Roy Thoma
Well Known Member
N174RT has been based at P01 for part of the winter. P01 has a nice paved runway, large ramp area, some hangars and not much else. No fuel. No services. I don't think there is a pay phone. The "Country Club"/golf course is a short walk, and has a volunteer run restaurant with a simple menu a few days of the week during the winter season. The tie down chains are too large to fit through my tie down rings. A few of the tie down spots have moveable hooks that do fit through my tie down rings. It appears to have originally been a WWII training base. The runway has more loose gravel than I would like.
Flying into and out of P01 is "interesting". It has restricted areas to the north and west. It is about 30 nm north of the AZ/Mexico border. R-2301E is about 2 miles to the west and extends south to the border which makes west departures impractical. R2305 is less than 2 miles to the north and has a VFR corridor that is usually available for flights to the north. The south border of R-2304 extends about 30nm to the east.
The sectional notes "Permission for flight through R-2305 must be secured from Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field on 127.75 or 122.775." I found it very easy to get the WRONG frequency tuned, 127.775 or 122.75. 127.75 is the AF tower and 122.775 is "Snake Eyes" - the controlling agency for R-2305.
Permission to fly through the VFR corridor means follow highway 85 through R-2305 for more than 20nm no more than 500' AGL. I'm not used to flying 500' AGL, and desert heating can make the air bumpy! There are a few small peaks near the highway that are more than 500' AGL. More interesting! My AFS5600T and my Avidyne IFD440 each display gps based AGL which helps with the no higher than 500' AGL.
For transition through R-2305 we have learned to PHONE "Snake Eyes" at 623-865-8818 to see if the corridor will be available. We learned to PHONE after fueling in Gila Bend, getting airborne to fly south to P01 and were told "not available at this time, call back in 15 minutes". We got the phone number for Snake Eyes, landed and waited. It was about 25 minutes before the VFR corridor was available.
So our drill now is: phone Snake Eyes from the plane when ready for engine start. Ask if the VFR corridor will be available in 10-15 minutes and confirm we are familiar with the corridor. Start the plane, warm up, taxi etc, take off and call Gila Bend Aux tower if heading south from Gila Bend or call Snake Eyes if flying north from P01. Either controller will ask if we are familiar with the corridor and then tell us cleared to fly over Highwey 85 no higher than 500' AGL. We get switched to the other controller about 5 miles south of Gila Bend AF Aux Field. We then report when clear of the restricted area.
For flights to the east, we just fly through the SELLS 1 MOA.
Regards,
Flying into and out of P01 is "interesting". It has restricted areas to the north and west. It is about 30 nm north of the AZ/Mexico border. R-2301E is about 2 miles to the west and extends south to the border which makes west departures impractical. R2305 is less than 2 miles to the north and has a VFR corridor that is usually available for flights to the north. The south border of R-2304 extends about 30nm to the east.
The sectional notes "Permission for flight through R-2305 must be secured from Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field on 127.75 or 122.775." I found it very easy to get the WRONG frequency tuned, 127.775 or 122.75. 127.75 is the AF tower and 122.775 is "Snake Eyes" - the controlling agency for R-2305.
Permission to fly through the VFR corridor means follow highway 85 through R-2305 for more than 20nm no more than 500' AGL. I'm not used to flying 500' AGL, and desert heating can make the air bumpy! There are a few small peaks near the highway that are more than 500' AGL. More interesting! My AFS5600T and my Avidyne IFD440 each display gps based AGL which helps with the no higher than 500' AGL.
For transition through R-2305 we have learned to PHONE "Snake Eyes" at 623-865-8818 to see if the corridor will be available. We learned to PHONE after fueling in Gila Bend, getting airborne to fly south to P01 and were told "not available at this time, call back in 15 minutes". We got the phone number for Snake Eyes, landed and waited. It was about 25 minutes before the VFR corridor was available.
So our drill now is: phone Snake Eyes from the plane when ready for engine start. Ask if the VFR corridor will be available in 10-15 minutes and confirm we are familiar with the corridor. Start the plane, warm up, taxi etc, take off and call Gila Bend Aux tower if heading south from Gila Bend or call Snake Eyes if flying north from P01. Either controller will ask if we are familiar with the corridor and then tell us cleared to fly over Highwey 85 no higher than 500' AGL. We get switched to the other controller about 5 miles south of Gila Bend AF Aux Field. We then report when clear of the restricted area.
For flights to the east, we just fly through the SELLS 1 MOA.
Regards,