I'm still a student pilot, but expecting to earn my license early next year. This event is an hour and a half flight from my airport, so i'm definitely interested in participating. For those who have done these events before, can you share what are the typical logistics for these events? i.e. San Marcos is May 29 and 30, so do people fly-in on the 28th the day before or on the 29th? What other considerations do first-time pilots have to consider for these type of events? Thanks in advance.
For the COS event I went to, you could fly in Friday or Saturday. There should be an info packet available once registered, similar to this: http://download.aopa.org/fly-ins/THApip.pdf?_ga=1.153839544.1465159722.1395863641 First-timers should be cautious of high density times and you likely will want another pair of eyes helping with traffic.
When AOPA posts the procedures for the event you will have a better idea. Here a PDF from a past event. http://download.aopa.org/fly-ins/THApip.pdf?_ga=1.153839544.1465159722.1395863641
Because of the traffic these events draw, it may be advisable to consider going in either Thursday evening or as early as possible on Friday. Most of the time you can camp as early as Thursday night so it’s more relaxing getting in. If you don’t have your PPL by then, I don’t recommend you going on Saturday. Way too many folks trying to get it in, some without radios (or don’t think they need to use them) along with those that don’t bother to read the NOTAM or arrival instructions so you need someone to spot traffic besides you flying the plane. Good luck!
Thanks for the tips! I’m hopeful I’ll have my PPL by March and confident enough for this trip by May.
San Marcos is a towered airport. I know this doesn't mean you can close your eyes, but there shouldn't be too many planes without radios. I'm not sure if the tower was up and running for the last AOPA event there.
The tower was running last time (it was brand-new), and it was low IFR for much of the day. With that in mind, you should have heard the number people trying to get "VFR Flight Following" from Houston Center and Austin Approach, and/or trying to get Pop-Up IFR (not happening - Austin Approach was slammed, and we had to hold for over 30 minutes before cleared for the approach. It was a whole lot of fun, once we were on the ground. Interested in where they'll focus the event, since Redbird FBO (where it was based last time) has closed shop. Berry Aviation are great folks, but their infrastructure ain't giant.
I flew into the one in Indianapolis a while back. I arrived Friday early afternoon, and it was not busy at all. It did get quite busy on Saturday and Sunday, though. So if you can time it right, you can make this quite easy. It was also fun to watch the busy traffic on Saturday morning from the ground, as opposed to being up there in the bee hive. I'll try to participate again this year. Will have to check the calendar... the three scheduled fly-ins are all about equally far away from my home base, so there is no clear favorite. Maybe this means I'll do all three - Martin
Are they going to have another HUGE fuel special? Didn't they have a $2 a gallon price for AV-Gas an entire month years ago?
RedBird Skyport said they would sell fuel for $1 per gallon for a month. They stopped after 14 days because they had sold 90,000 gallons. They won't be doing that this time... they're out of business.
Regardless of the event, the San Marcos area is uber cool. "The hill country" is my favorite part of Texas.
I visit there pretty often ... probably just timing, but I seem to share air-space with guys with less than spectacular flying skills
