Tell me about Fort Worth Area!

The first two share an airport,
And when you read the historical record of that, neither city was very happy about sharing with the other.

@Banjo33 ... when you decide on your visit dates, let us know and we'll join you for food and fun.
 
Bringing this one back to the surface as the wife and I are planning to come down next week, look around, and decide if the DFW- or Houston areas are worth considering settling down to in a couple of years. Hoping to be commuting, if not based out of DFW, eventually.

Recommendations for which sides of town/areas are worth looking at or avoiding? Good airports with possibly enough space for our Twinkie (4000’ +)? Haven’t quite decided whether suburb or rural, good schools are a must, but we’ve found a pretty decent website (niche.com) that rates schools and Dallas seems to have plenty to choose from.
Houston? Go far, far west. Anything close to the west side of 610 is 20hr/day rush hour. Worst at Christmas. Only way I made it thru 7 years there was to be gone 4-6 months in the summer. But it does have good restaurants.
 
Oh, and by the way, we will officially be Texas residents starting a week from Sunday.

We are renting for a year to get to know the area before buying. Found a home in Keller.

Super stoked. My family fell in love with The area last weekend (although not the bone chilling cold at 40 degrees which is mind numbing since I came from single digit temps in Denver)
 
Timely thread. My son and daughter in law are thinking of moving to the area in about 18 months. Of course they will both need jobs first. :fcross:
 
Found a home in Keller
I am just 20-ish miles north of you on HWY 377. 6PC isn't that far away either. @JCranford is over in West Frisco (aka Little Elm). And some other good folk nearby.

Saturday the 23'd, my Flying Club is hosting a hamburger feed and safety presentation on IFR flying. You (and everyone else) are invited. KDTO terminal building, 11:30 eat, 12:00, listen to the presentation. More info found on FAAsafety.gov, but ignore the number of seats, we always have extra food and chairs.
 
And when you read the historical record of that, neither city was very happy about sharing with the other.

That is a pretty fascinating story.

http://www.airfields-freeman.com/TX/Airfields_TX_FtWorth_NE.htm#greaterSW
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Southwest_International_Airport

Warning: The airfields-freeman story will suck you in for a while... And you'll probably go to Google Maps to check out the remaining evidence of Greater Southwest International Airport - Amon Carter Field. You can still see the piece of runway 17, the cracks in Amon Carter Blvd. where runway 13/31 crossed it, parts of the runway and taxiways just to the northwest of there, and a partial arc of trees where the terminal drive once was. The ghost of an airport! I wonder what ever happened to the gold mural of Texas aviation history from the terminal?
 
I am just 20-ish miles north of you on HWY 377. 6PC isn't that far away either. @JCranford is over in West Frisco (aka Little Elm). And some other good folk nearby.

Saturday the 23'd, my Flying Club is hosting a hamburger feed and safety presentation on IFR flying. You (and everyone else) are invited. KDTO terminal building, 11:30 eat, 12:00, listen to the presentation. More info found on FAAsafety.gov, but ignore the number of seats, we always have extra food and chairs.
I’ll see if I can make it out!
 
The stockyards are worth a look and a smell at least once, for the history if nothing else. Second, third or fourth recommendation for Babes. It slightly touristy, but who cares.
Duly noted. BTW, is Grapewine any good?
I'm just back from K1 Speed in Arlington and didn't like it. Way too small, one lap is 16 seconds.
The only time I was NW of FTW when I delivered Carlson to Iowa. Without a transponder, I skirted the veil and I flew over an unexpectedly large boneyard, then stopped at LUD for gas. It was okay, as long as you remember the right pattern.
 
Duly noted. BTW, is Grapewine any good?
Yes, Grapevine does have some good restaurants, especially in the general downtown area.

Not too far away is the Hard8 in Colleyville. And while I think the quality of the food rivals the Stephenville location, the Colleyville one has the smallest parking lot on the planet for a very popular restaurant. Even on weeknights in a torrential downpour, trying to meet @Half Fast and @kayoh190 it was difficult to find/get a parking spot.

The Hard8 in Roanoke needs a few more years on the cooking pits for it to be as good as Stephenville.

The whole region has gotten some new and really good food/drink places that are not corporate cookie cutters.
 
