Places NOT to stop X-country ...

The last time it was discussed here a month or two ago, C59 (Delavan, WI) was in pretty bad shape and unless someone has more recent news, you might want to add it to the list. This is very sad because 10 years ago it was a deservedly popular weekend lunch fly-in destination because of Lake Lawn resort across the road. The runway was never in great shape, but the last pictures showed badly cracked pavement and grass coming up thick through the cracks. There were never any services on field despite a smallish - and locked - terminal building.
 
Russellville and Shawnee both have pretty close populations, around 30k. Never been up there but Graueradler seemed like a pretty solid manager from the advice he's given so far. And I know Shawnee airport is amazing :D don't knock all small towns!

The only time I felt I needed a gun was when I walked out to do my daily inspection and on the way to the pickup, I came upon a car I hadn't seen before with an empty gun case leaning up against the back tire. :eek:

Somehow it had gotten past the fence with the gate code on it and I didn't know what to do. I did my inspection at a hurried pace looking for anyone out of place and called and told my boss who ran the plate to the cops. There's a university next door to the airport and I was worried we had a shooter or something equally bad.

I went in the FBO after the inspection to grab something and found the CAP cadets in the terminal with fake rifles for drill. Called off the cops and my boss :lol: Funny now, but it sure wasn't then!
 
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Only time I wondered if I needed a gun was when I was fueling late one night and heard coyotes yipping not that far away. I think that was at Clairmore Oklahoma ... (One of my favorite fuel stops..)
 
brian];1864019 said:
Only time I wondered if I needed a gun was when I was fueling late one night and heard coyotes yipping not that far away. I think that was at Clairmore Oklahoma ... (One of my favorite fuel stops..)
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I was out stargazing one night soon after I moved to OK with some friends and heard coyotes not too far away, yipping and howling. I asked them if we should run or not. They laughed so hard they cried, and it's an inside joke today! They don't seem aggressive at the airport here, just ballsy to taunt planes and me in the operations truck, but I could be wrong. I'm not too fond of packs of animals and being alone, that's for sure.

...I also tried to walk into a Sonic to use their bathroom and got laughed at...
 
overdrive148 said:
I was out stargazing one night soon after I moved to OK with some friends and heard coyotes not too far away, yipping and howling. I asked them if we should run or not. They laughed so hard they cried, and it's an inside joke today! They don't seem aggressive at the airport here, just ballsy to taunt planes and me in the operations truck, but I could be wrong. I'm not too fond of packs of animals and being alone, that's for sure.

...I also tried to walk into a Sonic to use their bathroom and got laughed at...
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You wouldn't have been able to outrun the coyotes. As long as you could outrun at least one of your friends, though...

Mark
 
Graueradler said:
I have never encountered a situation at an airport where I felt that I needed a gun. Maybe its your Florida background. As a former airport manager, I didn't find that humerous.
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I'll bet you didn't. But the truth is sometimes flights don't get to go the best, safest and most secure landing strips.

In the air ambulance I sometimes I am out very late and go to very dark and very isolated airports that are known for drug activity. I have watched cars pull up without lights, watched someone come out of the weeds and a transaction is made.

I have also been to bigger airports in a big city that has the same problem. Fences only keep law abiding people out.

I have had people come up and try to heckle me, try to get me to get away from the airplane. Guess what I had in my hand.

Other airports are so isolated I see coyotes, fox and other animals running around. Guess what is not in my hand.

Sorry, don't mean to hijack the thread. Most of those airports I have described should be avoided at night by people that think airports are only used as airports.
 
Graueradler said:
I have never encountered a situation at an airport where I felt that I needed a gun. Maybe its your Florida background. As a former airport manager, I didn't find that humorous.
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FYI,

I wasn't born in Florida so don't jump to conclusions...ok? Sorry, not here to entertain you. The gun issue was reference to what Txflyer was saying about camping at a sketchy airport, In the middle of nowhere, in the dark with people that could careless about you..yeah I would carry and I'm NOT afraid to say so.

Carry on!
 
It's probably going to get worse.

Coming out of IR ground school class a few weeks ago, we encountered a person who said she "needed a ride". We explained that there were no commercial flights out of this airport. "Oh, no" she said... "I need a ride downtown". Really, why? "My boyfriend left me."

We offered to call a taxi for her, or the police, at which point she hurried off (on foot). From a rural airport. Next day, the surveillance video from the airport security cameras show her ARRIVING in a taxi. wtf.

Airports are where those rich people keep some of their stuff.
 
Mistake Not... said:
It's probably going to get worse.

Coming out of IR ground school class a few weeks ago, we encountered a person who said she "needed a ride". We explained that there were no commercial flights out of this airport. "Oh, no" she said... "I need a ride downtown". Really, why? "My boyfriend left me."

