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Local knowledge regarding KAPA - Centennial

rvanstory

Well Known Member
Looking for some local knowledge / advice about flying into KAPA (Centennial) on west side of Denver.

I've been told it's best to get there before noon with the summer afternoon pop-up showers. And higher winds over rockies.

If I can't get in before noon, should I just abort totally? Or, are there conditions to look for that would make you feel safe arriving after noon hour? I'm a "flatlander" pilot with little mountain experience. Local experience would be appreciated.
 
I don't fly in/out of KAPA and haven't landed there in a decade, but I fly by it all the time. I'm based at KBJC on the north side of town, and can recommend KBJC as an RV friendly place. KAPA is considered very, very busy, but I don't have any experience beyond that. Lately though, KBJC has been really busy too.

As for Denver flying in general and getting in to KAPA, the airspace isn't too complicated. While mornings are definitely better for the reasons you mentioned, plus the heat and sun, almost all my XC flights end with me arriving on summer afternoons/evenings. It can be hot and bumpy and you may be dodging storms, but afternoon arrivals aren't an automatic reason to abort. The storms are sometimes widely scattered, and usually you can see them 50+ miles away.

If you were arriving right now (1930 local on 7/15) you'd see a small shower 10 miles west over the foothills, light winds and 80 degrees. But, some afternoons are stormy enough that you'll want to wait it out until the next morning.

One thing to note is that you land at a higher ground speed than you are probably used to, and I'm usually ~1" leaned out for both landing and take-off.

and...
There will occasionally forecasts that call for the winds to pick up at noon or 2PM or whatever, and while the timing is sometimes off, the winds almost always pick up to match the forecast and can be pretty strong. So, if they are saying winds are currently 5-10, but the forecast is 20G30, expect 20G30 to really happen.
 
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Flew KBJC and KAPA for decades.... Coming from Texas, you'll not see anything different in the afternoons, UNLESS there is mountain wave or strong west winds -- for which you'd probably stop anyway. The micro-climate has afternoon thunderstorms develop and swing north and south around the oval 'bowl' which is Denver Metroplex; these are more likely to hit KAPA or just south of there -- so believe the predictions.
The issues for afternoon flying are WEST of Denver/ COS/ Pueblo. With rare exceptions, afternoons are unpleasant, at best, particularly in summer. Get 'Mountain flying' instruction if you're going lower than 14k [and even then it wouldn't hurt]. Spent way too much time flying those mountains trying to find people before they became bodies -- and after.
 
I have flown in there a few times. Busy, but certainly not unmanageable. Lot of Jet traffic, but parallel runways. I usually arrived afternoon and the mountain wave was unpleasant for the last hour of the flight but doable. Key is wind speed aloft - make sure you're educated and know what wind speeds/directions are problematic. T storms seemed no worse than other parts of the country in the summer. Watch for birds. I had a massive eagle form up with me for a bit and he looked to be the size of a 152 and exhibited absolutely no fear or desire to move away. Not the kind of thing we see in the Midwest. The look on his face and behavior was: "I rule this airspace, YOU turn away!"
 
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Also rec preview runways

I would also listen to atc live air radio app for ten minutes during the day, while looking at the runway diagram. They can change your runway last minute and ask you to contact the small runway (35L) tower frequency last minute due to a biz jet landing 35R. Just had a lowland pilot crash and die one month ago due to confusion on base to final, and being overwhelmed: https://youtu.be/OE368dl7VFE

I flew out of KAPA for the last five years. Lots of traffic. Good luck. It is a great airport.
 
No big issue anytime into KAPA. It can be busy with all types of general aviation. Afternoon thunderstorms can happen, but they are easily avoided. Embedded storms are rare here.

If you arrive VFR the main student training areas are to the SE of the field in the vicinity of Elizabeth. It is labeled on the VFR chart.

If you are coming from TX, just aim for the town of Parker as a good reference. It is flagged as a VFR reporting point anyway. It goes from rural to suburban fairly quick there and easy to see. Depending on the winds, a straight in to 28 is easy from there.

Don't worry to much about Buckley AFB traffic. It is not that busy. I believe only a reserve F16 squadron is based there. There are the occasional transient rotor wing or C17. They typically approach from the SE for a long straight in for the only runway.

As for the Evolution crash. He was on a long straight in approach and hit powerlines less than 100 AGL in very VFR conditions with the winds out of the N 10G23. No base to final confusion for him. He said he had autopilot issues. The confusion was the other aircraft in the pattern and the timing of their downwind to base turn either before or after the Evolution.
 
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RV-10 based at KAPA

Randy,

I have been based at KAPA for the past 4 years. My current airplane is an RV-10 which I finished building at KAPA. I also did the first flight from KAPA.

It is a busy environment and you will want to monitor the traffic flow and tower communications as early as you can while inbound.

One thing that is helpful on the way in is to contact the approach controller on 132.75 when you are 30 - 40 miles out. They will give you traffic advisories as you get closer. When they pass you off to KAPA tower, you should be in a good position for them to work you in quickly for landing.

Any storms will be visible from a long way out. When the afternoon thermals get going, I slow down my RV-10 a bit. Afternoon winds can be quite brisk, but with the intersecting runways, you should not have a problem with crosswinds for landing.

The controllers are great and they do get very busy sometimes. When this happens they will request modified speeds, give vectors for spacing, assign one or more 360’s, ask if you can accept a less favorable runway, etc. Nothing crazy, but different than you would see at less busy airports.

Feel free to text or call me at 303 four seven five 9557 if you want to discuss. Also, if you have time while you are here, it would be great to meet you and to see your airplane.

Good luck,

Mark
 
I hangared at bjc and avoided apa like the plague. And I now hangar at a class b airport..... And find it preferable to apa. Helpful to have the loc freq handy if equipped. They sometimes like to have you track it inbound to 35r
 
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