I kind of like the downtown Grapevine area and Southlake as far as the suburbs go. Pretty close to several hiking/mountain biking trails around the lake, several good restaurants. All of Lewisville/Flowermound is fairly similar, too. Not the most convenient for getting to a smaller GA airport in some cases, but not terrible either.
 
From what we’ve read, it seems you really can’t go wrong with anywhere on the north side of DFW. Grape vine might be a little close to the end of DFW’s runways though. We lived under the traffic pattern at a military field and the noise was just too much.
 
Mike, I sure appreciate the offer! I don’t think we’re going to be able to do dinner this time though. This is my wife and I’s first time really going out together since our son was born almost 9 years ago! We’re definitely coming back and will try to link it with one of ya’lls Texas group get-togethers.

We flew into McKinney (TKI) yesterday afternoon. Initial opinion is the McKinney-Frisco areas has what we’re looking for. Rental market appears to be saturated and schools (middle schools, specifically) are all really good. We drove most neighborhoods from McKinney over to Grapevine. Didn’t look much south of Sam Rayburn Tollway. Tomorrow we’re moving hotels and will look down toward Plano and over toward Addison. I think we’re pretty set on east-northeast Dallas though, unless someone has any other recommendations.

I’m not nearly as optimistic about finding a hangar for the Twinkie though. I consider that an absolute necessity and I’m actually slightly nervous for it to be sitting out on the ramp at TKI right now with T-storms forecast for tomorrow evening, lol.

Any recommendations for things to see/do while we’re here? We hit some shopping this evening. Going to get shlammered at the AMC in their recliners tomorrow tonight, lol. Probably try the Stockyards in FW Thursday when the sun comes out. A lot of spare time in-between though.
 
I’m not nearly as optimistic about finding a hangar for the Twinkie though.
How wide you need?

I was pleasantly surprised the other day as I taxied down my alley to my spot and saw someone had successfully stuffed a C310 into one of the T-hangars with a it of room to spare. Hadn't a clue before this we were wide enough.

And there is a spot or two near and across from me that appear unoccupied. No idea if the FBO has anyone on the list for them. But contact US Jet Center at DTO to find out.
 
Last edited:
Dallas has some walking tours which are nice.....

I have heard the Perot Museum is worth it. And the JFK sights are not far away.

The Amon Carter Museum is worth it.

Several micro breweries and distilleries are in the area and offer tours.

The flight museums at KADS (Cavanaugh Museum) and KDAL (Frontiers of Flight) are good.

KRBD (Dallas Executive) has the Commemorative Air Force (warbirds). https://www.commemorativeairforce.org/home


As far as places to live, don't skip Denton or Flower Mound. Corinth is nice too, but you'll wind up with a weird neighbor who likes to make interesting aviation videos. @JCranford can give you info about Frisco and Little Elm (aka West Frisco).
 
26’l x 36’w. I’ve had it in a t-hangar before, but I don’t think they’re all created equal, lol. I’ll start talking to the airports soon. See about getting added to any lists they may have so that I can start working my way up them, if they’ll let me.

I hadn’t even considered any museums, thanks for that recommendation! We briefly looked toward Flower Mound...I’ll be sure to add it and your other recommendations to the list.
 
26’l x 36’w. I’ve had it in a t-hangar before, but I don’t think they’re all created equal, lol. I’ll start talking to the airports soon. See about getting added to any lists they may have so that I can start working my way up them, if they’ll let me.
I'll try to remember to measure mine when I'm out there Wednesday. I will also ask at the FBO if they have an information sheet I can share with you.
 
Dallas has some walking tours which are nice.....

I have heard the Perot Museum is worth it. And the JFK sights are not far away.

The Amon Carter Museum is worth it.

Several micro breweries and distilleries are in the area and offer tours.

The flight museums at KADS (Cavanaugh Museum) and KDAL (Frontiers of Flight) are good.

KRBD (Dallas Executive) has the Commemorative Air Force (warbirds). https://www.commemorativeairforce.org/home


As far as places to live, don't skip Denton or Flower Mound. Corinth is nice too, but you'll wind up with a weird neighbor who likes to make interesting aviation videos. @JCranford can give you info about Frisco and Little Elm (aka West Frisco).


Is the Million Dollar Saloon still around? Spent an occasional business lunch there in the 80's during my visits to TI.
 
Back
Top