Learning to Fly at Northeast Philadelphia Airport (KPNE): A Student's Guide

Northeast Philadelphia Airport (KPNE) is a busy general-aviation airport in the northeast corner of the city, and it's where Merlin Flight Training is based. If you're about to start lessons here, this is what's useful to know.

The basics

• Location: Northeast Philadelphia, between Roosevelt Boulevard (US 1) and I-95. Merlin is at 9800 Ashton Rd, Hangar E3, Philadelphia, PA 19114.
• Runways: two runways, 6/24 and 15/33.
• Control tower: KPNE has an operating control tower, and the airspace around it is Class D while the tower is open. You talk to Ground before you taxi and to Tower before takeoff and landing.
• Overhead: KPNE sits under the Philadelphia Class B airspace around PHL. Training routes and practice areas are planned around it. Our Class B guide explains the layers.

Why a towered airport is good for students

At a non-towered airport, pilots announce their own intentions and sort out the traffic among themselves. At KPNE, controllers sequence the traffic and you learn clear, standard radio calls from the start. Students who learn here tend to find other airports easy afterwards.

Your first radio calls

You'll start by listening. Before engine start we listen to the ATIS, the recorded weather and airport information, and note its letter code. Then we call Ground for taxi. A first call sounds something like this:

"Northeast Ground, November one five niner golf, at Hangar E-three with information Alpha, request taxi, VFR to the north."

I make the calls at first. Within a few lessons you'll be making them yourself, with me backing you up.

Traffic you'll see

KPNE is busy: business jets, helicopters and other trainers. That's part of the education. You learn to scan for traffic, read the airport diagram and follow taxi instructions exactly, including stopping at hold-short lines.

Where we practice

For maneuvers we fly to less congested areas away from the airport, staying clear of the Class B. Weather and traffic decide the route each day, and I brief it before we go.

Getting to your lesson

We text you the exact meeting point and gate instructions before your first visit. Please don't walk onto the ramp on your own. Wait for your instructor, who will walk you out to the airplane.

Weather

Philadelphia gets summer thunderstorms, gusty winter wind and the occasional low cloud deck. We brief the weather before every flight and reschedule for free when it isn't safe to fly. See the best time of year to learn to fly in Philadelphia.

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Want to see it in person? Book a discovery flight and we'll walk you through the airport on the way to the airplane. Live nearby? See our pages for Bucks County and South Jersey, or compare training options.