jastu23 Posted October 23, 2014 Report Posted October 23, 2014 Hello, I'm taking my first trip to the Orlando area in my new "J" and am torn between Orlando Executive and Kissimmee. I'll be there about a week, and staying (working, actually) near the convention center (Disney area). Both seem to be about the same drive away, but having never flow there on my own, was wondering if there was any local or experienced suggestions that would lead me towards the best balance of low ramp fees, service, and convenience. Thanks for the help on this and especially throughout the rest of the forum. Being a new Mooney driver has been made even better thanks to all of you. Quote
carusoam Posted October 23, 2014 Report Posted October 23, 2014 Welcome aboard Jastu... My wife showed me pictures (final approach) from when we flew into KORL (Orlando Executive) from NJ. It was a great trip. More memorable for some than for me... I'm pretty sure I was a member of the CB club back then. We rented a car, stayed in a hilton branded hotel... Put that in your short list for comparison, anyway. Best regards, -a- Quote
PMcClure Posted October 23, 2014 Report Posted October 23, 2014 I have always had a good experience at KORL. Quote
N201MKTurbo Posted October 23, 2014 Report Posted October 23, 2014 I've only flown there once and landed at Kissimmee. No problems at all. Quote
Mike A Posted October 23, 2014 Report Posted October 23, 2014 Flying magazine has a column in it this month where the author hammers the Kissimmee tower for being rude..... Use Showalter if you come to KORL Quote
Mooneymite Posted October 23, 2014 Report Posted October 23, 2014 No problems at ISM....but none at ORL either. Quote
Piloto Posted October 23, 2014 Report Posted October 23, 2014 I has been using Sheltair at KORL for over 5 years. Excellent service. I used their crew cars several times. Very nice crew. José Quote
1964-M20E Posted October 23, 2014 Report Posted October 23, 2014 I've always used Sheltair at KORL good people and the SS fuel is cheap enough. Since you are from the Dallas I'm just curious area where do you plan on a fuel stop? Quote
DanM20C Posted October 23, 2014 Report Posted October 23, 2014 I have flown into Kissimmee twice. Staying for a few days each time. Kissimmee Jet Center was great. Not flashy, but gave great service. The line guy drove the rental car up to the plane before I even shut down. Quote
ArtVandelay Posted October 23, 2014 Report Posted October 23, 2014 Flying magazine has a column in it this month where the author hammers the Kissimmee tower for being rude.... My worst ATC experience was at Orlando Exec, I've was only there once, won't be returning anytime soon. Quote
mooniac15u Posted October 23, 2014 Report Posted October 23, 2014 I have flown into Kissimmee twice. Staying for a few days each time. Kissimmee Jet Center was great. Not flashy, but gave great service. The line guy drove the rental car up to the plane before I even shut down. I've used Kissimmee Jet Center multiple times. Not much to look at but always good service and reasonable rates for rental cars. Never had a problem with the tower. Quote
DrBill Posted October 23, 2014 Report Posted October 23, 2014 I second Showalter at ORL.. It's been a long time but I have fond memories of that stop. BILL Quote
1964-M20E Posted October 23, 2014 Report Posted October 23, 2014 My worst ATC experience was at Orlando Exec, I've was only there once, won't be returning anytime soon. TJ Just curious as to what happened I've flown into the Orlando area many times over the past 4 years and have not had any issues? Flying into KISM you would still be dealing with Orlando Approach. Quote
ArtVandelay Posted October 23, 2014 Report Posted October 23, 2014 TJ Just curious as to what happened I've flown into the Orlando area many times over the past 4 years and have not had any issues? Flying into KISM you would still be dealing with Orlando Approach. i was given a taxi clearance with runway crossing, I said "clear to cross runway...", and was berated by ground that I wasn't cleared for anything, was asked if my instructor was onboard, I said I was a license pilot ( with maybe 80 hrs), then he continued for maybe a minute until a corporate pilot broke in and said "if you're done we like to taxi now", not sure how long he would have continued. Quote
