure about a Cherokee 6, etc. Definitely check your owners manual and do the calculations, call the FBO and get the lay of the land, etc.

KZLU, as mentioned above, is a great option as well.
 
Every year I say I’m going to make a winter trip to Florida. But I’ve yet to do it. I’m overly scared of ice. I think I’ve heard too many war stories from other pilots flying in with a half inch of ice on the wing. Touching down at 90kts in a 172 kinda stuff. I’m very interested to hear how this goes for you. Maybe your story will ease my winter IFR fears.
 
KLZU is going to be cheaper and easier. Nothing wrong with KPDK, I’ve been based there, but it s far busier and under the ATL Class B airspace.
 
Hang 4 said:
KLZU - cheaper fuel, restaurant and easy to stay east of the Bravo on the way south. Or GA2 if you are cool landing on grass, much cheaper fuel and restaurant right on the field. Need to get class B transition for it to make sense to go there though.
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LZU looks pretty good. I had originally discounted it as being too far out of the way (the direct route would be west of Atlanta) but I suppose the time saved not being vectored for sequence would probably offset it. Restaurant looks a little more family friendly.

I'm not opposed to grass necessarily, but I'm going to be near max gross, and 2400' is getting on the short side.

WDD said:
PDK is a zoo - very busy. KRYY is next door and much easier, and has the Elevation Chop House.
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Elevation doesn't look like the kind of place for me to drag 5 noisy kids.

AlphaMike said:
Every year I say I’m going to make a winter trip to Florida. But I’ve yet to do it. I’m overly scared of ice. I think I’ve heard too many war stories from other pilots flying in with a half inch of ice on the wing. Touching down at 90kts in a 172 kinda stuff. I’m very interested to hear how this goes for you. Maybe your story will ease my winter IFR fears.
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I fly quite a bit in the winter. Don't tangle with SLD, and have an out. I don't linger in imc below freezing, but I don't mind punching through a layer. Convection in the south has caused me more trouble than ice in the midwest.
 
Jim K said:
Elevation doesn't look like the kind of place for me to drag 5 noisy kids.
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They would happily put up with your kids and take (too much of) your money. But LZU is a better bet, IMO.
 
Yeah - Elevation Chop would be fine for your kids, but KLZU is better option - cheaper gas, cheaper food, etc.
 
One other thought - KJZP has very cheap self serve, super friendly and has a crew car. Town is only a couple miles away if you have the time to spare. You can stay west of the class B as well.
 
Hang 4 said:
One other thought - KJZP has very cheap self serve, super friendly and has a crew car. Town is only a couple miles away if you have the time to spare. You can stay west of the class B as well.
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Not a lot of crew cars can fit 7.
 
Yeah - paulding,cartersville, Rome as well - good airports, cheap fuel, but no restaurants or easy transportation/crew busses.
 
Jim K said:
LZU looks pretty good. I had originally discounted it as being too far out of the way (the direct route would be west of Atlanta) but I suppose the time saved not being vectored for sequence would probably offset it. Restaurant looks a little more family friendly.
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Another +1 for LZU. Usually pretty easy in and out (less traffic than PDK) and they’ve got a nice little restaurant on field.
 
Last year we had to divert because Hot Springs is apparently incapable of dealing with 2" snow after 3 days. We got real lucky and they had a minivan at Texarkana. With 7, cars get hard, and I like to support restaurants on the field anywsy. It's nice to know where the options are.
 
Post up when your tribe will be there. Might be a good excuse for a mini gathering!
 
WDD said:
Post up when your tribe will be there. Might be a good excuse for a mini gathering!
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Lunch on Feb 8 is the plan
 
Yeah, usually I wait until December to make reservations and have several units to pick from. This year i had to scour the internet to find anything, and could only get 4 days. Seems like you can't go anywhere anymore without reserving 6+ months out.
 
As others have said, LZU will be the cheapest and easiest option. If you end up at PDK, I’ll definitely meet up with you because that’s where I work. If it’s LZU, I’m sure I could sneak out for a bit.
 
Dave Theisen said:
As others have said, LZU will be the cheapest and easiest option. If you end up at PDK, I’ll definitely meet up with you because that’s where I work. If it’s LZU, I’m sure I could sneak out for a bit.
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Might do PDK on the way back just to see it and add another airport to the logbook.
 