We offered to call a taxi for her, or the police, at which point she hurried off (on foot). From a rural airport. Next day, the surveillance video from the airport security cameras show her ARRIVING in a taxi. wtf.

Airports are where those rich people keep some of their stuff.
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My next words are usually.... "I can see why.."
 
On the opposite end of the spectrum, KGNT (Grants, NM) was always one of my favorite places to stop when I was building XC time for my commercial and later on dual cross countries with private students and will be one of the places I'll be going at my new job (135 freight) when I move back to NM next month. Sadly, I just found out that the airport manager who made it as great of a stop as it is, Wes passed on a few months ago. I just hope the manager who took over didn't change a thing.
 
Stopped at Hope on the way to Osh...I understand...also my understanding that they had just dropped the fuel price the day before when it was a buck Higher...no need to go ever again.
 
GCA319 said:
On the opposite end of the spectrum, KGNT (Grants, NM) was always one of my favorite places to stop when I was building XC time for my commercial and later on dual cross countries with private students and will be one of the places I'll be going at my new job (135 freight) when I move back to NM next month. Sadly, I just found out that the airport manager who made it as great of a stop as it is, Wes passed on a few months ago. I just hope the manager who took over didn't change a thing.
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ABQ to GUP to GNT to ABQ?

I hadn't heard that Wes died. Always enjoyed chatting with him when I was there.
 
overdrive148 said:
I was out stargazing one night soon after I moved to OK with some friends and heard coyotes not too far away, yipping and howling. I asked them if we should run or not. They laughed so hard they cried, and it's an inside joke today! They don't seem aggressive at the airport here, just ballsy to taunt planes and me in the operations truck, but I could be wrong. I'm not too fond of packs of animals and being alone, that's for sure.
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When I used to make evening and early am departures from San Diego Montgomery (MYF) I would frequently pull into the runup area and my taxilight would pick up mulitple pairs of coyote eyes staring back at me.
 
azure said:
The last time it was discussed here a month or two ago, C59 (Delavan, WI) was in pretty bad shape and unless someone has more recent news, you might want to add it to the list. This is very sad because 10 years ago it was a deservedly popular weekend lunch fly-in destination because of Lake Lawn resort across the road. The runway was never in great shape, but the last pictures showed badly cracked pavement and grass coming up thick through the cracks. There were never any services on field despite a smallish - and locked - terminal building.
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Added it! :yes:



Warlock said:
Stopped at Hope on the way to Osh...I understand...also my understanding that they had just dropped the fuel price the day before when it was a buck Higher...no need to go ever again.
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It stunk when we arrived. We flew right over a plant spewing something setting up for final. My son said "gee, thanks for flying us right through that toxic cloud!" because it stunk so bad. Might have been a chicken processing plant .. ?

Talking about camping in the sticks, I fly with protection with my gun and for my gun! :lol: You never know when a coyote will attack or when a hot chick (yeah right) is going to walk up and want a ride. :blowingkisses:
 
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Zeldman said:
ABQ to GUP to GNT to ABQ?

I hadn't heard that Wes died. Always enjoyed chatting with him when I was there.
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Yep. Our ABQ base is rotating all the runs among all pilots at this time and that's one of the runs my type does (PA-31), so I imagine I'll be doing it quite a bit.

I liked chatting with Wes. He always had lots of stories and gave me some good advice on teaching when I was a brand new CFI. It's been quite a few years since we've chatted though. I heard of his passing from a friend of mine.
 
Do you folks know of any good GA airports in Florida? I can start. Whitted so far is my favorite KSPG. You can pretty much walk to restaurants and they also just revamped a new mall which is walking distance away. A lot of GA activity there and I visit quite frequently during lunch!


48X Airport Manatee is a grass strip that has very little activity. The self Service works fine but it is a ghost town. Been there quite a few times and no one is there!

Any places in Florida you recommend?
 
Fearless Tower said:
When I used to make evening and early am departures from San Diego Montgomery (MYF) I would frequently pull into the runup area and my taxilight would pick up mulitple pairs of coyote eyes staring back at me.
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As long as they keep the geese away (or eat them, doesn't matter which), they can stick around.

P1070761.JPG
 
narchee said:
Got to say that Liberal, Kansas is fairly low on my places to revisit.

Ugly, wind swept, run down, no decent places to get a meal. And quite possibly the stinkiest filthiest courtesy car I ever had. It may have had a body in the trunk... I don't know I didn't check. I know, I know, at least I had a courtesy car right?
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I'll add my vote to the others that KLBL doesn't need to be on this list. We could have a list of airports 500-long that consists of places that aren't fun to visit, but I thought it was truly places to avoid -- those that don't want to sell fuel or don't have it at all, that have a crater in the runway, where drug activity is high, etc.

