Airport Signage #1

There was a really interesting FAA Safety Seminar the other night on airport signage. It was a good review and clarification of some points that weren't clear to me. Below is an interesting image of some airport markings that are interesting. Most of these are familiar but the placement of them I think is unique at this airport. Does anyone agree?

Double Parking?

One of the things that I would like to do more of is actually experience more of the airport environment than just the runway and taxiway. In a recent flight to Ukiah the plan was to land and than walk to town to go visit the “Coffee Critic”. A friend of mine is really into coffee and this is supposed to be one of the places that have been doing specialty coffee for a long time. The challenge this time was that all the transient parking spots were full. At UKI the tie downs are just in front of the terminal building and every one of them had a plane in them. So I trolled the ramp looking for alternative spots with no luck. Not knowing what to do I decided I’ll just park on the end of the row of the planes in transient parking. This to me felt a little like double parking. As I got out and was pushing back I noticed an airport vehicle driving toward me. My first thought was here comes the enforcement patrol that is going to tell me that I can’t park there. The truck pulled up, slowed down and the driver rolled down the window. I was bracing myself for what I thought would be a lecture about following airport rules and just what was I doing…. However, the driver politely asked if I needed fuel and said that go ahead and park on the end because the transient spots were full. I thanked him and said that I was good on fuel…. I had left San Carlos with full fuel so I really didn’t need fuel. I think next time I’ll want to support the local airports and make a point of stopping for fuel. It is refreshing to see people at the airport looking out for pilots that are new to the airport. Can you imagine what would have happened if this was a car trying to park in an unmarked spot? I can only imagine instead of getting a friendly and helping hand the car would have probably been ticketed and be towed.

Chico, KCIC, Class D

I’m sure the teacher will understand the phenomenon about the expectations we create based on our experiences. Flying in the Bay area with several class D airports like SQL, PAO, LVK, and RHV I have been accustomed to expect certain things. Among these things are that these airports have weather information broadcast aka ATIS and they provide sequencing, separation and traffic advisories with common requests such as requesting aircraft to IDENT, calling traffic at 2 o’clock, 1 mile two thousand five hundred feet opposite direction, etc.

These expectations don’t apply at all class D airports. In particular, I had a chance to fly into Chico airport, KCIC. Chico is a class D airport with parallel runways, one of which is 6724 feet long and 150 feet wide. It has several instrument approaches, instrument approach lighting and commercial airline service via United Express. On many accounts it is a major airport.

However there are number of differences at this class D airport compared to the ones I fly out of routinely (SQL, PAO). The first is when you tune in their WX, 119.675, you get their AWOS and no identifier such as Tango. It provides wind, ceiling, altimeter etc. The second difference is that they don’t have access to radar. So when you call in to report you let them know you have the numbers/one mimuter weather and your position. If you report you are 10 miles south of the airport, they take your word for it and provide a pattern entry based on your report. Unlike SQL or PAO they can’t "see" you until literally they physically see you. To confirm your actual location instead of the tower asking you to IDENT, you might hear a request to rock your wings. I can only imagine the controller in the tower with his binoculars looking out the window confirming that the plane they see is really the one they are talking to.

Although I am sure during my flight training I had experienced some of these differences before, I probably was not in a position to absorb those differences. As one CFI said, there is nothing much better for a learning experience than going out on a trip to someplace new.