General Downing - Peoria International (KPIA)

General Downing Peoria International is central Illinois' Class C field, a round-the-clock tower beside the Illinois River and the northeastern anchor of Kansas City Center's territory. Two runways cross near the middle of the field: a ten-thousand-foot 13/31 and the eight-thousand-foot 4/22 over the top of it.

You work Peoria Tower under the St. Louis TRACON, and the shift is a genuine mixture. Allegiant leisure Airbuses, American and United regional jets, a UPS freighter, and Reach C-130s off the Air National Guard ramp, all fitted around corporate arrivals and a busy flight-training operation. South flow works the 22 and the 13; northwest flow is the mirror on the 31 and the 4. The cycle publishes ten approaches here and no arrivals or departure procedures at all, so every inbound enters on a real approach feeder and every departure leaves on a heading you assign.

This is the Busy tier: airline banks, freight, military lift and a training pattern all wanting the same two crossing runways, with none of the published structure that carries the load at a hub.

Runway layout