Just got the official word the GTU tower is closing April 7th. any word on McKinney?

Glenn Watson wrote:
Just got the official word the GTU tower is closing April 7th. any word on McKinney?

So does that mean basically it's now a VFR you're on your own type deal or is there just no flying at all?

.....and BDU tower......it going to.....still never exist.....

Hi Brian:

Plenty of flying - just back to an uncontrolled field like the old days. I guess now we can stand on the runway centerline when Aluminum overcast takes off without getting yelled at by the tower manager!

Glenn

unprepared for a TOPP photo being on my phone. this will have to do..

ready to rock!




Glenn

Looking good Glenn! yes, KTKI will shut down around 04/01/13. I wonder how Texas Instruments is going to like flying 200M worth of Globals in and out of an uncontrolled field? These controllers are hosed too, it's not like they can send out resumes to other towers.

Someone please let me know when the women in PA gets her Obamaphone shut off, or there's 2% less in all the welfare checks going out, or we fund 2% less on the art exhibits containing a crucifix in a bottle of urine, naaa, none of that will ever happen. You can't make this stuff up boys and girls.

This all fits, the people paying for everything get penalized, and the ones on the dole roll on. Folks who worked hard, saved, bought homes with mortgages they could afford, got no help when the world imploded. In the current debacle the working stiff will again suffer the consequences, continue to pay more and more in taxes and receive less and less for it. Doesn't that seem fair to everyone? It must, we keep pulling the lever for these idiots every two and four years.

Guess they'll be calling the CTAF on the ILS! I think its a real shame. cant say about every class D airport out there, but ours really benefits from it safety wise. it was put up after a mid-air collision anyways. its not uncommon to have 4-6 airplanes working the pattern on sunny saturdays either.

pathetic. guess i'll go clean my AR before somebody takes it.

BDU has an Average of 163 operations per day (as a opposed to 277 at McKinney and 350 at Georgetown by my quick search.) I am often #5 or more in the pattern to land and our parallel runways are only 197 ft apart centerline to centerline....we manage. I've been the number 7 glider in the pattern to land multiple times....and remember we don't go around. Your airports will manage too.

Ground operations may be interesting and it will be very interesting to see if corporate flight operations decide to relocate.

I will preface this question with the fact I have no idea how any of this truly works behind the scenes, hence me asking a question. Would it not make sense, or even be possible, to hire on certified controllers using local funds rather than big brothers? Would be better than having none at all yes? Just, thinking that whole "free market" bit would take over and we the people would fill the gap, silly me I know.

We have never had a mid air at KTKI, but we have one heck of a mix throughout the day, Globals, GIV/GV, Challengers, 152's, LSA's. Personally, other than the fact that I am very fond of all our tower staff, it isn't going to affect the Wilson 1 arrival/departure procedures in 7PC. We're in and out before any of the rest of them even know we're there. Not much traffic at my enroute altitude generally.

My friends in the tower are excellent about watching where I am and giving me traffic advisories when I'm out shooting air to air or air to ground. yes, I have TIS in the Cub, but it isn't the same.

I'm on board with the spirit of this whole thing though, I think congress and the pres are at least 2% more worthless than I did a few weeks ago, which puts their approval rating in negative territory for me personally. This is clearly designed to garner the house for the left in 2014.

You would think Brian, because these are all non fed towers, but there are so many additional factors, liability, training, currency, health insurance, oversight. No municipality is going to take on that liability.

Hi David:

We will be fine without it, i've flown my whole life there without it - its less that 5 years old. There are things I like about it, and things I will like about not having it.
The reason that its being closed is mainly what I have a problem with. it is such a crock. Like JW, i now have 6 friends without a job and not many places to look for one so it sucks even more for them.

Our airport has a small chance for an exemption as we're classified as an official reliever airport for AUS, but its a small chance. And Brian there are avenues to bring it to the state and even local level in the meantime, but doing so puts us in a possition to possibly never recieve federal funding again in the future if this nightmare thats looking out for us ever ends. I also read an article this week that even after the sequestor, the FAA still has more money in its budget than it did last year. So closing the towers is just political scare tactics and propaganda to try and trick all the Fox news viewers into believing that we cant afford spending cuts in government because of all the things we will "lose". You know - can the police department, fire fighters and school teachers first - then everybody gets behind your spending programs.

