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edited Apr 5, 2014 at 7:35

My favourite entry in my logbook is 2013-08-02 KOSH-KORD 1.5 hrs – from Air Venture in Oshkosh straight into Chicago O'Hare, in a Cessna 172 :-)

A friend of mine and I have flown into SFO (with our instructor), and dropped of my friend, who then took a Lufthansa flight to Munich.

So, having flown into SFO, ORD, and SAN (San Diego, the busiest single-runway airport in the US) in a Cessna 172, all VFR, here my observations:

obviously, prepare. I normally call the FBO, and maybe even the tower, just to get their input, and ask what would be a good time of the day.
best to fly with a fellow pilot, to share the workload.
have a taxi diagram at hand and familiarise yourself with it... navigation on the ground is harder than following the instructions in the air at some of these airports!
be prepared to wait outside class B for quite a bit, until they can work you in (and, be prepared to go somewhere else if they can't).
I like to think that they're the more likely to squeeze you in the more "professional" you are (radio calls, following their instructions quickly and precisely, etc.)
be prepared to be handed off from one frequency to the other for quite a bit.
out of courtesy, I try to go in pretty fast (fast for a C172, that is). The runways are long, so I've been on final with 120+ knots (and yes, that was a no-flap landing!)
ask the FBO about how much fuel you have to buy to get fees waived, and keep in mind that it's most likely going to be rather expensive... on a related note, in my experience the FBOs encourage you to come in, but then, they have nothing to lose: if you show up, they'll sell you overpriced fuel and charge you some fees; if ATC turns you away, they don't really care. That's why I like to talk to someone on the ATC side as well, or flight instructors at nearby GA airports.
review the radio sequence for departure, typically they want you to speak to Clearance Delivery before you talk to Ground
in my limited experience, ATC has been fast and professional in their communication, yet super helpful and friendly.
personally, I think it's super fun, and an awesome privilege, and I'm grateful that it is possible in the US. I've only done it rarely, and would not want to abuse this privilege - if every Cessna single engine out there attempted to land in a major hub daily, the privilege would be curtailed rather quickly, I imagine
it's just great to hear Ground say to you, "see the United 737 in front? Follow it until you see X-ray 3 on your left". Even better to hear Tower say "Lufthansa 123 heavy, hold short of Runway 27 left, traffic on final", and hear a reply "Hold short 27 left, traffic in sight (chuckling), Lufthansa 123", while you float over the numbers past a giant Lufthansa 747 :-)

My favourite entry in my logbook is 2013-08-02 KOSH-KORD 1.5 hrs – from Air Venture in Oshkosh straight into Chicago O'Hare, in a Cessna 172 :-)

A friend of mine and I have flown into SFO (with our instructor), and dropped of my friend, who then took a Lufthansa flight to Munich.

So, having flown into SFO, ORD, and SAN (San Diego, the busiest single-runway airport in the US) in a Cessna 172, all VFR, here my observations:

obviously, prepare. I normally call the FBO, and maybe even the tower, just to get their input, and ask what would be a good time of the day.
best to fly with a fellow pilot, to share the workload.
have a taxi diagram at hand and familiarise yourself with it... navigation on the ground is harder than following the instructions in the air at some of these airports!
be prepared to wait outside class B for quite a bit, until they can work you in (and, be prepared to go somewhere else if they can't).
I like to think that they're the more likely to squeeze you in the more "professional" you are (radio calls, following their instructions quickly and precisely, etc.)
be prepared to be handed off from one frequency to the other for quite a bit.
out of courtesy, I try to go in pretty fast (fast for a C172, that is). The runways are long, so I've been on final with 120+ knots (and yes, that was a no-flap landing!)
ask the FBO about how much fuel you have to buy to get fees waived, and keep in mind that it's most likely going to be rather expensive... on a related note, in my experience the FBOs encourage you to come in, but then, they have nothing to lose: if you show up, they'll sell you overpriced fuel and charge you some fees; if ATC turns you away, they don't really care. That's why I like to talk to someone on the ATC side as well, or flight instructors at nearby GA airports.
review the radio sequence for departure, typically they want you to speak to Clearance Delivery before you talk to Ground
in my limited experience, ATC has been fast and professional in their communication, yet super helpful and friendly.
personally, I think it's super fun, and an awesome privilege, and I'm grateful that it is possible in the US. I've only done it rarely, and would not want to abuse this privilege - if every Cessna single engine out there attempted to land in a major hub daily, the privilege would be curtailed rather quickly, I imagine
it's just great to hear Ground say to you, "see the United 737 in front? Follow it until you see X-ray 3 on your left". Even better to hear Tower say "Lufthansa 123 heavy, hold short of Runway 27 left, traffic on final", and hear a reply "Hold short 27 left, traffic in sight (chuckling), Lufthansa 123", while you float over the numbers past a giant Lufthansa 747 :-)

My favourite entry in my logbook is 2013-08-02 KOSH-KORD 1.5 hrs – from Air Venture in Oshkosh straight into Chicago O'Hare, in a Cessna 172 :-)

A friend of mine and I have flown into SFO (with our instructor), and dropped of my friend, who then took a Lufthansa flight to Munich.

