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I'm a private pilot, not instrument rated. I want to land at a Class B airport (New Orleans International KMSY, if that makes a difference), just for the experience of having done so. According to my research, most pilots recommend calling ahead and finding out when they're not going to be busy.

Is that good advice? How far ahead should I call? What number should I call?

HiddenWindshield
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    Might want to ask about landing fees... – Michael Hall Jul 08 '22 at 01:07
  • I'm voting to close this as it's clearly opinion based, as is how far ahead should a call be made. It's not as if you lost anything by making a call. – GdD Jul 08 '22 at 13:26
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    @GdD - I think the OP's question is asking about the best way of preparing for entry into a Class B airspace so that the experience is maximized and provides the best learning opportunity. It's easily reworded to reduce the "opinion aspect and instead learn what methods would work best for advanced preparation prior to entry. Answering this type of question is helpful to the OP and probably many others. –  Jul 08 '22 at 15:01

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In my opinion, it may be a great idea to call the KMSY Control Tower (I found this number on Google: 504-471-4300) and ask what the busy times are (at least with respect to traffic inbound to KMSY). You might feel more comfortable after speaking to someone at the Tower just to humanize the experience.

I could not locate a phone number for the TRACON, but it's likely you can get a reasonable feel for the busy periods for traffic into the Class B airspace from the KMSY Tower.

Also, it may be a good idea to listen several times a few days prior to your flight to the frequency/radio traffic that you're likely to hear (depending on what direction you are coming from). This way you can familiarize yourself with what you can expect ATC to say to you for clearance into the Class B airspace as well as listen to other pilot's responses. LiveATC.net, which can be used to listen to various frequencies, can be located via this LINK.

Also, the first image below is a listing from LiveATC.net of the MSY TRACON frequencies that may be of value to you.

Below that image is a listing of all of the MSY TRACON frequencies.

I think it's an excellent idea to prepare yourself with as much information as you can. It's likely that your experience into the Class B airspace will be much more enjoyable to you and bolster your confidence for future trips into similar areas.

Good luck!

LiveATC.net

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    MSY is an "up/down" meaning the same set of controllers rotate through the tower and the TRACON, so which one you call doesn't matter here. Note that a number ending in "00" is almost certainly the front office or main phone tree number; as suggested in another answer the website AC-U-KWIK lists a direct number, though it's not guaranteed to be accurate. – randomhead Jul 08 '22 at 04:45