Helicopter parking

[Helipilot PTK]

Hello Everyone,

 

Next weekend I plan on flying to an airport near my grandparents house to have lunch and visit with them Etc. My question is, is there a fee to park on the ramp only for a few hours? Also (This may sound like a dumb question) but how does the parking work on the ramp, as in where to park Etc. During my private pilot flight traning we flew to other airports and landed but never shut down and parked the helicopter.

[Darren Hughes]

Whether there's a fee or not for a few hours parking depends on the airport, it also depends on the ramp you park at, and the FBO that runs it.

 

Look up the airport on airnav.com and find out what FBO's if any are operating on it at the bottom of the airport page, their contact details should be listed there too. Some users may have rated and written reviews about the services they received at those FBOs. Call ahead and find out prices. A lot of FBOs waive ramp and parking fees if you buy a certain amount of fuel from them. For a R22 like you have in your profile pic that amount may be cost prohibitive and it may be cheaper to just pay the parking and ramp fees. Give whoever you decide on dealing with a heads up about your approximate arrival time at least a few hours, or even a day before to minimize any confusion when you get there. When your about 15 minutes out from your destination during your flight call the FBO on their UNICOM frequency and there's a good chance they'll send someone out to guide you to your parking spot. Depending on the FBO they may even be able to give you their "Crew car" if you're only gonna be gone for a few hours.

 

If it's a small town sleepy little airport with a self serve fuel station, forget everything I just said and park wherever there's an open spot. Try to leave at least one parking spot between you and any light Cessna 152 type airplanes. The odds are that that airport is run by the local authorities and their landing or parking fees if any are negligible.

[avbug]

Parking varies with the location. In some places, parking is always free for short-term. In areas that an FBO uses, and the ramp space the FBO rents, usually the parking fees (and often the airport or landing fees) are waived if you buy a certain amount of fuel or services.

 

I've paid as little as 25.00 to park at some FBO's, and as much as 10,000 in cash to park before (it wasn't a helicopter). Signature is among the worst of the FBO's, and charges a premium. I was sent to the wrong FBO once, and it was a Signature, during a medical flight. I discovered the mistake upon arrival and intended to taxi to the other FBO. Signature, knowing full well we were an air ambulance, parked a fuel truck to prevent us moving to the other FBO, and wouldn't move it until we sent someone inside to pay them a hundred dollars.

 

I hate Signature with a passion.

 

The ten grand was in the early days operating in and out of Kabul; for parking and the privilege of staying three hours, and the privilege of buying fuel, it cost ten thousand cash, at the time. They've since rectified that problem.

[aeroscout]

You're not the first person I have ever heard say that they hated Signature. Evidently, in some cases anyway, a well deserved reputation.

[SBuzzkill]

The place I used to work at charged ramp fees unless you bought fuel. The minimum was 10 gallons but the girls at the front were usually pretty lenient as a lot of guys in their C150s couldn't take that much.