So, having flown into SFO, ORD, and SAN (San Diego, the busiest single-runway airport in the US) in a Cessna 172, all VFR, here my observations:

obviously, prepare. I normally call the FBO, and maybe even the tower, just to get their input, and ask what would be a good time of the day.
best to fly with a fellow pilot, to share the workload.
have a taxi diagram at hand and familiarise yourself with it... navigation on the ground is harder than following the instructions in the air at some of these airports!
be prepared to wait outside class B for quite a bit, until they can work you in (and, be prepared to go somewhere else if they can't).
I like to think that they're the more likely to squeeze you in the more "professional" you are (radio calls, following their instructions quickly and precisely, etc.)
be prepared to be handed off from one frequency to the other for quite a bit.
out of courtesy, I try to go in pretty fast (fast for a C172, that is). The runways are long, so I've been on final with 120+ knots (and yes, that was a no-flap landing!)
ask the FBO about how much fuel you have to buy to get fees waived, and keep in mind that it's most likely going to be rather expensive... on a related note, in my experience the FBOs encourage you to come in, but then, they have nothing to lose: if you show up, they'll sell you overpriced fuel and charge you some fees; if ATC turns you away, they don't really care. That's why I like to talk to someone on the ATC side as well, or flight instructors at nearby GA airports.
review the radio sequence for departure, typically they want you to speak to Clearance Delivery before you talk to Ground
in my limited experience, ATC has been fast and professional in their communication, yet super helpful and friendly.
personally, I think it's super fun, and an awesome privilege, and I'm grateful that it is possible in the US. I've only done it rarely, and would not want to abuse this privilege - if every Cessna single engine out there attempted to land in a major hub daily, the privilege would be curtailed rather quickly, I imagine
it's just great to hear Ground say to you, "see the United 737 in front? Follow it until you see X-ray 3 on your left". Even better to hear Tower say "Lufthansa 123 heavy, hold short of Runway 27 left, traffic on final", and hear a reply "Hold short 27 left, traffic in sight (chuckling), Lufthansa 123", while you float over the numbers past a giant Lufthansa 747 :-)

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created Apr 4, 2014 at 20:31

Fab

My favourite entry in my logbook is 2013-08-02 KOSH-KORD 1.5 hrs – from Air Venture in Oshkosh straight into Chicago O'Hare, in a Cessna 172 :-)

A friend of mine and I have flown into SFO (with our instructor), and dropped of my friend, who then took a Lufthansa flight to Munich.

So, having flown into SFO, ORD, and SAN (San Diego, the busiest single-runway airport in the US) in a Cessna 172, all VFR, here my observations:

obviously, prepare. I normally call the FBO, and maybe even the tower, just to get their input, and ask what would be a good time of the day.
best to fly with a fellow pilot, to share the workload.
have a taxi diagram at hand and familiarise yourself with it... navigation on the ground is harder than following the instructions in the air at some of these airports!
be prepared to wait outside class B for quite a bit, until they can work you in (and, be prepared to go somewhere else if they can't).
I like to think that they're the more likely to squeeze you in the more "professional" you are (radio calls, following their instructions quickly and precisely, etc.)
be prepared to be handed off from one frequency to the other for quite a bit.
out of courtesy, I try to go in pretty fast (fast for a C172, that is). The runways are long, so I've been on final with 120+ knots (and yes, that was a no-flap landing!)
ask the FBO about how much fuel you have to buy to get fees waived, and keep in mind that it's most likely going to be rather expensive... on a related note, in my experience the FBOs encourage you to come in, but then, they have nothing to lose: if you show up, they'll sell you overpriced fuel and charge you some fees; if ATC turns you away, they don't really care. That's why I like to talk to someone on the ATC side as well, or flight instructors at nearby GA airports.
review the radio sequence for departure, typically they want you to speak to Clearance Delivery before you talk to Ground
in my limited experience, ATC has been fast and professional in their communication, yet super helpful and friendly.
personally, I think it's super fun, and an awesome privilege, and I'm grateful that it is possible in the US. I've only done it rarely, and would not want to abuse this privilege - if every Cessna single engine out there attempted to land in a major hub daily, the privilege would be curtailed rather quickly, I imagine
it's just great to hear Ground say to you, "see the United 737 in front? Follow it until you see X-ray 3 on your left". Even better to hear Tower say "Lufthansa 123 heavy, hold short of Runway 27 left, traffic on final", and hear a reply "Hold short 27 left, traffic in sight (chuckling), Lufthansa 123", while you float over the numbers past a giant Lufthansa 747 :-)