Would you warn the controller?

AuntPeggy

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A group of friends decided to meet at a local airport (OXC) restaurant (121) for lunch on Sunday. It turned out that about 10 airplanes converged on the same airport from every direction within the span of an hour and we all wanted to make the right turn-off to the restaurant instead of the left turn-off to the FBO.

Mine was the first plane to arrive at 11:45 and the controller had 1 plane doing touch & goes in the pattern, 2 departures, and 3 arrivals, including me. He was already having problems handling these 6.

One guy thought we should have informed the tower that there would be a group of planes all wanting to go to the airport restaurant. He arrived about 20 minutes after me and said the controller was really overworked. The last guy arrived an hour after I did and didn't notice any problem.

I think that an additional 10 planes on a Sunday afternoon should be well within the norms for a job well done and a warning that there are 10 of us is needless, if not mildly insulting. There was only 1 guy in the cab handling tower and ground. I think they usually have charter and training traffic on a Sunday.
 
10 airplanes over the span of an hour? If the controller can't handle that, he needs to find another job. 10 isn't a large group. I would not have even dreamed that prior notification would be needed.
 
If I recall, JFK has limited operations to one every eighty seconds. I'm sure this small airport controller has aspirations to going where he can bring in the bigger bucks someday.
 
Nope, if he is busy he dosen't need the extra chatter on the radio if he isn't it won't matter. It's not like he would have time to call in extra help and, as Greg said, if 10 extra planes in an hour messes with him that much he really ought to find another line of work.
 
When we do Grumman fly-ins, it's usually the controllers who are asking us what's going on. Guess 15-20 Grumman all going to the same airport at the same time is unusual enough to pique their interest. But as a matter of convenience, if we're going to a towered airport, the event organizer usually lets the tower know what's happening so they can direct all the Grummans to the right parking area. We also contact the FBO to make sure there's adequate parking.
 
But as a matter of convenience, if we're going to a towered airport, the event organizer usually lets the tower know what's happening so they can direct all the Grummans to the right parking area. We also contact the FBO to make sure there's adequate parking.

Yeah, but 10 airplanes over the span of one HOUR???
 
Yeah 10 over an hour is not bad. I recall when Toby got the North East Flyers going a few years ago she organized a doosey at KLNS we had about 75 planes. She had one of the local pilots give the tower a heads up in advance and they did appreciated it. But 10 planes nah.
 
One of the times I visited my class-d tower, I asked the controller what a busy day for him would be - he said about 80/hr with just him working both ground and tower.
 
I wouldn't warn the controller, but I might warn the restaurant...
 
One plane every 6 minutes and they need a warning?

Does the controller only have 37 chromosomes?
 
I'd still let them know where we're all supposed to go.

And are you going to give him all the N#s? Because if you aren't he is still going to have to confirm that each one of the planes that comes in is with your group. They weren't all coming from the same direction so he doesn't have that cue.
 
And are you going to give him all the N#s? Because if you aren't he is still going to have to confirm that each one of the planes that comes in is with your group. They weren't all coming from the same direction so he doesn't have that cue.
If you want to find excuses for how you can make life more difficult for everyone, fine. Otherwise, you tell tower where to send everyone for the PoA fly-in to park. They'll figure it out.
 
If you want to find excuses for how you can make life more difficult for everyone, fine. Otherwise, you tell tower where to send everyone for the PoA fly-in to park. They'll figure it out.


You've got a bunch of guys that are flying in to go to the restaurant. How is this controller supposed to be helped by telling him that 10 unnamed planes are going to land in the next hour that want to go to the restaurant?
 
You've got a bunch of guys that are flying in to go to the restaurant. How is this controller supposed to be helped by telling him that 10 unnamed planes are going to land in the next hour that want to go to the restaurant?
I've only organized a couple of dozen fly-ins, so perhaps your experience is more extensive. However, I've found it helps to tell tower that the XYZ fly-in aircraft are going to Point A on the airport. YMMV.
 
I've only organized a couple of dozen fly-ins, so perhaps your experience is more extensive. However, I've found it helps to tell tower that the XYZ fly-in aircraft are going to Point A on the airport. YMMV.

We aren't talking about a fly-in. If we were I would fully agree with telling the controller, "The XYZ fly-in is being held over at Ron's Hanger." Because the pilots are likly to be telling the controller "I need to go to the XYZ fly-in." And if you don't tell him he might not have a clue as to where it is being held.

We are talking about a bunch of guys going to lunch. Again I will ask, How is telling the controller that 9 more planes will becoming in over the next hour and they will want to go to the restaurant going to help him in any way? The pilots are still going to have to tell the controller they want to go to the restaurant as opposed to the FBO or whereever.
 
Yup, I don't see anything to make the planes going to the restaurant stand out in the controller's mind. So if I were a pilot going to that lunch, I'd just tell the controller at some point before landing that I wanted to park at the restaurant. Exactly when would depend on the runway layout. If only one runway, probably when cleared to land. At PTK, with parallel runways, if I'm going to PAC on the south side of the field, I'll say "inbound with Tango (or whatever), going to PAC" on my first call-up so they have plenty of advance notice to work me in to land on 27L/9R if it's possible.

Anyway I think this one is the responsibility of the individual pilots.
 
I agree... for this situation, I would not warn the tower, I would just tell the pilots to make sure they say where they're parking on their initial call (I just know some purist is going to roast me for saying this).

"XYZ Tower, Skyhawk 12345 10 miles West, landing with information X, parking Joe's BBQ."

In fact, many times when GA airplanes approach Hobby, Houston Approach will ask where you're parking, and on a good day, they'll put you on the runway that gets you closest to your destination. When we have certain type fly-ins at the museum for our Wings & Wheels events (such as the 120/140 fly-in we had back in July) I'll typically contact the tower and let them know that they can expect a bunch of these aircraft, but I only do that if it's a type that can really affect their operations. Every time though, I tell the pilots to request runway 17/35 if conditions permit since that is right next to the museum, and to let Hobby Tower know that they're parking at the museum when they call. We haven't had a problem yet! (knock on wood!)
 
that's absurd. i'm not a controller, but i think i could handle 10 planes in an hr!
 
They're human too. If you want to, tell them, if not-- don't. In the end it doesn't really matter. Should they be able to handle 10 planes? Sure.
 
When I sold my 150 I delivered it to Anoka, MN. The new owner called tower ahead of time to let them know they were expecting a 150 and to show it to the right spot. I was just one plane. Made my job easier. Tower confirmed, "They're waiting for you@ New York".

Dan
 
..she organized a doosey at KLNS we had about 75 planes.

Somebody needs to put something like this together again...hint...hint. Had a great time....

Greg
 
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