Originally Posted by
Vampman
Ok.... I have flown into Aspen a million times. If you don't have substantial mountain flying experience DO NOT GO!. Sky west has some severe procedures, and crews dedicated to this airport.
If you choose to go regardless, here are some tips. Land on 15, take off on 33. Do not take off on 33. Fly the localizer in as published, and give yourself a much higher personal minimum. Do not circle to 33 in a jet!
Make sure you a FULLY configured to land by the time you reach DBL. Look at the chart!! there is very little room to make any errors, some of these turns are sharp without much room. Winds change very quickly, turbulence can be severe. Like I said, if you don't have substantial experience in the rockies DO NOT GO!
Go arrounds can be deadly! find someone who knows that airport and fly with them.
It's a no joke hard airport to fly in and out off. You can very easily kill yourself if you don't know what you're doing. GJT is just around the corner, so it might be better to go there and drive.
You can PM me if you need more info.
Thanks for the info. I haven't posted enough on here yet, so the moderators won't let me PM yet. I have over the years flown in & out of some challenging mountainous terrain both personally & as a professional pilot & are grateful for any help from anyone who knows the in's & out's of flying into Aspen, as we all know it can be a handful if you don't know what you're doing( even if you do know what you're doing) I plan to only go in & out of there VFR & have already reviewed the data supplied by APG for the Mustang. Any info on certain times of the day more likely to have turbulent weather, any roll action coming off certain mountains or parts of the approach, personal limits on wind/gusts for landing & the same for takeoffs, & any thing else for that matter you can think of would be greatly appreciated. I definitely plan to hook up with at least a couple of professional pilots who know their rear from third base when it comes to operating out of there & have in depth conversations with them, but felt this would be a good place to hopefully get some background info in advance. Thanks in advance for any help.