another gut punch to GA, temporarily (southeast)

eman1200

eman1200

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Bro do you even lift
the famous (at least around here) Runway Cafe at GMU will close its doors at the end of May. many a burger were eaten there by yours truly and on rare occasions, @RyanB would put a Xmas PoA lunch meetup together there. it's a weird situation where they got that stupid tv show 'restaurant impossible' to come out there and they made some stupid changes to the place, covid hurt them, but then for some reason the airport commission decided they didn't want them there anymore, terminated their lease and have granted a new lease to new owners. so at least there will be another restaurant there, I guess. sad to see any business go under, but this one has a special place in that cold cast iron heart of mine. I remember just after getting my ppl I wanted to go there but the runway layout freaked me out. I studied it and studied it cause I didn't want to mess anything up. then the first time in I was like oh, that's it? brings back memories. with outdoor seating you could park right in front and keep an eye on your plane and watch others land and take off. their burger was a big fat tasty burger and they had a few other items on the menu that I liked. admittedly it slid downhill a little after covid, and I didn't go there as often as I should have but it will be missed. it was pretty common for tower to ask folks around the black X if they had greenville downtown in site, knowing many of them (myself included the first time) actually had donaldson field in site instead:

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this was also the place I very VERY briefly saw the monkey for the first time, only to have him whisked away, I think he went lff to sun n fun and then never to be seen again.....

wondering if we should try to get one last meetup there before they close, and then of course try the new place once they get settled in?

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2017 meetup (back when @midlifeflyer @kyleb actually graced us with their presence):

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2020 whoopsie:

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2022 PoA meetup with the late Wayne :( :

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and proof that the monkey was there and @Dave Theisen was out of excuses:

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Sounds like a good engine break-in destination...
 
I'm in. Pick a date. Or two. I need to get out a bit... Maybe Dave will pick me up in his new jet.

Oh, and I did try to make the last get together, except all you guys went to GMU, which kind of explained why none of you met me at LZU.
 
Damn. Was planning on stopping in last month. But prop cable failed on run up.

Was thinking of going to the Nascar races April11-14 near TRI. So I'd potentially be in the area then.
 
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I was actually thinking about a BQ1 trip. I'd like to have 10 hours on before crossing the "mountains" though.
 
Racerx said:
Damn. Was planning on stopping in last month. But prop cable failed on run up.

Was thinking of going to the Nascar races April11-14 near TRI. So I'd potentially be in the area then.
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If you’re going to TRI you should hop over to MTV for food. Lemme know if you wanna meet up or bring bees to sting me because that sound like a lot of fun.
 
Hopefully, Capt Chris will be done flying my plane around at the speed of smell pretty soon. If needed, I can give a ride to anyone from the Jax Fl area
 
Jim K said:
Last i checked this is your thread bro.
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after a quick fact check, you are right.

lemme call 'em tomorrow to see if they've mostly given up or wouldn't mind a bunch of hooligans coming in. how's this saturday looking for everyone? oh I should prob start a separate thread just for the meetup, I reckon.
 
eman1200 said:
If you’re going to TRI you should hop over to MTV for food. Lemme know if you wanna meet up or bring bees to sting me because that sound like a lot of fun.
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And get a Martinsville dog or a bologna burger at the track?
 
This weekend is no bueno for me, but this time of year it's hard to plan more than a couple days out. I also need to get my instrument currency back.
 
Jim K said:
This weekend is no bueno for me, but this time of year it's hard to plan more than a couple days out. I also need to get my instrument currency back.
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I know a guy…


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
If I can I will. One of my issues is timing. Part of that is I’m flying airplane that are not typically available on just a few days notice.

MTV and (of course) the Pik & Pig are also great options. Heck, for the P&P I don’t even need the airplane.
 
kyleb said:
I'm in. Pick a date. Or two. I need to get out a bit... Maybe Dave will pick me up in his new jet.

Oh, and I did try to make the last get together, except all you guys went to GMU, which kind of explained why none of you met me at LZU.
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Love it when a plan comes together! Good job!
 
Same sort of story about the Sky Galley at KLUK aka Sunken Lunken, home drome of the Infamous Martha Lunken.

