California central valley 150 and Bonanza mechanics recommendation

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fpharryc

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fpharryc
We have two family planes looking to move into California central valley. A 150 and a Bonanza.

I am looking for suggestion about (1) hangar spaces availability and (2) mechanics resources for the long term.

Please share with me about your recommendations.
 
Fresno 100 miles radius plus minus. We are not aviation community savy in the central valley.

My observation so far is it's almost unlikely to have access to hangars readily.

Any inputs are highly appreciated.
 
Visalia airport is a great one. Location and airport management are very good. I submitted the hangar application a while ago.

There is a ABS listed mechanic nearby. I have yet contacted him because I would like to have secured the hangars first.

Not easy to straighten everything out right away, though. Any personal experience? Please share with me.
 
fpharryc said:
Fresno 100 miles radius plus minus. We are not aviation community savy in the central valley.

My observation so far is it's almost unlikely to have access to hangars readily.

Any inputs are highly appreciated.
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Red-Tail Aviation in Madera are great, with friendly, old-school service. Lauren is the manager and Daniel is the mechanic. I'd recommend looking at them first. Pretty close to Fresno. Tell them the guy flying 9551J sent you. Chris at C&T Aviation has a crew that does great avionics work, also at Madera. No idea on the hangar situation there.

To the south, I had a shade hangar at Hanford, and a regular hangar in Visalia. The shop on the Hanford airstrip is about as old-school as it comes. They do a lot of crop-duster and working aircraft maintenance, as well as tube/fabric work. Great guys. Bob Loogman is the manager at Hanford. Shade hangars seemed reasonably available. T-hangars have a long waiting list. Fuel is generally the best price in the area.

At Visalia, the T-hangar was in great shape. Took me about a year or so to get to the front of the waiting list, which is lightning fast compared to the situation in NoVA right now (5+ years). Power and lighting. Never used a mechanic on the field (took my bird to Madera, mostly), but I did a little bit of work with one of the mechanics there near the FBO. I think it was California Aviation Maintenance. Seemed like a good guy. The field has a wash-rack too, which is convenient.
 
Marysville has one of the better and more thorough Bonanza shops in the nation, Honeycutt Aviation.
 
Marysville! Wow, the good old town came back to my mind. I went up there 25 years ago for a job interview.

Didn't work out. However it was part of good memory of my energetic youth. I will definitely go up there again to see Honeycutt.
 
BCH at KFCH are Beech experts. (559) 441-0991
APR Aviation at KFAT (559) 252-7967
 
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