Flying to other cities?

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speedy71

Filing Flight Plan
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speedy
Kind of a newbie question, but I guess I am... I'm close to completing my PPL. most of my flights have been have been to airports where i just land, taxi back and then take off again. My question is, if i want to go visit another city for a weekend/week, what is the process? Do you need to make reservations to leave a plane for an extended period? are there fees at airports for parking/use? if there are fees, how do i find them? Anything else i should be thinking of?
 
speedy71 said:
Kind of a newbie question, but I guess I am... I'm close to completing my PPL. most of my flights have been have been to airports where i just land, taxi back and then take off again. My question is, if i want to go visit another city for a weekend/week, what is the process? Do you need to make reservations to leave a plane for an extended period? are there fees at airports for parking/use? if there are fees, how do i find them? Anything else i should be thinking of?
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Call the FBO and ask if there are any fees.

www.fltplan.com
 
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Call a local FBO. If there isn't one, odds are, no one cares.

Airnav.com and AOPA can help.

It varies from BYO tie down to just parking to buying fuel to paying a really expensive landing fee.
 
All the long-xc familiarization items including details of an unfamiliar airport, fbo (do they have cookies or not...plus the where to park and getting gassed etc), ground transportation (rental/Uber/cabs etc), hotel, booking activities in the city (watch out for busy times ie football game or car race in town), constantly watching the weather, preparing for pax and their issues.
 
It's like if you went to a different city in a car. Except either you pay each day for your airplane or not for parking. One thing to remember is to think this through if you rent through a club or school because you can get in hot water if someone has it scheduled the following day and you're a few cities over enjoying a burger.
 
Hellz yes you can do this!!! I got the warrior booked this coming Saturday to Sunday to fly to myrtle for the night, just because!! This is why I fly, check out some new places I wouldn't normally drive to for a night.
Most places you rent from will have daily minimums. From MY experience, most places won't strictly enforce it unless you abuse it. So when I'm renting from a new place I will make sure to meet their requirement at least the first trip or two to 'prove' myself, after that I will talk to the manager about a trip I'm thinking of taking that might be under the requirement and ask if that's ok. It's a give and take thing....don't abuse it and you should be fine. And go for it and have fun!!!!
 
Flying to other cities is so fun. You'll love it. See above posts and try to find a club/fbo with no overnight minimums (hours you pay for every day you have the plane even if you don't fly). It makes traveling by plane much better (ie cheaper).
 
I'm near the end of a long XC from upstate NY to South Dakota and back. The route of flight took me from NY-PA-OH-IN-IL-WI-MN-SD-NE-IO-IL and when I finish up in the next day or two IL-OH-PA-NY, for a total of about 4000 NM. Over the last six years, I've flown my plane fairly long distances (i.e., in excess of 500 NM) a couple of times each year.

I start out with a plan but the plan doesn't always survive the weather and last-minute decisions. I have many times been at an airport and decided where I was going next at the very last minute. Since I like to stop every 200-250 NM, planning the next leg is often pretty easy:

* What direction do I want to go in next?
* What airports are there in that direction around where I'd like to stop?
* What's the fuel price at the FBOs?
* If I'll be landing outside of normal business hours, do they have 24-hour self-serve fuel?
* If I'm ending for the day, is there lodging available? Someplace to eat? I'm a lifetime platinum Marriott member so I just call Marriott and ask if they have a hotel near where I want to stop but Foreflight will list a fair number of local options for both food and lodging, as will other resources.
* Are there excessive landing/tie-down fees? A quick call to the FBO is usually an excellent source of information.
* If the weather is forecast to decline in some horrific way, do they have available hangar space and, if so, what's the cost?

The first time I took the plane halfway across the country, this all seemed really, really complicated. Six years later, I don't stress over it at all. I pay very careful attention to the weather but the other stuff is pretty easy. I like having a general plan for where I'm going but leaving the details flexible. That's how adventures happen. :)
 
Do you rent the plane? If so that's the first set of issues to iron out, just check the rental agreement.
 
Welcome to the forum,I like to use air nav as a reference. You can alwys call the FBO for any info you need.
 
its pretty straight forward. Go to airnav. or ForeFlight etc and search the airport. see the FBO's listed. Often times you can see fuel prices and reviews right there. If it's somewhere i'd never been I would call and ask them for their fuel prices, and ramp fee (often times places will waive the ramp/handling fee if you take fuel) So be sure to ask how much fuel you need to take to waive the ramp fee, often times you can make out better taking fuel instead of paying the ramp fee. Then once you decide which FBO is better I'll usually call the day prior let them know what time I'll be arriving and for how many days. If you need a rental most of these FBO's can get a rental car right to your airplane for you! Most FBO's also have corporate rates at hotels nearby if you need a hotel.
 
All of the above, but let me add two more things:

1) Call ahead and ask the FBO if they have a crew car you can borrow if you want to go somewhere for lunch.

2) Never assume fuel will be available. Especially the smaller airports. Twice I've been on long XCs, landed with the expectation that fuel was available, and had to take off again in search of other options. Calling ahead to the FBO works for this as well. Tell them your expected ETA and they will be waiting for you (fingers crossed), or at least tell you that they will be closed by then so you can make alternative plans.
 
On top of all that above, many regional airports have municipal transient parking and self serve fuel if you do not need FBO services.

For a new airport that I am overnighting in I will search Airnav and Foreflight...as well as search this forum for tips as to where to go. If I just need transient parking I will call the airport manager or airport office that is listed to see what the options and rates are then decide if I need to go to an FBO or if transient parking will work if available.

Rarely do you need a reservation but if going to an FBO, I give them a heads up that I am coming in so they know to expect me.

Foreflight is a phenomenal resource for airport information and services among other things. I flew from FL to CA and rarely did we stop at the airport I planned at departure because the wealth of information that I had at my fingertips that allowed us to change things up as we went in regards to airport resources.
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Check out Adventurepilot.com for some ideas of where to go.
 
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