Allegedly the reuse of the Terminal Building as a Hotel is finally going to actually happen although the Cincinnati City Government has taken some steps to try and close the place like closing one of runways,
 
Closing the cafe is a gut punch. Burger was good and they gave a 10% discount if you flew in. (Almost covered the 65 gallons it takes me for the trip) Did a number of meetups there over the years. Including at least one where I was the only one to show. (You guys have to get your instrument rating. Weather happens) If I’m in town for whatever date you pick for the finale, I’ll come.
 
Well that's a bummer. Only been there once, and I didn't fly in. I was working in the area a lot - so much so that my family decided to come to Greenville for their Spring Break just so they could see me. So we went to the airport restaurant for dinner one night. As far as I can remember, it was good!

IIRC, they had kinda funky hours during the week. I had several times where I wanted to take a group from work there for lunch or even dinner, but for whatever reason they were never open when I needed them to be. Maybe that's part of their downfall? Also, as easy as it is to get to from the airport side of things, it's not real easy to find via ground vehicle. You have to really want to find it to get there - nobody is going to stumble onto it as they're driving around saying "So, what do you want to eat?"
 
I'm sorry, did someone mention MTV?? Simply Suzanne's?

Best airport burger ever. Bun. Cheese. Patty. Bacon. MORE Cheese! Bun. Best ever.

I'd be in for an MTV run. GMU is a bit far for me for a day trip. But MTV is a good trip for me from HEF. And after a long winter I need a destination/excuse to fly.
 
CJones said:
Well that's a bummer. Only been there once, and I didn't fly in. I was working in the area a lot - so much so that my family decided to come to Greenville for their Spring Break just so they could see me. So we went to the airport restaurant for dinner one night. As far as I can remember, it was good!

IIRC, they had kinda funky hours during the week. I had several times where I wanted to take a group from work there for lunch or even dinner, but for whatever reason they were never open when I needed them to be. Maybe that's part of their downfall? Also, as easy as it is to get to from the airport side of things, it's not real easy to find via ground vehicle. You have to really want to find it to get there - nobody is going to stumble onto it as they're driving around saying "So, what do you want to eat?"
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Yeah something like 11-2pm so basically “lunch and lunch only”. Not great. A lot of places around here are doing that though. Even the pig is something like Thurs-sun 11-4, so again lunch only or lunch and extremely early dinner but not really. Hardly anyone is open on Sunday and a lot are closed on Monday. Either it’s not worth it for them to be open or they don’t feel like putting in the effort to make more money. Supposedly the new place will be open breakfast lunch and dinner and I hope that works out for them but like you said if they’re out of the way that business model may not work.
 
Deelee said:
I'm sorry, did someone mention MTV?? Simply Suzanne's?

Best airport burger ever. Bun. Cheese. Patty. Bacon. MORE Cheese! Bun. Best ever.

I'd be in for an MTV run. GMU is a bit far for me for a day trip. But MTV is a good trip for me from HEF. And after a long winter I need a destination/excuse to fly.
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I should be there Saturday for lunch and dropping off a few dogs.
 
Hopefully the new owners/leaseholders will do an equal or better restaurant. The city (my hometown) has a lot invested in KGMU and is vested in it being a destination. My bigger concern is the new PE backed owners of Greenville and Donaldson Jet Centers (Vantage Aviation) and how small GA friendly they will be. There is already a supply crunch here for hangar space and I hope the new owners don't force out many of us who hangar our planes with them or who get services from their other leaseholders....
 
Running a restaurant is probably one of the hardest jobs to have. I imagine having one in an airport is probably even harder.
 
Airport Cafe at Urbana, Ohio (I74) has been in business for over 40 years. But, they have the support of the local community. Place is jammed after church on a Sunday. Great Saturday destination. Open through the week for breakfast, lunch, and I believe dinner. Closed on Monday.
 
ok they said we're good to swing by thru around May 25th but I personally wouldn't wait that long. open 11-2:30 but they recommended earlier in that range is better.

these are the dates I'm throwing out there:

sat 4/5
sat 4/12
sat 5/3


4/5 is during sun n fun, not sure if we'd lose anyone to that. we can pick one date with another as a rain date. think imma start a separate thread on it. lemme knows whachoo thinks.
 
I'm down for any of those, IF I'm not planting.
 
long range forecast put storms in between me and you on 4/5, but 4/12 is looking better for weather but not my calendar. we'll see what i can get out of.
 
This is the place with the cool aviation themed playground, right?

Stopped there in about 2018. Liked it overall, but at least when I was there, the food we got was maybe school lunch quality and the decor matched. Still would have returned for the playground.
 
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