Flight Training - February 2015 - 40

Here's how it went.
Me: "Frederick Ground, November
Five-Two-Eight-Mike-Juliet at the south
hangar with Charlie." ATIS information is
coded according to the alphabet.
Tower: "November Five-Two-EightMike-Juliet, taxi to Runway 23 via Alpha,
cross three zero." I still looked both ways
when I got to Runway 30 but I didn't stop.
After the runup, I called the tower, told
them I was ready to depart Runway 23,
and I was on my way to Class B-or so I
thought.
CLASS B. There's all sorts of highly restrictive airspace around the Washington,
D.C., area, so I first flew to a fix-a VOR
navigation transmitter-that I knew would
keep my route away from the bad stuff.
Then I called Potomac Approach using a
frequency I found on the sectional chart.
My initial call to busy controllers is usually just my aircraft registration number,
like this: "Potomac Approach, November
Five-Two-Eight-Mike-Juliet." That way
the controller can file the N-number in
his brain and talk to someone he needs to
contact more urgently.
When he called back I give the controller my altitude, position in relation to the
VOR, and destination-Martin State Airport, on the other side of Baltimore. It is a
Class D airport that lies under the 2,500foot ring of the upside-down wedding cake
that characterizes Class B airspace. I was
hoping to hear the magic words, "Cleared
into Class B."
The controller was having none of that.
He replied with a special transponder
code, a hopeful sign for me, and then told
me to remain clear of Class B airspace-a
bad sign. The only way to remain clear
but still reach Martin State Airport was to
dive under the Class B layers. I had studied
them in advance and knew my direct route
would put me less than a mile from the
1,500-foot ring of the Class B airspace. I
descended to 1,400 feet. That way, even if I
strayed into the perimeter of the 1,500foot ring, I would still be beneath Class B.
That put me below the tops of the nearest
four broadcasting antennas I could see.
After landing I commented to the
ground controller that Potomac Approach
40 /

FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG

is none too generous with entry into Class
B airspace, and he agreed. Taking off
immediately, I watched the airspace on my
moving map display; I could increase my
altitude as I flew away from first the 2,500foot ring and then the 3,500-foot ring.
CLASS D. Once clear of the Martin State

airspace, and hearing "Frequency change
approved" from the tower controller, I
contacted the same Potomac Approach
controller who had told me to remain
clear of Class B. Again, I told him who I
was, where I was, and my altitude-plus
my next destination of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I could have added, "Request

AT CLASS C AIRPORTS,
YOU DON'T DECLINE
RADAR SERVICES ON THE
WAY IN-AND ESPECIALLY NOT
OUTBOUND. YOU CAN'T SAY,
"THAT'S VERY KIND OF YOU,
BUT, GOSH, I'M JUST BUSHED,
AND I'D RATHER NOT BE
BURDENED WITH ALL THAT
AIRLINEY STUFF TODAY."
flight following," but he came back with
a discrete transponder code, meaning
he was offering radar services. He later
handed me off to Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) Approach, which directs traffic in the
Lancaster area, and that controller stayed
with me until I reported Lancaster Airport
in sight.
Because the approach controller coordinated with the tower on my behalf, the
tower controller knew all about me before
I arrived, such as where I was. All that was
left for the controller to do was clear me to
land, and he generously offered a runway
aligned with my route, although another
was in use. I used an airport diagram
from Jeppesen's FliteStar flight-planning
program to verify what I was seeing out
the windscreen. The printouts included
all the airport frequencies I would need
throughout the day-long hunt for alphabet
airspace, and I had circled the important
ones so I wouldn't have to search.
After lunch in the Lancaster terminal,
and a visit to the Airways pilot shop-a

short taxi from the restaurant-to buy toys
for some toddlers I know, I was on my way
to Class C airspace. (One toy is a small dog
wearing a TSA shirt that says, "Tiny Security Animal.")
CLASS C. Class C airspace is a little more
uptown than Class D. Lehigh Valley
International in Allentown, Pennsylvania,
has radar approach controllers right in the
tower building. You can't arrive or leave
Allentown without talking to them.
While above Reading Regional Airport
I decided to call Allentown Approach-
might as well get radar services as soon
as possible. I prefaced my registration
number with "Skylane," adding location
(Reading), altitude, and destination. The
Allentown controller said I was not in his
airspace, but told me to stand by and he
would call. All I had to do was wait. He
was planning how best to fit me into a traffic flow that included a military Lockheed
C-130 Hercules transport making practice
takeoffs and landings. Eventually he gave
me vectors, a series of headings, to keep
me west of the airport until he could sneak
me in after a C-130 takeoff.
Asked by the Allentown tower controller where I wanted to park, I said I would
be taking off again, and that's when he
caught me unprepared. I had pulled off the
runway, crossed the runway hold line, and
stopped to contact ground control. Once
the ground controller cleared me to taxi
back to the departure end of the runway,
and once my aircraft had started to move,
he rattled off a departure frequency,
transponder code, heading, and altitude
restriction. My pen was in the flight bag. I
actually "read back" the information correctly using my very short-term memory,
hurriedly setting the assigned frequency
in my second radio as a reminder since
I couldn't write it down. Entering those
numbers caused me to forget the transponder code. Just as he told me "Readback
correct," I responded sheepishly, "Could
you repeat the transponder code?" He did.
No big deal. Took less than 10 seconds.
At Class C airports, you don't decline
radar services on the way in-and
especially not outbound. You can't say,
"That's very kind of you, but, gosh, I'm just
http://FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG
Flight Training - February 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - February 2015
