WAPA 2005/03/12 Field Trip to BDL

14 intrepid souls set out for BDL, on an early and not too bright Saturday morning. With snow flying, cars left from Worcester and Sturbridge, for our 10:00am tour of BDL TRACON and the control tower. We split into two groups, with half of us visiting the BDL Tower where we got to observe the coordination of Airline operations with snow removal. We came away with a good understanding of how the various tower positions operate - Clearance, Ground and Tower, and the communications flow that keeps things moving. On a day like today, with the snow removal and reduced visibility, ground control was the busiest position.

Our groups then swapped, and we had our tour of the TRACON facilities. Again the controllers spent considerable time reviewing the sector operations, and the whole communications process for handling IFR and VFR aircraft into and out of their airspace. They took the time to answer our questions, ranging from Student Pilots to IFR pilots. Where a typical Saturday would be very busy with all sectors seeing heavy VFR traffic, the IFR conditions meant that BDL TRACON was operating with only a single controller handling all sectors.

All in all, except for the weather that prevented an airborn arrival, it was a great trip. We especially appreciate the efforts of the FAA, who accommodated a special Saturday visit. The FAA went out of their way to ensure a thorough and very informative time. From the FAA, we had a quick lunch, and then went to the New England Air Museum.

The New England Air Museum has recovered significantly from the damage that was caused by the Tornado in 1979. The North American F-100A fighter showed some wing damage that was caused by the storm. We were able to get into the cockpits of several of the older aircraft including the F-100A and the Corsair. Here, Steve Fogarty tries on the Corsair for size.

And Chris Hallinan tries out the controls of the F-100A. No NO!... Not the ejection seat handle!