A regional jet that looks fully three stories tall is staring me down. Or am I staring him down? We are on opposite sides of Runway 35 at Philadelphia International Airport, each awaiting takeoff clearance from the tower. The RJ gets the go-ahead, lumbers onto the runway, and puts the hammer down. A few minutes later, I am cleared for takeoff, told to fly the runway heading, and reminded of the departure frequency. I push in the throttle on my Piper Cherokee 140 and wonder if the RJ next in line behind me will be mindful of my wake turbulence.
Why fly to an airport in Class B airspace when there are lots and lots of perfectly good landing spots in Class C, D, or E? For the fun of it. And for the experience you’ll gain. And for the confidence you’ll develop. You are not a freshman trying to crash the cool kids’ party. You’ve done your homework; you’ve planned for this jaunt; and everyone will know it.
Planning and flying a trip into Class B is quite similar to most other cross-country adventures—with a few extra tasks thrown in. As with any type of flying, the better prepared you are, the more confident you’ll be.
WHERE WILL YOU GO? Start by reviewing Class B airports within your reach. AOPA headquarters is in close proximity to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport; Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport; and Washington Dulles International Airport. Reagan National was a nonstarter—GA operations are prohibited there unless you participate in a security program that includes having a safety officer on board your airplane. BWI, Dulles, and National are within the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Area Special Flight Rules Area. Getting a clearance into the Baltimore-Washington Class B airspace can be challenging for VFR pilots.
Casting my net a little wider, I hit on Philadelphia International. PHL has a GA-friendly reputation. Conversely, some airports probably would not be good candidates for your first visit because of the daily volume of traffic they experience. Think Chicago O’Hare International; San Francisco International; LaGuardia Airport; or Los Angeles International. You must hold a private pilot certificate to operate within—or take off or land at an airport in—Class B airspace, unless you are a student pilot or recreational pilot seeking private pilot certification and have met the requirements of FAR 61.95: ground and flight training, and an instructor sign-off for the specific Class B airspace and airport. The pilot in command must hold at least a private pilot certificate in order to land at certain Class B primary airports; check Chapter 3-2-3 of the Aeronautical Information Manual. An air traffic control clearance and two-way radio communication also are required for operations in Class B airspace.
An experienced, knowledgeable person in the right seat with you—whether that’s your flight instructor or a certificated pilot who’s comfortable with busy controlled airspace—is a great idea. I asked AOPA Chief Pilot Mark Evans to ride along with me. A 15,000-hour pilot, Evans has flown light aircraft into some of the busiest airports in the nation.
PLAN, PLAN, AND PLAN SOME MORE. Take some time to review airspace, communications, airport signage, and more. A list of resources can be found below.
Airspace requirements. Your airplane should be equipped with a two-way radio, plus a Mode C transponder. You must have at least three miles visibility and remain clear of clouds.
Communication. If your radio technique is a little choppy, think of the basic format: Who are you talking to? Who are you? Where are you, and what do you want to do? Keep phraseology standard and brief. It’s not necessary to repeat the full N number once approach control or any ATC facility uses a shortened form of it. If you sound confident and professional, ATC will treat you like the confident, professional pilot you are. Note: “Professional” does not mean “demanding.”
Airport signs, lighting, visual aids. If you’re shaky on signage, you must review it before your trip. Start with AIM Chapter 2, and see "Resources" (below).
The airport environment. A primary Class B airport may have multiple runways plus a highway system’s worth of taxiways. While you’ll land on only one runway, you need to understand where all the others are—and where you’ll need to go once you touch down. Print the airport diagram, locate the FBO where you’ll park, and start reviewing possible routes to that location. Look for potential hot spots (noted on Jeppesen taxiway diagrams).
Airport-specific VFR procedures. Does your destination have them? Look for these in the Airport/Facility Directory as well as notices to airmen.
Current charts. You’ll need them for the trip, so review them at leisure on the ground rather than when you’re in the air. A terminal area chart will give you a close-up view of the airspace.
GET READY TO FLY! Get a standard weather briefing from Flight Service, and be sure to request airport notams. It’s likely the briefer will recite a laundry list unlike anything you’ve heard before—ranging from taxiway closures to airport lights that are out of service. Lighting outages and the minimum climb gradient on a standard instrument departure might not directly affect you, but taxiway or runway closures definitely could. Other items to note: personnel and equipment adjacent to runways and taxiways.
Now it’s time to organize your cockpit so that you have what you need, when you need it. Keep charts within reach, folded to show the next segment of the trip; the airport diagram and appropriate frequencies; and the paper and pen or pencil you’ll use to copy ATC instructions. I carried paper charts as well as an iPad displaying the route for back-up navigation.
GETTING THAT CLEARANCE. No trip into Class B airspace can be made without the all-important clearance to enter from approach control. Listen for the words “Cleared to enter the Class Bravo” and accept nothing less. As with anything related to air traffic control, if you don’t hear the words you need, ask.
Now your communications practice comes into play. Listen for your call sign; answer promptly. Maintain your assigned heading and altitude—no meandering up or down 50 or 100 feet. ATC is providing separation services, but you are not relieved of your see-and-avoid responsibility.
We found Philadelphia Approach pleasant and professional, even though we had to be diverted several miles northeast of the airport. The FAA was conducting flight checks on runways at PHL, and Approach had to accommodate arrivals of larger, faster aircraft.
After our handoff to the control tower, we were cleared to land on Runway 35, which is right by the general aviation FBO. At Evans’ suggestion, we reviewed the airport diagram and noted that we would be making a right turn off the runway after touchdown. It’s another way to keep up situational awareness.
“CAUTION, WAKE TURBULENCE.” Big airports mean big aircraft, which means wake turbulence is a distinct possibility. Always know where you are in relation to other airplanes approaching the airport, and if a jet is ahead of you, stay above its glidepath. A higher and faster approach gives you a bit of a safety margin. The tower won’t want you dragging it in, and you might have to use a faster airspeed on final.
Be sure to read back your clearance to land and have the ground control frequency loaded and ready to be switched over so that you can receive your taxi instructions. Write them down. Ask for progressive taxi instructions if you need them. ATC is there to help you. And be mindful of large aircraft moving about on the ground, lest you be blown over by taxiing too close to them—don’t laugh, it can and has happened.
GETTING BACK OUT. I found this segment of the trip to be the most daunting. It required a call to Clearance Delivery to get a departure clearance, which must be read back in its entirety, including a transponder code and departure frequency. Then, a call to ground control to obtain rapid-fire taxi instructions.
For some reason, the assigned taxi route to the runway looked completely unfamiliar, and (not for the first time) I was happy to have Evans with me to help sort it out.
Once at the threshold, we waited for the tower to release us. “You don’t tell the tower you’re ready to go?” I asked Evans later.
“No,” he said. “Believe me, they know where you are. You’re a bit out of place here.”
Cleared to depart, I made sure to rotate short of the point where the preceding regional jet’s wheels had lifted off the runway. Again, wake turbulence should be at the front of your mind.
Once back at Frederick, Evans wanted to know if I’d had fun. And I had. Thanks to lots of preparation and a helping hand, the trip had provided plenty of benefits with minimal stress, and had borne out what Evans had said all along: “If you can accommodate what the controllers ask within the limits of your aircraft, there should be no reason why you shouldn’t come into the airport.” In other words, you can go into a big airport with a little airplane.
Related Articles
