Posted by We general aviation pilots are sometimes subject to “jet envy.” We fly around in our single-engine prop planes at low altitudes while the ‘heavy iron’ blasts past us to fly high over the clouds, bumping up against the stratosphere. Maybe one day our little ‘bug smashers’ (and their pilots) will grow up and become sleek and fast jets too.
So imagine the little boy thrill when ATC cleared me for the Fernando Seven arrival into Bob Hope Burbank Airport, formerly known as Hollywood Burbank Airport.
Busy airports often have one or more Standard Arrival Procedures known as STARs. STARs provide a roadmap of waypoints, altitudes, and speeds that guide airliners into busy airspace and position them for an approach to the airport. We little guys are rarely assigned STARs because they are typically designed around faster, more capable aircraft. But since the Fernando Seven serves several smaller airports, it is designed to handle small aircraft.
Burbank airport holds another personal connection for me. It is there that my Dad took me as a little kid to watch the big planes land and take off. Boeing 707’s, 727’s, the PSA smiling jets, the roar, the smell…pretty cool for a little fellow.
“Mommy, Daddy, I got to fly my first STAR!”
