Buffalo and Albany Area Airports

Next month I'm flying to a family reunion in Williamsville (near Buffalo) and will also visit a sister in Sand Lake (near Albany). Can anyone recommend any G.A. airports convenient to these two locations? I'd rather not use KBUF and KALB if possible and my relatives don't really have a clue. Airfield requirements are a paved, 2500' minimum-length runway and possibly a rental car but not necessarily fuel or other services.

Thanks,
Joe

For Albany and the Capital District
Saratoga (5B2) - Glens Falls (GFL) - Schenectady (SCH)
or even Bennington VT (DDH)

Lancaster (BQR) should work well. You can get in under the outer ring of the BUF class C if you want to do it plain VFR. No instrument procedure.

My second choice if I was flying IMC - Akron (9G3) has a couple of GPS approaches that will get you down to 500 / 1.

That all said, BUF is fine to get in and out of. If you need the services, Prior Aviation is professional and will treat you well (albeit at the 'big city" prices).

Albany and Buffalo, NY

jsharkey said:

For Albany and the Capital District
Saratoga (5B2) - Glens Falls (GFL) - Schenectady (SCH)
or even Bennington VT (DDH)

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Thank you. But each of these (except possibly Schenectady) requires a good bit of drive time (an hour or more each way, no?). Maybe that's as good as it gets; I've never flown back East so I don't have a feel for what to expect.

DanBaier said:

Lancaster (BQR) should work well. ... [snip]...
My second choice if I was flying IMC - Akron (9G3)

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Lancaster (BQR) and then Akron airport (9G3) both look very good to me so that'll be my solution with a backup. I love having a "plan B"! Thanks for the detailed explanations, DanBaier.

--
Joe

My only experience in Buffalo was at Akron. It was a nice little airport but was years ago so things could have changed since then.

As for Albany area, Saratoga is pretty nice (my home airport, watch out for gliders) but probably a bit of a drive to Sand Lake. Bennett Memorial (GFL) is even farther. A few guys in our EAA chapter have done some flying at South Albany (4B0) for sport pilot ratings and liked it although I have no experience myself.

To be perfectly honest, I don't see a real good reason not to use KALB, I flew in there for practice with another pilot a couple of months ago and they were very friendly and the FBO is very nice.

Albany It Is

Phlyan Pan said:

To be perfectly honest, I don't see a real good reason not to use KALB, I flew in there for practice with another pilot a couple of months ago and they were very friendly and the FBO is very nice.

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I'm glad to hear that; it makes the decision easy. I'll do it. Thanks.

--
Joe

Joe said:

I'm glad to hear that; it makes the decision easy. I'll do it. Thanks.

--
Joe

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The only thing I would say is to check prices and fees. We weren't staying or buying fuel so I didn't check to see what the cost would be. I believe the FBO is Million Air.

One real close

Joe check out 5B7 Rensselaer County airport in Poestenkill NY. It's only a few miles from Sand Lake. No fuel but Enterprise can have a car there for you. Its only a day use airport. Kind of run down.
Also 4B0 South Albany airport. It has fuel, covered tie-downs, a new runway with pilot controlled lighting and Enterprise can deliver there too. A very nice place.
Albany International ALB can be a pain. Tie downs are high, fuel is high and there's a landing fee which may be waved if buying fuel. Also getting out can take a while if the big guys are backed up.

Albany Still Looks Best

NYTOM said:

Joe check out 5B7 Rensselaer County airport in Poestenkill NY. It's only a few miles from Sand Lake. No fuel but Enterprise can have a car there for you. Its only a day use airport. Kind of run down.
Also 4B0 South Albany airport. It has fuel, covered tie-downs, a new runway with pilot controlled lighting and Enterprise can deliver there too. A very nice place.
Albany International ALB can be a pain. Tie downs are high, fuel is high and there's a landing fee which may be waved if buying fuel. Also getting out can take a while if the big guys are backed up.

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Tom,

I really like the location of Rensselaer County (5B7) but airnav.com says this about the runway:

• Dimensions: 2670 x 50 ft. / 814 x 15 m
• RY 18 FIRST 40 FT OVERGROWN WITH GRASS.
• Surface: asphalt, in poor condition
• RY 18/36 PAVEMENT CRACKED, LOOSE ROCKS & VEGETATION.

