There are many ways to classify airports: controlled or uncontrolled (for US readers, towered or non-towered 
), with grass or concrete runway, with or without commercial or airline traffic. I learned to fly on the grass runway of a controlled airport with international traffic (read Geneva, Switzerland, LSGG) and I sometimes feel a bit uncomfortable when I fly to an airport without ATC. This runway is rather short, but well maintained, so soft and short field operations are no issues to me.
As always, my questions for this month are simple: how do you like your airports ? Small, remote grass strips or large concrete runway with lot of jet traffic ? With or without air traffic control ? Or something in between ?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m a student pilot training in Minnesota, which is in the north-central US, and I prefer my fields to be plowed clear of snow.
I’m flying out of what would be a grass field but for the season, and we couldn’t get the mains off the ground because of the drag caused by plowing them through the snow. We needed to go back and forth over the runway a few times so that our wheels would hit a rut long enough for us to lift off.
Beyond that I like small-to-medium fields, towered or untowered, paved or unpaved. So long as there’s a decent restaurant on the field.
My comfort zone?
Controlled, Asphalt runway, can be busy but just with similar sized GA aircraft.
I haven’t really flown into much else than the above description, but when I do I am sure that will change.
I prefer controlled airports…it always worries me when I approach an uncontrolled airport and find more than one aircraft that is not talking on CTAF.
I highly encourage readers of Plastic Pilot to rate FBO services at our user-friendly and very informative Airport Resource Center. Thanks! And happy flying.