Liberal, KS is a decent fuel stop if you're in that part of the country. Modern building and was very GA-friendly. Their courtesy car was a POS, but they let me keep it overnight after buying like 30 gallons of 100LL. There's several decent hotels and fast foods options around too. Of course, the whole reason I was staying overnight is that winds were ridiculous both in LBL and the whole region, and I wasn't in a rush. I gather it's well-known as a windy place. Took off at 6am the next day and it was fine.

Again, I'm not saying go out of your way to visit, but I'd stop there again if I was in the neighborhood and needed gas.
 

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frfly172 said:
Unfortunately the bad ones don't get posted on air nav.
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Um, yeah they do...and Airnav allows us airport/fbo operators to respond (if we so choose). I had someone complain on Airnav because he stopped in one day (Memorial Day) and the FBO was closed. He complained that he couldn't get a car and had to leave with screaming and crying children. Ironic considering it was posted right on Airnav that we are closed on Memorial Day. I was happy to point that out to him.

But yeah, I have to keep checking this thread to make sure my airport doesn't show up on it!! :yikes:
 
BGF_Yankee said:
Um, yeah they do...and Airnav allows us airport/fbo operators to respond (if we so choose).
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Same here. I had one negative post in over 7 years. I responded. Everything the gent said was true but was only part of the story. I provided the rest of the story. He was upset because we charged him $10 for putting his plane in a closed hangar at his telephone request due to a severe thunderstorm. Nevermind that he was gone in the free crew car and had been warned about the approaching storm before he left and hadn't even tied the plane down.
 
Florida stops


KFMY has free hotdogs at noon on fridays in the terminal and good fuel price at self serve on south end.
 
Graueradler said:
Same here. I had one negative post in over 7 years. I responded. Everything the gent said was true but was only part of the story. I provided the rest of the story. He was upset because we charged him $10 for putting his plane in a closed hangar at his telephone request due to a severe thunderstorm. Nevermind that he was gone in the free crew car and had been warned about the approaching storm before he left and hadn't even tied the plane down.
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Wow.

A citation came in with severe weather forecast. They left in some rental cars and I kept watching the weather develop. I started to see rotation in a quickly building cell headed our way and tried to find the restaurant they went to (executives/owners). Found them at the 2nd restaurant and got permission to put it in the hangar. They were quite grateful, especially as I starred towing as the tornado sirens came on :eek: luckily nothing other than wind hit us but it was hard to choose. Tow him and save the plane? What if the hangar collapses and they sue? What if something didn't get disconnected correctly (some jets have that) and something got damaged?

Either way I figured that putting him in the hangar was the best course of action.

Dunno if I could have brought myself to do it without permission. I wouldn't want it to get damaged though...
 
overdrive148 said:
Wow.

A citation came in with severe weather forecast. They left in some rental cars and I kept watching the weather develop. I started to see rotation in a quickly building cell headed our way and tried to find the restaurant they went to (executives/owners). Found them at the 2nd restaurant and got permission to put it in the hangar. They were quite grateful, especially as I starred towing as the tornado sirens came on :eek: luckily nothing other than wind hit us but it was hard to choose. Tow him and save the plane? What if the hangar collapses and they sue? What if something didn't get disconnected correctly (some jets have that) and something got damaged?

Either way I figured that putting him in the hangar was the best course of action.

Dunno if I could have brought myself to do it without permission. I wouldn't want it to get damaged though...
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I have been to airports where they want a waiver signed releasing the FBO from any damage caused by anything,,, storm, line personnel, wrong fuel, etc:...

I have always refused to sign.
 
Zeldman said:
I have been to airports where they want a waiver signed releasing the FBO from any damage caused by anything,,, storm, line personnel, wrong fuel, etc:...

I have always refused to sign.
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I could see why.

But if your plane was in that situation, would you want me to move it into a hangar without your permission or leave it on the ramp if a strong storm is more likely than not heading towards the airport?

I'd never sign one for fuel or plane rash, but in emergency situations I could see at least an effort being made to avoid damage to the plane.
 
FloridaPilot said:
What did you like about it?
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Cool runway (water right at both ends), you taxi across a road to get to parking, the little town has some nice restaurants right on the water. Call on the CTAF to get the local taxi to collect you, or you can rent a golf cart from some guy.
 
I think you misunderstood nothing! Marlin has NOTHING. It's got something like 4 hangars, no restroom, no lounge, no fuel.

At least Hearne has a descent terminal building with cold AC and two restrooms. They recently put in a new fuel tank too, which makes it a great place for me to stop on the way back from Reklaw. It's not my favorite airport, but I'm sure glad it's there.

Zeldman said:
I think nothing left Marlin and moved to Hearne.
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overdrive148 said:
I could see why.

But if your plane was in that situation, would you want me to move it into a hangar without your permission or leave it on the ramp if a strong storm is more likely than not heading towards the airport?

