SF Bay Area to Henderson Executive (Las Vegas)

On 2005-08-22, Larry Dighera wrote:
On 22 Aug 2005 12:16:52 -0700, "jackle" wrote in
s.com::

2) Best arrival procedure through Las Vegas airspace, such that we get
a view of the Strip (if possible) while not interfering with Class B
airspace?

Consider landing at KLAS. The downwind to 19R parallels the strip,
and the base leg has you aimed at the Stratosphere.

If you're rich. I decided not to use KLAS after reading the comments on
Airnav. Signature has a monopoly at KLAS and we all know what it means
when Signature has a monopoly. Don't expect to get away with less than
fuel + $100 in charges.

Mind you the cab ride from Henderson is $40 each way, so if you do park
at Henderson, rent a car - it'll be FAR cheaper. It was a good job I
actually won at Vegas making it essentially free :-)

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

On Tue, 23 Aug 2005 09:53:19 -0000, Dylan Smith
wrote in
::

On 2005-08-22, Larry Dighera wrote:
On 22 Aug 2005 12:16:52 -0700, "jackle" wrote in
ps.com::

2) Best arrival procedure through Las Vegas airspace, such that we get
a view of the Strip (if possible) while not interfering with Class B
airspace?

Consider landing at KLAS. The downwind to 19R parallels the strip,
and the base leg has you aimed at the Stratosphere.

If you're rich. I decided not to use KLAS after reading the comments on
Airnav. Signature has a monopoly at KLAS and we all know what it means
when Signature has a monopoly. Don't expect to get away with less than
fuel + $100 in charges.

There is little question about Signature's desire to discourage piston
single patronage. However, Eagle at the Executive Terminal* located
at the north end of runway 19R is friendly and accommodating. Here's
a PIREP:
http://groups.google.dk/group/rec.av...e=source&hl=en
http://groups.google.dk/group/rec.av...2bcff5452acb20

Mind you the cab ride from Henderson is $40 each way, so if you do park
at Henderson, rent a car - it'll be FAR cheaper. It was a good job I
actually won at Vegas making it essentially free :-)

Fortunately, Eagle offers pilots a free shuttle service to and from
hotels on the strip. But you'd better hurry. There's no telling how
the change in ownership will affect the service.**

* http://www.lasvegasfbo.com/

**
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/comsi..._Executive_Air

Larry Dighera wrote:

There is little question about Signature's desire to discourage piston
single patronage. However, Eagle at the Executive Terminal* located
at the north end of runway 19R is friendly and accommodating.

From what I've heard, this is true. Be sure to call ahead though. In
October of 2003 I flew into LAS in a C150 intending to park at
Executive. I was a fresh Private Pilot but I managed to get an attaboy
from the tower controller for my 100 mph zigzag sequencing and
dive-bomber landing with a bouncing squeaking high-speed turn off the
runway. Out of the way about 10 seconds ahead of the corporate jet
behind me, who was very happy to not have to go around. My request for
taxi to Executive was met with "Executive is full and they're not
accepting piston singles. Taxi straight ahead to Signature." The ramp
fee was $90 (I pushed my airplane into a space and tied it down
myself). Gas was $4. The two-mile cab ride to the San Remo (not the
flashiest hotel on the strip, but right outside the door of the
Executive terminal) was probably $20 with a tip.

In signature's defense, they redeemed themselves the next day. Winds
were (unusually) more favorable for a return in the afternoon. It was
an unexpected bonus to be able to stay up late for the final night in
Las Vegas. We got all pre-flighted and started up and called clearance
delivery. The controller suggested I try again in FOUR HOURS! It
turned out a wildfire in southern California had led to the evacuation
of SoCal TRACON and the friendly folks at LAS were shouldering some of
the load. If I had gone to Henderson I'd be out of there VFR no sweat,
but I couldn't get clearance through the class bravo for the first
couple of miles of the trip back to Phoenix! The line of IFRs waiting
to go stretched two miles down the east-west parallel taxiway. It was
crazy. I wasn't prepared at the time to fly in the dark, so another
night it was. Signature was kind enough to waive the ramp fee for a
second night due to the circumstances. They also set us up with a very
nice but very inexpensive room at the Luxor - $50 I think - and this
time they gave us a ride over to the hotel in the van. In the end I
felt like I had accidentally gotten the rock star service I had paid
for. We had a super nice early seafood dinner, planned the morning
ride home (an hour in darkness this time - something I paradoxically
felt comfortable doing at that time, fresh from training, but wouldn't
do today without an IR or some refresher training at night away from
the city) and got to bed early. I got home Monday morning in time to
get a shower and be at my desk by 9 am.

Now that I'm re-living that trip, I need to try it again (I've got a
Grumman Tiger now, should be about half the time as in the 150). I'll
probably go to Henderson this time though .

Also, to the O. P.: Get the Vegas terminal chart. There is (or at
least was) a class bravo transition route, the "showboat" route I
think, that might be a nice way to see the Strip without mixing it up
with the tour operators and without having to negotiate anything
special with Las Vegas approach/tower.

-R

Signature was kind enough to waive the ramp fee for a
second night due to the circumstances.

Signature could waive all ramp fees after 9 AM and still make a profit. :/

In the end I
felt like I had accidentally gotten the rock star service I had paid
for.

Well put.

I don't need the rock star treatment, and if I ever feel like I want it,
I'll decide where to put my money thankyouverymuch.

Elvis has left the building, so it's just Jose
--
Quantum Mechanics is like this: God =does= play dice with the universe,
except there's no God, and there's no dice. And maybe there's no universe.
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