Sound advice but a piston single to multi jet isn't exactly apples to apples.



-I moved this to corporate

 

If you have never been there and you are single pilot in that mustang DONT DO IT!!!! You have no business going in there all by yourself the first time.

Get someone experienced to go with you. It's not like anything you have ever seen. One way in , one way out. I've done misses in the sim ,, I will never ,, LET ME REPEAT, NEVER,, go missed in real life. VFR only for me.

 

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.

 

Aspen should be treated with respect but don't let some of these posts scare you. Plan ahead and go in there a few times with someone experienced before you go alone. When the weather is low, we don't go in, plain and simple. Make sure the pax understand the ground rules.

Enjoy it, it's better than flying into TEB or HPN

 

I'd say EGE and RIL before making the drive to GJT...

make sure you get an eSTMP account for reserving slots in the winter

 

take your time set up early be ready by red table . if the weather is bad go to another airport. as long as you set up early and stay ahead of things you will be ok . your a pilot take your time use your head. aspen is hard at time but just take your time and if you can find someone who has been in a few times this will help. I have ben in and out of their for more than 15 years and it is not easy at times weather can change for hour to min . but dont let some of these pilots scare you just make sure take your time . now if you were flying an approch in to QUITO at night with makes aspen like easy then I say make sure your ready. but aspen I say make sure you take your time . have a safe flight .and be ready for the app by DBL .it important.

 

It is when you're flying a BeechJet

Its a VFR airport because you're sunk on one engine. You have to see the mountains to avoid them.

 

Get the APG analysis for your airplane, and fly the special DP following a V1 cut in the sim.

Doing it "in anger" would probably take a year off my life, give me more than a couple gray hairs, and require a forced extraction of the seat cushion from my posterior ...but it'll keep you clear of the rocks.

 

Best of luck with your operation.
Aspen is a very interesting airport to operate to/from. Most of the info others have given you is right on.
Be sure to take your time and have things set up prior the the approach...slow down and don't let Aspen Approach rush you (123.80)...ask for delay verctors if needed. DEN CTR likes to forget to hand you off about 30% of the time and this may result in you being high. If you have any questions about the WX ask the guy you are talking to what is going on (APP, TWR) and ask for PIREPS. They may be changing the ATIS to something completely different and you may or may not be able to get in depending on what it is doing.

When you go in there the first time I whould HIGHLY recommend to give an hour or so and ask the Tower guys for a tour. It will really help explain their operation and visibility markers, traffic seperation requiremnts. TCAS Alerts are a common occurance!


If possible do SIM training there...have the turbulence up and use the Anti-Ice System to get a feel for real life
As far as a missed approach and or Balk Landing...they work...from personal experience. Just make sure you are right on for the timing and you need to know the procedures down cold without hesitation. If you don't like what is going on get out of there (the sooner the better)!!!
I would also recommend you look up the G-III crash up there. You can see how things get bad real quick.
Once you get PM up and running if you have a question just ask.

 

One thing that was only mentioned once is that the departure procedure has a really steep climb gradient. So you can't depart if the weather is below 14k MSL. So be sure whoever owns the Mustang knows ahead of time that you can't depart in bad weather. Or at least it is a really bad idea if you can get away with it legally.