Glenn

nice Hero shot Glenn! Was your local one of those forced to shut down their ATC?? I read about this online this afternoon.

I'm still plucking a few from this shoot a few weeks ago

astrobrian wrote:
I will preface this question with the fact I have no idea how any of this truly works behind the scenes, hence me asking a question. Would it not make sense, or even be possible, to hire on certified controllers using local funds rather than big brothers? Would be better than having none at all yes? Just, thinking that whole "free market" bit would take over and we the people would fill the gap, silly me I know.




Airport here is county .. they don't have the funds and the tower people I understand are contracted thru some big ole company .. haven't heard the status of Easton, Md yet, but I'm sure those folks are in employment jeporady ..

I was part of a remote 3 man maintenance team sent to Victoria, TX to recover, launch, recover and launch two F-4s. Our mission was to prove we could fly and fight from a remote location after Ellington was bombed. Victoria was an old WWII field that had been abandoned and there was no ATC. There was an FBO who talked to incoming (mostly to set up fuel/services). Metro Airlines flew in there at that time.

One day while we were waiting to recover the F-4s a Metro Twin Otter called the FBO. The FBO was in his truck talking to us. A Metro entering the pattern asked if anything was in the area, so FBO asked us the status of our jets. We told him they were probably a few minutes out (we were guessing, didn't have communication with them). He told Metro there were 2 F-4s flying in the area. Metro went nuts asking where they were. We told the FBO to tell Metro to look for the smoke (Metro had a field about 3 miles south of Ellington where this A/C originated). (He told them he was safe, they were not in the pattern yet.)

For Ray

IE1M6033 by airpowerimages.com, on Flickr

One more Viper

DSC_8818 by airpowerimages.com, on Flickr

I remember that photo Kevin. Very nice.

When I joined the 147th in 1972, most of the A/C mechanics loved to paint. That is one way to keep ya moving and busy, if you stood still too long you would get painted! They painted aircraft, taxi ways, hangars. That painting tradition continued with the F-16. Haven't seen much painting since they began flying the Predator.

Here's a travel pod that stayed still too long! (Surprised they haven't tried to mount it on a Predator!)

Very cool, love details like that.

That was a new edit of the F-16s, although obviously from the same couple of flights.

In the end though, the F-4 is king!

DSC_8961 by airpowerimages.com, on Flickr

Glenn Watson wrote:
Hi David:

We will be fine without it, i've flown my whole life there without it - its less that 5 years old. There are things I like about it, and things I will like about not having it.
The reason that its being closed is mainly what I have a problem with. it is such a crock. Like JW, i now have 6 friends without a job and not many places to look for one so it sucks even more for them.

Our airport has a small chance for an exemption as we're classified as an official reliever airport for AUS, but its a small chance. And Brian there are avenues to bring it to the state and even local level in the meantime, but doing so puts us in a possition to possibly never recieve federal funding again in the future if this nightmare thats looking out for us ever ends. I also read an article this week that even after the sequestor, the FAA still has more money in its budget than it did last year. So closing the towers is just political scare tactics and propaganda to try and trick all the Fox news viewers into believing that we cant afford spending cuts in government because of all the things we will "lose". You know - can the police department, fire fighters and school teachers first - then everybody gets behind your spending programs.


Glenn

Yeah Glenn, we can agree on that......my favorite example of the day: TSA is telling us that security lines are going to get exponentially longer, but yet they have the time and resources to put in a truly silly set of rules about knives on airplanes. Am I OK with knives on planes? Sure!, but think about the cost of implementing that program over the next couple of months. The training alone will be amazingly expensive, add rule updates, signage, marketing.....and beyond that, the rules are so convoluted, that it will further delay those long lines at the airport.

They aren't thinking, or else thinking that we aren't thinking. Either way, I"m embarrassed for them.