N201MKTurbo Posted October 23, 2014 Report Posted October 23, 2014 Well, it looks like central Florida is a great place to fly into! No bad airports! Quote
PMcClure Posted October 23, 2014 Report Posted October 23, 2014 I did have a bad experience with Orlando Departure during my IFR training. ORL sits right at the end of the main airport MCO. Tower told me to maintain runway heading and below 1000' and contact departure. Heavy's were lined up as far as I could see on approach to the international airport. When I switched over to departure, the controller told me to maintain at or above 2,000'. I asked him to clarify that he meant ABOVE, he confirmed and I asked him again if he didn't mean BELOW 2,000'. I got an earful. I told him I was unable to take the assigned altitude due to traffic and the guy flipped out. After about 2 minutes of BS, a supervisor came on and told me to maintain BELOW 2,000. I thanked him, canceled IFR and signed off. But don't let that keep you away from ORL. It is a fun airport to land at and a great FBO. Quote
jastu23 Posted October 23, 2014 Author Report Posted October 23, 2014 Wow, great advice! I guess there's always a chance for a bad experience or two in any busy area, and despite one over-the-air lecture from Ft. Worth Center, I've become spoiled by the wonderful folks at Dallas Regional Approach and McKinney Tower. I guess I'd be leaning towards KORL, and, for what it's worth, I should have mentioned I'll be flying in VFR. I'm still a few hours away from my IFR ride. Luckily, I'm in no particular hurry though. As far as a fuel stop, I may have business in Pensacola, in which case I'd look nearby there, otherwise, Quincy, FL, near Tallahassee looks like an economical choice. I'm open to any ideas though! Thanks, y'all! Quote
N601RX Posted October 23, 2014 Report Posted October 23, 2014 The local favorite in the Pensacola area. http://www.bayminetteaviation.com/ But depending on who is traveling with you, this may be a better choice. http://www.fergusonairport.com/ Quote
Danb Posted October 23, 2014 Report Posted October 23, 2014 Seems as though wherever we go we can run into rude or controllers having a bad day, unfortunately there bad has the ability to kill us. Iv been seeing a lot on managers jump into the conversations to correct the controller handling us. I assume they get a lot of there training at our expense. They tried real hard to run me into a helicopter at our local a couple weeks ago, lowered the nose on climb out and oops..controller did say sorry... Quote
wiguy Posted October 27, 2014 Report Posted October 27, 2014 There should be some cheap fuel in S AL, for the fuel stop. I went to KISM last Spring, all was well. If you go there check fees, I went to the older FBO, no fees and cheap fuel. Quote
Cabanaboy Posted October 28, 2014 Report Posted October 28, 2014 I flew to KISM first time this Oct, got a great price on rental car from Kiss Jet Center and $5.40LL/gallon fuel. They had a sign "buy 10 gallons park 5 days free". I filled up the price was great.Lineman brought rental car right to plane. Kissm, Jet center is a no frills FBO, but I was only parking there and it was free. Rental car thru Kiss Jet Ctr was only 32/day....Others were much more. Quote
John Pursell Posted November 4, 2014 Report Posted November 4, 2014 I'll throw out a couple of suggestions, since I live in the Orlando area. A number of folks on Beechtalk have started going to Winter Haven while staying around Disney. It is geographically a longer drive, but a direct shot on I-4. Folks seem to think the services were better/cheaper and the drive isn't as bad as you think. Cheap gas can be had at Orlando Apopka, but there are no overnight tiedowns. I think you can't go wrong with any of the airports mentioned. Quote
Flynnupe94 Posted December 2, 2014 Report Posted December 2, 2014 I've always used Sheltair at KORL good people and the SS fuel is cheap enough. Since you are from the Dallas I'm just curious area where do you plan on a fuel stop? I flew to ORL from Dallas last July, on that trip I landed at Picayune MS (KMJD) its a nice airport with cheap fuel. When I bought my Ovation about a month ago from Stuart FL I returned to KMJD they still had cheap fuel... Quote
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