sort of a learning airport poll

Crane Pilot

Crane Pilot

Pre-takeoff checklist
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crane pilot
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dab, sfb, orl
Just a question. If you had a choice between a tower controlled airport and a non tower controlled which would you choose to learn at. The tower controlled is a class c and non tower is class d with a class c nearby. There are no right answers and no wrong answers just opinions
 
Non towered by far. Get 10-12 landings in per hour be solo'd quick don't spend any time on the ground so you maximize time and then hit up a controlled airfield for your requirements. Never flown into a D airport so maybe you can crank out landings on those too. Class C can get a bit busy, at least at the local one.

Love uncontrolled fields, start it up check the windsock taxi and go. No dealing with ATIS, or clearance or ground or tower or departure or waiting on the heavies

EDIT: If your surrounded by complex airspace sure do towered since you'll be dealing with ATC a lot, but in my case theres a class C nearby then nothing for 1 hour in any direction(at cessna speed) . So I haven't talked to atc in a year or so.
 
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I didn't know there were non towered class D airports.
 
Towered!

I started at a small non towered airport, then moved over to the local class c for finish up. Much more comfortable flying into any airport than other students who only flew into towered fields enough to meet requirements.

As long as it's not a super busy airport, I haven't had many delays at the towered field vs the nontowered. Get your ATIS info over the phone preflight, jump in, make your calls and GO!
 
I would go w/ the towered. I was taught at a non towered and way under prepared for ATC communication when I was let loose.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I didn't know there were non towered class D airports.
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+1

I chose to learn out of a towered airport as I knew ahead of time that all of my flying would be in very busy airspace (New York Bravo) and I preferred to be exposed to it as much as possible.
 
Usually a class Delta has ATC...they just lack radar services and are part-time switching to Class E when not in service.

Otherwise learning in an ATC controlled environment is safer than Unicom. They are watching out for you. And you can concentrate on your technique.

The only downside is how busy it can get. But a busy Unicom airport is often worse...
 
Clark1961 said:
There's one in the northwest somewhere, I think it's Seattle.
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Pearson Airfield........Vancouver Washington.........the original Vancouver........and "Center of the Universe."



Who was "Pearson" anyway?



EDIT: Towered......by far!
 
I wouldn't worry about it one way or the other. Pick the one with the better school.

That being said, I did learn at a towered field (BJC) and my wife learned at the primary airport of a class B.
 
I began my instructing career at a small uncontrolled airport. I took my students to a couple of towered airports just to meet the minimum requirement. My bad. Then I moved to Boeing Field (the SEA Class B did not exist at the time). I had a multiplicity of uncontrolled airports in the area to choose from and took my students to as many as possible.

Fast forward: My BFI students would go to an uncontrolled field without a second though and they were, of course, comfortable at towered airports. Students from my original uncontrolled field would not come down to Boeing if they could avoid it. Which group consisted of "complete" pilots? The ones I trained at the towered airport, of course...they could and would go anywhere.

I do not consider the number of takeoffs and landings per hour to be important in the long run.

Bob Gardner
 
I started at a towered field with three FBOs ,spent a good bit of time waiting in line for takeoff,I would recommend a non towered airport to start your training.
 
Class C - learn ATC interaction/flow early on. Although there may be more traffic, that in and of itself is an educational resource. Extending downwinds, doing downwind 360s, actually seeing traffic in the pattern, etc - all useful for flying in the real world.
And you'll be more likely to see aircraft other than Cs and Ps
 
Non towered, quieter and smaller the better.

Learning how to talk and follow directions ain't that big of a thing, having a uninterrupted area to teach the fundamentals is quite important, much easier to teach power off ops, tail wind landings, etc at a non towered.
 
Towered, yes you will spend a little more time on the ground but you will be way ahead with communications. Especially if you plan to get instrument rated.
 
A relatively low volume Class D. Best of both worlds!

...I say 'low volume". I remember 8 in the pattern at one point. But it had two commercial flights a day. Two, as in two round trips by the mighty Beech 99. USAir has since cancelled that service...

KBDR.
 
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SixPapaCharlie said:
I didn't know there were non towered class D airports.
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Not many. Class D is airspace, and towers are about runways. Usually, those are closely related, but they need not be.

An example is KVUO, Vancouver, WA. Airport is nontowered (no takeoff or landing clearances), but Portland Int'l controls the airspace, and you must be in two way contact. If you look at the sectional, it's not hard to figure out why.

Class C really is not a big deal, even if it's busy (e.g., San Jose) and some are so sleepy it's laughable (Monterey).
 
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Since you are close to both, imagine time will be spent at both. Uncontrolled fields have you making more radio calls while learning to land (touch and goes) when initially you need your concentration on flying assuming you are making all the radio calls. Then you always have those that believe they do not have to talk to anybody and just bust into the pattern. Towered helps that scenario. Really depends on how comfortable you are on the radio and how soon it becomes "second nature" to you. Right, Bob?

In your area you will be working with ATC a lot because of the volume of traffic so might as well get comfortable in the saddle from the get go. It pays off in the end, especially when pursuing that instrument ticket.
 
I learned to fly at a class C. If I had my choice, it'd be non-towered.
 
