I’m not sure what I’m asking here, other than, “Is this normal?” Flying an open cockpit plane from uncontrolled airports I very, very rarely have occasion to talk to ATC… I learned to fly at a tower field (CPS), but that was over forty years ago. Anyway, I was invited to an event at 80NY, which is about 2½ miles inside the HTO class D. The guy that invited me (not the airport owner) said, “you don’t have to talk to the tower, they don’t want to talk to us, just follow the river in at low altitude.”
Still, flying into class D without establishing communication made me nervous, so I called the tower when I was southbound 5 miles due west of HTO at 1500’ and told them where I was going… I intended stay clear of the class D until I reached the coast, then turn east along the shoreline toward 80NY.
They couldn’t see me on radar, of course (wood and fabric biplane with no transponder or ADSB), and kept asking me, “exactly where are you?” Then, even though I was still outside the class D, tower told me to stay at or below 1000’ and fly north for several miles as they had a Citation departing on 28. Finally, they told me to head south again and when I was southwest of them they gave me “altitude and direction at your discretion, and thanks for your patience.” So, no real problem, other than lots of “say agains” due to open cockpit noise, just wondering if it’s normal for tower to give instructions like that while an aircraft is still outside of their airspace.
Still, flying into class D without establishing communication made me nervous, so I called the tower when I was southbound 5 miles due west of HTO at 1500’ and told them where I was going… I intended stay clear of the class D until I reached the coast, then turn east along the shoreline toward 80NY.
They couldn’t see me on radar, of course (wood and fabric biplane with no transponder or ADSB), and kept asking me, “exactly where are you?” Then, even though I was still outside the class D, tower told me to stay at or below 1000’ and fly north for several miles as they had a Citation departing on 28. Finally, they told me to head south again and when I was southwest of them they gave me “altitude and direction at your discretion, and thanks for your patience.” So, no real problem, other than lots of “say agains” due to open cockpit noise, just wondering if it’s normal for tower to give instructions like that while an aircraft is still outside of their airspace.
