Detroit City Airport (KDET)

[saracelica]

Finally did the flight I've wanted to do since I got my PPL in 2012. Fly up the Detroit River (US on one side of me and Canada on the other) Was a total non event. Detroit approach only had us to work (Did it IFR on a CAVU day) Went through Canada airspace to get lined up for 33 (did a practice approach and then circled since they were working on 33) Went in and got free bottle of water , free Detroit news (worth every penny) and $6.42/gallon for gas which waived the $10 ramp fee. It was a nice FBO. Evidentally Pro aire use to fly out of there until 2000 but they closed down. Couldn't find any information about that airline but the FBO is all ready to be another bustling airport with ticket counters and everything.

Not sure how far I'd want to venture outside the FBO since it is the city of Detroit but alas.

There was an interesting article in the paper about them building a car condo place where you can get a condo of 600-800sq ft and a 3 car garage right on a test course - where you can go play with your car steps from your door. They are hoping to have a car themed restaurant in the future. It's for those that have the money of course ($100-150k) which sounds totally reasonable.

If you're within flying distance to KDET and wanna see Canada this is the way to do it. When you fly the approach 33 in you fly over Windsors airport which also looks nice. I don't have a passport book so we couldn't land there.

First time loading pictures not sure if it'll work the way I intend.

 

[German guy]

Thank you for sharing.
To fly along Detroit's riverfront is the standard route I take, when we have visitors.
So far,Everybody was impressed by all the water surrounding Detroit and Michigan's beauty!

 

[EdFred]

What IFR clearance did you get along the river? There doesn't seem to be much in the way of waypoints.

 

[saracelica]

I used maccs. The guy at Detroit seemed okay with it. Originally he said couldn't do it then we asked if we could go to maccs. When we got there he cleared us through. 15 miles from kdet he asked if I was ready for vectors. Flew over Windsor and in.

 

[Everskyward]

The guy at the FBO was one of the friendliest I have met when we went there in the middle of the night about a year ago. I was surprised that it looked just like the airlines had left last week, not 15 years in the past. The jetways, the signs in the terminal (now FBO), all preserved in time.

 

[ytodd]

Flew into KDET a couple weeks ago. Super nice lineman, and the lady inside was awesome too.

 

[azure]

Loved the pictures! If you did this yesterday, I might have been in the airspace at the same time as you, coming in from VT. A few miles north though, headed for 57D.

BTW the risk of going outside the fence at DET is overrated. I drove through the area on the way back from work many times in the past few years, often with the windows down during the summer. I wouldn't stop anywhere for gas or food, but driving through your chances of getting in trouble during the day are very small.

 

[frfly172]

Don't worry Detroit is on the way back,next century should be fine.

 

[DJTorrente]

BTW the risk of going outside the fence at DET is overrated. I drove through the area on the way back from work many times in the past few years, often with the windows down during the summer. I wouldn't stop anywhere for gas or food, but driving through your chances of getting in trouble during the day are very small.

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2013-07-25/how-detroit-drowned-in-a-sea-of-troubles

The first time I went to Detroit , I got lost. I had been looking at the old Packard plant, and I ended up ... well, I'm really not sure where I ended up. That's why they call it "being lost." It was getting dark, and I had no idea where I was or where I was going. I kept driving, figuring that eventually I'd reach either the city limits or downtown.

What I do know is that the people around me didn't think I belonged there. I was told as much. I stopped to get gas and an elderly gentleman stared at me. "Little girl, you do not belong here," he said. Item: I am 6-foot-2.

Shortly thereafter, a cop pulled up next to me while I was waiting at a light, and rolled down his window.

"Are you lost?" he said. I affirmed that I was. He asked me where I was staying.

"Make a U-turn," he directed me. Item: There was a no U-turn sign, somewhat tattered, directly in front of me.

"Start driving," said the cop. "Don't stop at the lights until you get to downtown." I think it was downtown. I don't remember anymore. When cops start telling you to break the law, you get a little nervous.

Just a data point.

 

[azure]

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2013-07-25/how-detroit-drowned-in-a-sea-of-troubles



Just a data point.

Note: that was in the evening, and the author had stopped for gas in one of the badder parts of town. The part about the cop advising her to run red lights was probably highly fictionalized, or else the cop was messing with her.

I wouldn't wander around random Detroit neighborhoods at night and I sure as heck wouldn't stop for anything but lights. That said, if I had business there I wouldn't hesitate to land at DET, rent a car and go about my affairs... in daylight, of course.

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

When the boat I sail on was at the Detroit Yacht Club on Belle Isle, I would occasionally drive home through the city late in the evening / middle of the night. Never had any hassle.

Then there was the time my youngest daughter ran out of gas on the I-75 I-375 ramp at 2:00 AM or so.

And the time...

No big deal.

 

[Dr. O]

We need to pressure the Congress to add General Aircraft travel to the Enhanced Michigan drivers license (and the other participating states). Have had no problems with it using the car and the boat - though I have not boated to Bermuda and flipped it at customs coming back into Florida (could be interesting)
Mexican Customs just look at it and hold their hand out (as usual)
Canadian customs just look at it and yawn (as usual)
US Customs just look at it glare and snarl (as usual)

 

[azure]

We need to pressure the Congress to add General Aircraft travel to the Enhanced Michigan drivers license (and the other participating states). Have had no problems with it using the car and the boat - though I have not boated to Bermuda and flipped it at customs coming back into Florida (could be interesting)
Mexican Customs just look at it and hold their hand out (as usual)
Canadian customs just look at it and yawn (as usual)
US Customs just look at it glare and snarl (as usual)

+1 to that. I overfly Canada frequently enough that I got a new passport last summer for the first time in some 20 years, even though I already had an EDL. Now if I have to make an emergency landing in Canada I'll be able to get back in the US with minimum hassle (though I'm sure there would be some anyway).

 

[Kristin]

I used to take charter flights into DET in the 80's. Are there still bullet holes in the tower cab? There was a Greek restaurant across the street. If there were at least three men going over for lunch, I would join them. Otherwise, I would order a pizza, figuring if the driver was mugged, I could always order another pizza.

 

[azure]

I used to take charter flights into DET in the 80's. Are there still bullet holes in the tower cab? There was a Greek restaurant across the street. If there were at least three men going over for lunch, I would join them. Otherwise, I would order a pizza, figuring if the driver was mugged, I could always order another pizza.

I vaguely remember that restaurant, though I never ate there. Wasn't it a small diner-type restaurant, a Coney Island or similar? I'd have to drive by there again to see if anything is still there. Maybe I'll do that while I'm in town.

 

[Kristin]

I vaguely remember that restaurant, though I never ate there. Wasn't it a small diner-type restaurant, a Coney Island or similar? I'd have to drive by there again to see if anything is still there. Maybe I'll do that while I'm in town.

My recollection that it was a diner type restaurant . . . checkered tablecloths etc. Hard to believe that it has been nearly 30 years.

 

[Skywalker]

I wouldn't wander around random Detroit neighborhoods at night and I sure as heck wouldn't stop for anything but lights. That said, if I had business there I wouldn't hesitate to land at DET, rent a car and go about my affairs... in daylight, of course.

That...

We have a lot of foreign interns in our company located approximately 45 miles from downtown Detroit. It is amazing what kind of horror stories they share among each other - while never even been close to the Detroit: Shootings and violence everywhere and you will be robbed the second you get close to Detroit.

I like best when we tell them that we visit an event somewhere in or near Detroit and they ask us if we really want to go into the kill zone... It seems we go to the wrong places...