Thank you too all that posted, Bob Gardner i am currently reading your book which makes it a little clearer , im still figuring out which school i am going to do my training at. As for towered airport if i am going through to the instrament which i am, i will be going to the top of the stack with an ATP, and CFI, CFII and MEI , unless i get lucky and they reduce the hour requirement. Either way i am gonna fly and excel into a new life. I do however think that Old CFI and others have a good theory in all the radio calls at a non towered airport during the first part of my training would be a little too much to keep track of while im still trying to control the aircraft.
 
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I had the best of both worlds. We were based out of a towered field but would take off and do most of our work at several nearby uncontrolled fields. My first choice would be a towered field my primary airport. Radio proficiency and ATC commutations are just as much a part of the learning process.
 
Towered. Your gonna have to learn radio coms at some point. Might as well be first thing.
 
You have an instructor in the airplane to handle those things that you are not yet ready for. Most will start the initial lessons with, "I'll handle all the radio calls. You just concentrate on flying." Hubby (who is a CFI) lets the primary student get the ATIS as soon as he is able. In the case of a C airport, once he has that down, the student would be calling clearance delivery. Once he has that OK, it will be calling ground. Over time, you get the chance to handle it all. You want to be comfortable with the radio by the time you solo. (Maybe not totally proficient, yet.) You want to be competent with the radio by the time you get to cross countries. I would recommend flying out of the towered airport and do lots of landing practice at the non-towered airport.
 
I don't think it makes much difference. It doesn't really matter whether or not someone is telling you where to go and when to go there, the flying bit is pretty much the same. So long as you don't end up not knowing what to do at an uncontrolled field because there's nobody there to hold your hand :dunno:
 
Cpt_Kirk said:
I learned to fly at a class C. If I had my choice, it'd be non-towered.
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I learned to fly in 1975 out of Opa Locka, FL. An extremely busy towered airport underlying the Miami TCA.

Good news is I got very comfortable with busy airspace and communications.

Bad news is a lot of time was lost taxiing long distances and waiting to get a word in edgewise on the radio or to be cleared for takeoff with numerous arrivals inbound.

All in all, for the actual art of flying, I would prefer non-towered.
 
Shawn's way is great if you can work it out. Based at a tower and go to smaller until you learn to fly.

Radio seems high on everyone's list. I don't recall it being that hard. Schools here seem to teach students to blather on and on.
 
Matters not one bit; go with the better school, as someone said. Talking to a tower isn't rocket science. A couple trips to a towered airport will resolve that mystery in short order. Don't let radio comms with ATC loom large in your mind; it just isn't the speed bump prospective students think it will be.

If you'll be flying mostly weekends, you might be safer at a towered field, with less chance for yahoos to kill you; traffic patterns at uncontrolled fields are fate's favorite location for mid-airs.

Either way, have fun. . .you'll get a feel for what's essential (and what's trivial).
 
Tower or not would be ~#216 in importance for training, right behind the type of Coffee avail in the FBO.
 
oregonboy109 said:
Towered. Your gonna have to learn radio coms at some point. Might as well be first thing.
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Once you get it down, it will never be an obstacle again. It becomes second nature very quickly.

It will also serve you well once you start instrument training, as there is quite a bit involved there.
 
Heard a pilot on Unicom once around Gunnison; 'Hey, is the coffee on?' FBO; 'Uh - we're out right now. Pilot; '**** that! I'm going to Montrose'.
 
I did a non towered field (OFP) 15nm away from a moderately busy class C airport (RIC). Best of both worlds.
 
You need to learn both regardless so it does not matter which you do first. And your first couple of exposures to each type should be with your CFI who should handle the radios the first few times at each type and explain what the calls mean.

Note that even at towered airports where you have ATC "looking out for you", you should still listen to all radio calls and be cognizant of what other aircraft are doing just like at a non-towered field. So your awareness level should always be maintained.
 
The quality of the instructor is more important than the type of field IMO.

But, all things being equal, I might choose the towered field especially if there is a sleepy non-towered field nearby.

You don't have to remain at the towered field for the duration of the lesson. Rather you can fly to a nearby non-towered field, practice, then fly back.

Best of both worlds.
 
MAKG1 said:
Class C really is not a big deal, even if it's busy (e.g., San Jose) and some are so sleepy it's laughable (Monterey).
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Haha, yes! I've always been amazed that Monterey is Class C and Long Beach is Class D. Laughable is right.


Gerry
 
Crane Pilot said:
Just a question. If you had a choice between a tower controlled airport and a non tower controlled which would you choose to learn at. The tower controlled is a class c and non tower is class d with a class c nearby. There are no right answers and no wrong answers just opinions
Click to expand...

controlled. I'm a sport pilot and had the choice you're asking about. it boiled down to learning on a tail dragger (1946 Aeronca Champ) at an uncontrolled field or a tricycle gear plane (Cessna 162) at a controlled field. i knew i was going to need an endorsement to fly into B,C and D airspace so it just made sense to learn at a Class D airport and i could always go back and pick up the tail dragger endorsement. and btw a Class D airport is, at least, a part-time controlled field. when the tower is closed it becomes either a Class G or E field.
 
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