New Jersey, United States

Thankfully, Avant Air moved out of their leaded office space at Mac Dan to give appropriate fuel competition! Mac Dan's confidential fuel discounts are rediculous. Some people/companies/flight schools/flying clubs nearly receive 20% discounts on Avgas & Jet A, the data sheets area behind the front desk in the main lobby of Mac Dan.

-That kind of discount can add up to thousands of dollars quite fast!

-Anyone wonder why their fuel trucks are always empty or why a service call for fuel takes up to thirty minutes?

For a Class C airport, this place is very GA friendly. If you are new to Class C operations, you could do alot worse that KACY as your first taste.

I had exactly the same experience at Republic in spring 2004, right down to sitting on the runway (as instructed by tower) and holding everyone else up. Same lesson -- if you can take a VFR departure out of a NY-area airport, do. It's the controller's error putting you on the runway before your clearance is ready, but why invite trouble in the first place?

I must have tied up traffic for 30 minutes of more waiting at the entrance for my IFR clearance. I'd taxied out after being told to, but there were 4 or 5 planes waiting behind me and by the time I suddenly realized that I could depart VFR and pick up a clearance later, the clearance had actually come. I felt like a complete dick.

My first Solo was out of Trinca about 10 years ago. The airport is a little run down, and a bit behind the times these days. I never thought much of those trees or divits in the grass as a student pilot. A bit of a bump was my launch pad for soft field take offs. All the little "Tricks" you learned flying out of Trinca only made you a better pilot. Avoiding tall trees wasn't something that made it tough, it made you FLY! Something a lot of "pavement" pilots forget how to do I think.

Trinca is one of the last grass strips around in NJ. It is a big part of many pilots fond memories. It is a truly enchanting airport. Look past the rough edges, reach back through time. You can still see and hear all the avid aviation enthusiasts sitting around on the old picnic table bench, chatting the warm summer days away. To this day, I can walk around the hangers, look in the office, sit on that bench, and get that same warm feeling of camaraderie we all shared in our never ending love for aviation.

A 7:45PM trip around the pattern in a J3 Cub, watching the sun set on a warm summer night, I can't think of anything more magical! I love this airport and only hope it will be around for a long time to come, to share with my children. Visit if you can!

S.J.M.