You might want to look at M95 just west of B'ham. It's the airport where my daughter lives and is perfect for your type of stop There is a good Mexican within easy walking distance (maybe 1/3 mile) to the north of the FBO. Plus there is a free crew car for a few other restaurants. Cheep fuel and a very nice 5000' paved runway. The FBO has a keybox for 24h access to the FBO and crew car. Easy down and up. Only issue is that all approaches are NA at night and all the food joints are mostly fast-food as it is a small town. This will also keep you away from the mountains over near Chattanooga and Atlanta. As far as you are traveling, the slight detour will be made up easily by the fast in/out. PM me if you want additional information.
 
Jim K said:
I was surprised to not find any SID's for PDK. Looks like SOTWO GRANT is the common routing departing south. Does that sound right?
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Depending upon traffic you can go over KATL. That’s always fun if the sky is clear enough to see Atlanta Hartsfield. Just a blast to see traffic on one side of you landing and on the other side taking off. All from the busiest airport in the world.

I’ve been over it plenty of times, still love it.
 
wayne said:
Depending upon traffic you can go over KATL. That’s always fun if the sky is clear enough to see Atlanta Hartsfield. Just a blast to see traffic on one side of you landing and on the other side taking off. All from the busiest airport in the world.

I’ve been over it plenty of times, still love it.
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They took us right over it on our FL trip 2 years ago. VFR at 4500. It was neat to see. Our fuel stop was CZL, which was awesome, but we only had 4 people on that trip.

Funny this thread comes back up a week before we leave; assuming we survive Snowmageddon this week, and I get the hangar dug out in time. I appreciate all the recommendations; we make this trip pretty much every year, and I do like to hit new airports, so I'll revisit this thread when I'm planning next year's trip.
 
steingar said:
Were I going to Florida I'd probably tube it. Flights are so cheap.
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Cool story. I've done it before. If I never do it again I'll be happy.
 
steingar said:
Were I going to Florida I'd probably tube it. Flights are so cheap.
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Jim K said:
Cool story. I've done it before. If I never do it again I'll be happy.
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I'm with you Jim. I prefer to fly as much of it private as possible.

We're flying to St Pete soon to visit my wife's sister and BIL, but that's a lot shorter for us from Atlanta than for you from CMI. We'll bring snacks, wine, games, and more with us, because we're flying private. If we were going commercial it would just be a couple of carry-on bags. Plus we can hop over to Melbourne on the way home to visit other friends. Can't do that commercial. ;)
 
wayne said:
I'm with you Jim. I prefer to fly as much of it private as possible.

We're flying to St Pete soon to visit my wife's sister and BIL, but that's a lot shorter for us from Atlanta than for you from CMI. We'll bring snacks, wine, games, and more with us, because we're flying private. If we were going commercial it would just be a couple of carry-on bags. Plus we can hop over to Melbourne on the way home to visit other friends. Can't do that commercial. ;)
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This is the one flight a year I can actually justify. 7 tickets for the airline cattle cars and all the hassle that comes with it is actually more money than flying the airplane I bought specifically for travel with my family. The time is about the same if you discount the lunch stop.

None of my family is particularly excited about flying, but they prefer being packed into our spam can than Allegiant's. They also don't miss being rolled out of bed at 4AM to make the 2 hour drive to Peoria to catch the flight. Nor the hour spent waiting for bags and the rental car line. Nor the "security" lines, removing their shoes, and waiting in a crowded room for an hour afterwards. Did I mention the fun of trying to keep 5 kids corralled and somewhat quiet through all this? The modern airline experience is 3/4 of the reason I bought an airplane.
 
I found that I can get from JZP to FO5 quicker in my Cherokee 140, than I can flying the airlines. And cost a little less too! :D
 
Well, if you have passengers that are game, then cooperative weather, more fun flying G.A.. This assumes your oil doesn’t leak out.

I like airports a little more rural, I can usually find food.
 
sourdough44 said:
Well, if you have passengers that are game, then cooperative weather, more fun flying G.A.. This assumes your oil doesn’t leak out.

I like airports a little more rural, I can usually find food.
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FWIW, LZU was great. Friendly ATC, friendly FBO, good restaurant. ATL approach didn't vector me much at all. The restaurant is for sale. I hope they can find a buyer to keep it going; that might be my go-to FL gas stop.
 
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