Flying into Portland
 

Hello!

I'm a pilot based in Vancouver thinking about flying into Portland for the first time in couple days, and stay there for 1 night.

I'm thinking either PDX or HIO. Any suggestions?

PDX is obviously the most conveniently located, and has an FBO that is apparently quite GA-friendly, but is it usually very hectic to land there? I have quite a bit of experience flying in busy airspaces (having flown in Vancouver and San Francisco), so I'm not too worried about that, as long as they don't deny us entry or hold us there for 30 minutes or something.

Will be flying a DA40, so faster than a 172, but not by very much.

HIO also seems pretty nice, but is quite far from the city.

Any other recommended airport?

I don't know what citizenship you hold, but just remember if you're a Canadian citizen you need to have a visa to enter the US when you fly in a private plane. The ESTA waiver only works for scheduled airlines.

Sorry if you already knew this or it doesn't apply. Just don't want you to get into trouble.

I've landed Hillsboro and AeroAir is a great FBO with good facilities.

Portland only has a helipad next to the Olympic sailing venue dosnt it?

Portland, Oregon, USA is perhaps the more likely destination for someone in Vancouver.

SD

Thanks. I have made a few cross border flights already, so that should be OK. Canadian citizens don't need visa to enter the US for tourism purposes. We just have to file for an eAPIS pre-clearance online, call the destination airport customs office 3 hours before arrival, and just taxi there after arrival.

How is transportation from Hillsboro? Is there transit? Or did you rent a car?

Sorry for the confusion, didn't realize there are so many Portlands! (and Vancouvers too apparently)

I mean from Vancouver, BC, Canada to Portland, Oregon, USA :)

No need to apologise - you did include airport codes, so anybody who really wanted to know could have found out what you actually meant. You could have made yourself even clearer by mentioning ICAO codes instead of IATA, but I have observed some people dislike them - not clear why, though.