Is the place really this bad (or even worse)?

South Albany (4B0) sounds like a jewel. Wish it was closer.

If the Million Air FBO at Albany (ALB) is still selling 100 LL for $5.45, that's less expensive than 4B0. (I'm always apprehensive fueling at an FBO with a name like that or "Jet Center" ) Assuming a fuel purchase would waive some or all of the fee, it would be worthwhile landing at ALB and I can deal with traffic sequencing at a towered field.

Million Air in ALB does a good job - I've always been treated very well. They've made crew cars available when I've had to make trips to downtown ALB for business - couldn't be more helpful. AirNav has their fuel prices about as low as anyone within 50 miles.

Just another data point.

Joe said:

Is the place really this bad (or even worse)?

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Yea, it really is Joe. I've been in there a few times. The runway is below a long tree line parallel to the runway and it can get dicey in a cross wind. And the runway is in rough shape. It's just that it's so darn close to Sand lake. Very close. See it on Google Earth.
If bigger airports don't bother you go for ALB. They call it Albany International but it's really just a little Regional airport.
Some local politician got the bright idea of adding "International" to the name to give it some class. It took them a while but they finally got a flight to Canada to make it true.
I learned to fly at ALB when the FBO was Page Av-jet. I heard Million-Air wasn't too friendly to pistons but that may have changed. A few years ago they lowered their price on 100LL on weekends to lure in the little guys on $100 hamburger runs.
The roads between ALB and Sand Lake are almost all Interstate with the last few miles being secondary roads. Shouldn't take more than 30 minutes or so if the Traffic is light.
You could always swing by Rensselaer County and take a look. ALB will always be open.

Joe, I used Millionair at ALB

Last year I stopped there overnight. They waved the parking fee ($25) because I bought fuel. There also was a small landing fee (less then $10).

Kent

I have had good experiences with both Prior Aviation at BUF and Millionair at ALB. Both have nice facilities and not-too-extreme prices for uptown FBOs.

Williamsville!?

Hey, I went to high school there! Yeah, it' been a while, but I went out of Prior Aviation there at BUF several times. Seemed like a good place to me, and it's as close as you're gonna get to Williamsville. Lots of commercial traffic in the pattern, but Prior is on the opposite side of the field from the terminal. Niagara Falls is a little further north, but not nearly as crowded.

You gotta make it by the Falls if you're going that far. Just make sure you're current on the procedures before you get too close.

KALB

Way back in 1985-86-87, I used Poestenkill for visits to family in West Sand Lake when I was flying a Stearman; however, afterwards I've always used KALB. It has easy driving access to Sand Lake, and the folks there always treated me nice (Stearman, VariEze, and RV-4). If anything happened to you at Poestenkill, without local contacts, you'd be toast.

Feedback: Albany and Buffalo Area

The suggestions to land at Albany were right on. Had a great 2-day stay at Millionaire in Albany where I paid $3 and change for landing/tiedown (based on weight) and fuel was $6.16. The level of service and convenience was worth a lot more and I will unconditionally recommend KALB and Millionaire to anyone needing a tiedown in the Capitol District. Such pleasant people; what a class act!

Right now my aircraft is parked in transient parking at Buffalo Lancaster (KBQR). Good runway/taxiway environment, self-service fuel, and no tiedown charge (with fuel). The field is very quiet and the FBO owner is away at OSH but a nice, young instructor named Patrick Finnegan gave me a seat in his air-conditioned office, let me use his Wi-Fi, and even gave me a piece of "first solo" cake from one of his students. No complaints at all. Once caveat: there's no access if the field is unattended. I made arrangements with Patrick for a Monday departure.

So my big trip from western Oregon is working out perfectly. Even the weather has cooperated so far -- except for the heat wave in the East -- and I'm a happy camper. Thanks for the great suggestions, gang. Hat tips to DanBaier and Phlyan Pan for first cluing me in to BQR and ALB.

--
Joe
KBQR until July 25, then return to 7S5 (Independence, OR)

Glad to help.