Detroit: choice of IFR airports?

[Mike & Janet Larke]

From what I've read Detroit area airports get pretty mixed reviews, some
pretty negative for g/a and general level of service & facilities. Can
anyone recommend the Detroit area airports to fly in to, and warn of the
ones to avoid? (With instrument approaches/ILS preferred.)---for
single-engine piston a/c. Ability to provide hangar for a few nights for
less than king's ransom, and friendly (not necessarily fancy) line service
would be of interest too. I suppose Windsor might be an option but don't
fancy the cross-border hassles so much as US-side airport.

Thanks for any thoughts from those familiar.

[Dan Truesdell]

We stopped in Flint for fuel on the return trip from Oshkosh. Found the
staff quite friendly and they were quick to service us. (We were
anxious to get past some building cumulous between London and Niagara.)
A quick check of charts seems to indicate that they have 2 ILS
approaches, 5 RNAV approaches, 4 VOR approaches, and 1 NDB approach. We
were on an IFR flight plan, but shot the ILS-9 in VMC just for practice.
Controller there was accommodating as well. Didn't ask about hangar
space :-).

(For pics of our trip, point your browser to 216.107.208.170/oshkosh.)

Flint is a ways from DTW, but for folks living in the northern suburbs,
it's about the same drive time without the hassles.

Hope this helps.

Mike & Janet Larke wrote:
> From what I've read Detroit area airports get pretty mixed reviews, some
> pretty negative for g/a and general level of service & facilities. Can
> anyone recommend the Detroit area airports to fly in to, and warn of the
> ones to avoid? (With instrument approaches/ILS preferred.)---for
> single-engine piston a/c. Ability to provide hangar for a few nights for
> less than king's ransom, and friendly (not necessarily fancy) line service
> would be of interest too. I suppose Windsor might be an option but don't
> fancy the cross-border hassles so much as US-side airport.
>
> Thanks for any thoughts from those familiar.
>

[Aaron Kiley]

Depends where you're going in Detroit, but Ann Arbor is a very nice airport
and town. (my home town) They have two GPS approaches and two VORs. If
the conditions get really low, you could alternate to Yipsilanty KYIP
(Willow Run) which has very long runways with ILS. Ann Arbor has rental
cars at the airport and Aviation Center (724) 662-6806 will rent hanger
space for a few nights with a price around 35 per night I think. There
100LL is 2.89 right now. Hotels about 1/2 mile away.

Seems to me that Flint is kind of far away. Don't know much about Detroit
City airport, but that would be closest. Ann Arbor is about 40 minutes
drive. Willow Run is about 30 minutes to Detroit. Willow Run looks retro
and a little funky, but it has it's unique beauty and history. ... Aaron




"Mike & Janet Larke" > wrote in message
...
> From what I've read Detroit area airports get pretty mixed reviews, some
> pretty negative for g/a and general level of service & facilities. Can
> anyone recommend the Detroit area airports to fly in to, and warn of the
> ones to avoid? (With instrument approaches/ILS preferred.)---for
> single-engine piston a/c. Ability to provide hangar for a few nights for
> less than king's ransom, and friendly (not necessarily fancy) line service
> would be of interest too. I suppose Windsor might be an option but don't
> fancy the cross-border hassles so much as US-side airport.
>
> Thanks for any thoughts from those familiar.
>
>
>
>

[Dan Thompson]

I have had the need to meet with people in Detroit about six times over the
past two years. Once I used Willow Run, every other time DTW, based on
convenience to the people I was meeting and where I was going.

All of the facilities and people I interacted with were fine and friendly
enough to GA. None of the Detroit area airports are ones for you to
"avoid". Obviously, for DTW they will expect you to be proficient on the
radio, but if you are instrument rated you should not have any problem with
that. Even if you weren't, and approach had to repeat something you didn't
catch the first time, so what? They are there to service you not vice
versa. DTW is not so busy that it will cause a national transportation
system breakdown if a controller has to slow down and use correct
terminology occasionally.

At DTW Signature, you will be treated like royalty. There may even be a
weekend rate on Avgas, which gets it down from being astronomically
overpriced to merely a litte overpriced.

"Mike & Janet Larke" > wrote in message
...
> From what I've read Detroit area airports get pretty mixed reviews, some
> pretty negative for g/a and general level of service & facilities. Can
> anyone recommend the Detroit area airports to fly in to, and warn of the
> ones to avoid? (With instrument approaches/ILS preferred.)---for
> single-engine piston a/c. Ability to provide hangar for a few nights for
> less than king's ransom, and friendly (not necessarily fancy) line service
> would be of interest too. I suppose Windsor might be an option but don't
> fancy the cross-border hassles so much as US-side airport.
>
> Thanks for any thoughts from those familiar.
>
>
>
>