I'd never sign one for fuel or plane rash, but in emergency situations I could see at least an effort being made to avoid damage to the plane.
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I think you may get different answers from different people, but line guys at different airports tug our airplane all the time. We would be very grateful if someone put us in a hanger in that situation. Just remember to disconnect the scissors. ;)
 
Lowflynjack said:
I think you misunderstood nothing! Marlin has NOTHING. It's got something like 4 hangars, no restroom, no lounge, no fuel.

At least Hearne has a descent terminal building with cold AC and two restrooms. They recently put in a new fuel tank too, which makes it a great place for me to stop on the way back from Reklaw. It's not my favorite airport, but I'm sure glad it's there.
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Hearne consistently comes up on Garmin Pilot as having the cheapest fuel within a hundred miles.

I've been reluctant to gas up there because I was worried about turnover and the old equipment, but if they installed all new stuff, it may be a deal.

I'm fifteen minutes from Hearne and could gas up there easy. :)
 
Lowflynjack said:
I think you misunderstood nothing! Marlin has NOTHING. It's got something like 4 hangars, no restroom, no lounge, no fuel.

At least Hearne has a descent terminal building with cold AC and two restrooms. They recently put in a new fuel tank too, which makes it a great place for me to stop on the way back from Reklaw. It's not my favorite airport, but I'm sure glad it's there.
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I haven't been to the Hearne airport in years. I didn't realize the place had been resurrected. Last time I drove by (2 years ago?) I did notice that the runway looked as if it had been re-surfaced, or sealed or something.

And yes, The only time I was in Marlin there was a couple derelict planes under a carport like structure and a couple of locked hangers.
 
Marco Island - KMKY is a very pretty place. Nice airport.

Quincy - 2J9 - Cheap gas. Small and fun airfield.
Land on the parallel grass runway and watch the parachute operation.

Ferguson - 82J - at Pensacola.
Take a rental car to see the Naval Aviation Museum on base!


FloridaPilot said:
Do you folks know of any good GA airports in Florida?
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overdrive148 said:
I could see why.

But if your plane was in that situation, would you want me to move it into a hangar without your permission or leave it on the ramp if a strong storm is more likely than not heading towards the airport?

I'd never sign one for fuel or plane rash, but in emergency situations I could see at least an effort being made to avoid damage to the plane.
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I am the kind of guy that will let you know that the parking brake is off if you need to move it. And if we just carried someone that was really contagious I would warn you. (you would probably figure it out when myself and the med crew came out in our NBC suits) If we just carried someone that pretty much bled out in the plane and blood is dripping onto the ground, I will tell you.

And yes, for the 421 I would have no problem if you moved the plane because of an approaching storm without asking. In fact, it might get you a pizza delivered sometime.

Now for a multi million dollar jet.....Like yourself I would be hesitant to move it without permission.
 
dukeblue219 said:
I'll add my vote to the others that KLBL doesn't need to be on this list. We could have a list of airports 500-long that consists of places that aren't fun to visit, but I thought it was truly places to avoid -- those that don't want to sell fuel or don't have it at all, that have a crater in the runway, where drug activity is high, etc.



Liberal, KS is a decent fuel stop if you're in that part of the country. Modern building and was very GA-friendly. Their courtesy car was a POS, but they let me keep it overnight after buying like 30 gallons of 100LL. There's several decent hotels and fast foods options around too. Of course, the whole reason I was staying overnight is that winds were ridiculous both in LBL and the whole region, and I wasn't in a rush. I gather it's well-known as a windy place. Took off at 6am the next day and it was fine.



Again, I'm not saying go out of your way to visit, but I'd stop there again if I was in the neighborhood and needed gas.
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Heck after you posted the photo I realized I've been there too, and it was fine. Folks inside checking weather and a few guys doing ramp type stuff to the right of your photo there of the entrance. We had a soda and got fuel and checked weather and blasted out of there. Wasn't an airport I wouldn't go back to.
 
Zeldman said:
I have been to airports where they want a waiver signed releasing the FBO from any damage caused by anything,,, storm, line personnel, wrong fuel, etc:...

I have always refused to sign.
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I ran into that once.

I told them it wasn't my plane (knowing if they looked up the tail number the LLC would come up, and I wasn't lying, since I own a share of the LLC and the LLC owns the airplane) and I wasn't authorized to sign such things for it without the owners' approval. (And you can't hear which side of the s that the apostrophe is on when you say owners', and they hear owner's... Heh.)

They gave up.

Sharing in case someone else needs a graceful way out of that stupidity.
 
Katamarino said:
Cool runway (water right at both ends), you taxi across a road to get to parking, the little town has some nice restaurants right on the water. Call on the CTAF to get the local taxi to collect you, or you can rent a golf cart from some guy.
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Or walk. On water restaurants are not that far, and its an interesting walk.
 
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