Flying Cloud

tonycondon

tonycondon

Gastons CRO (Chief Dinner Reservation Officer)
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Mar 9, 2005
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Wichita, KS
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Tony
Weekend after Gaston's Leah and I will be headed to Flying Cloud KFCM in Minnesota for the weekend. Curious if anyone has a recommendation on somewhere to park the 182RG for the weekend. We'll probably just plan on getting the cheapest self serve gas available, looks like Hummingbird? Do they have a ramp? No info on them on Airnav.

Lance, Jack, anything I should know?
 
We plopped Nick's Cherokee in a chunk of grass by Lance's hangar a few years ago for awhile (for free). Not sure if they'll still let that slide...
 
tonycondon said:
Weekend after Gaston's Leah and I will be headed to Flying Cloud KFCM in Minnesota for the weekend. Curious if anyone has a recommendation on somewhere to park the 182RG for the weekend. We'll probably just plan on getting the cheapest self serve gas available, looks like Hummingbird? Do they have a ramp? No info on them on Airnav.

Lance, Jack, anything I should know?
Click to expand...

Modern Avionics has SS for something like $4.15 and they're usually the cheapest. Sometimes Hummingbird is the same but sometimes higher, I've never seen Hummingbird lower than Modern. You can park the plane behind my hangar (or in the hangar if I'm out of town). There's a grass area between Lima and Mike lane (I'm between Lima and Kilo) where I've put my own plane and others several times. I've got some good tiedowns if you need to borrow some. Hummingbird does have some ramp space and last time I checked they'd gotten almost completely out of the rental airplane business (strictly helicopters now) which should mean plenty of room. No way to tie down though, it's all asphalt with no anchors. I'm pretty sure they'd object if you pounded your own into the tarmac. AFaIK the only FBO with actual tiedowns is Elliot Beech. Unfortunately they have the highest fuel price on the field most of the time. It's a very nice 24 hour facility though.

What's your ground transport? To get into the airport from the outside you need "the code" (check for a PM).
 
Here's a vote for Thunderbird. Very personable service there, and they give you a fuel discount if you take in their ad on airnav.
 
Speed said:
Here's a vote for Thunderbird. Very personable service there, and they give you a fuel discount if you take in their ad on airnav.
Click to expand...
I buy all my local fuel from TBird (they like my typical 100+ gallon fills and deliver fuel at the SS price if you buy enough). They're a good FBO but they have minimal facilities. They rarely have hangar space and while you can leave your plane on their ramp, there is no way to secure the plane AFaIK.
 
Lance I'll definitely take the tiedown space. Leah's parents will probably be picking us up and dropping us off so thanks for the gate code.
 
You gonna stop in Faribault for some winch rides?
 
thought about it. some of leahs family friends want glider rides. but the cost for me to get checked out in a grob and get insurance and stuff makes the per ride cost pretty ridiculous. i'd love to have the time to do a ground launch endorsement while im there but i think it would be poor form to half of the weekend at the airport.
 
I'm looking at doing it later this summer/fall. I'll let you know if you want to come up as well for a winch launch weekend.
 
Leah and I had good flights up and back. No problems at all on the trip up as the storms had moved to the east of our route by the time we got to the Omaha area.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N747BF/history/20100618/2110Z/KAAO/KFCM

On the way home I was hoping for the same luck and filed Flying Cloud - Lincoln - Wichita as it looked like I could get around the west side of the weather as it moved to the east. Of course we were cleared for a Departure Procedure out of Flying Cloud which took us towards Omaha. Eventually we just got a clearance straight to Wichita which was about the same as the DP anyway.

As we got to the Iowa/Minnesota border I had a nice long chat with Flight Watch and Center and realized that working to the west was going to be pretty tricky as it seemed the storms were back building across Kansas. So I asked for a clearance to Des Moines and then Wichita to try to get around the east edge of it. As we got closer to Des Moines it was obvious where the rain was at and that I wouldn't need to go all the way to Des Moines to get around it so I took a turn with a clearance to St. Joseph. After 20 or 30 miles of light turbulence and a little light rain it looked like we could just go direct to Wichita so we did. The rest of the trip was in smooth air and completely uneventful as we paralleled the buildups along the kansas/nebraska border and watched the sun set.

Zig Zagging across the midwest:
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N747BF/history/20100620/2310Z/KFCM/KAAO
 
oh and thanks again Lance for the spot to park and the tiedowns!
 
tonycondon said:
Leah and I had good flights up and back. No problems at all on the trip up as the storms had moved to the east of our route by the time we got to the Omaha area.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N747BF/history/20100618/2110Z/KAAO/KFCM

On the way home I was hoping for the same luck and filed Flying Cloud - Lincoln - Wichita as it looked like I could get around the west side of the weather as it moved to the east. Of course we were cleared for a Departure Procedure out of Flying Cloud which took us towards Omaha. Eventually we just got a clearance straight to Wichita which was about the same as the DP anyway.

As we got to the Iowa/Minnesota border I had a nice long chat with Flight Watch and Center and realized that working to the west was going to be pretty tricky as it seemed the storms were back building across Kansas. So I asked for a clearance to Des Moines and then Wichita to try to get around the east edge of it. As we got closer to Des Moines it was obvious where the rain was at and that I wouldn't need to go all the way to Des Moines to get around it so I took a turn with a clearance to St. Joseph. After 20 or 30 miles of light turbulence and a little light rain it looked like we could just go direct to Wichita so we did. The rest of the trip was in smooth air and completely uneventful as we paralleled the buildups along the kansas/nebraska border and watched the sun set.

Zig Zagging across the midwest:
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N747BF/history/20100620/2310Z/KFCM/KAAO
Click to expand...

I was wondering if the conditions were such that new cells would pop where the old ones had started up, not an uncommon occurrence this time of year. Time for Leah to buy you a 496 I think.
 
ill tell her that once i get her glider recovered, two new trailers built, and our canoe finished.

i really just need to convince our club to get a 3/496 with weather subscription available for those of us who fly weekend trips. we dont fly enough individually to justify the cost.
 
Sending this one back to the top... I am looking to head there in one of the next few weekends and take in the Renaissance festival with the family. Specifically, are there any updates on the tieddown options? And, any hotel/rental recommendations? We would likely coming in Saturday and departing Sunday.
 
Last time I went up to KFCM I used Thunderbird Aviation. They had ramp space and didn't charge a ramp fee. Fuel was reasonable and service was friendly.
 
Will second the Thunderbird recommendation. Either at FCM or Chrystal.
 
Thunderbird is a good option although their ramp space is a bit limited right now due to some major construction there so I'd call ahead to make certain they have room. Also worth knowing is that their ramp is paved and there are no tiedown rings. Elliot has (or at least used to have) actual tiedowns in the grass but I haven't seen any planes in that area recently so they might not offer that any more. I believe Modern Avionics has some (very limited) ramp space and they also have the cheapest gas (self serve). OTOH TBird has been known to provide a $0.50/gallon discount for transients on weekends in the past which is probably pretty close to the SS price at Modern.

If I'm around I could probably tie you down behind my hangar but I'm not there a lot these days.
 
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Great tips on the FBOs. On AirNav, they said the new FBO opens this summer, which typically means October when construction projects are involved. :) I will call ahead. And Lance, I will shoot you a PM before I head out, and if you happen to be there, it would be cool to meet, and/or drool at your planes. But, I am still a rather junior pilot so I don't make any promises on schedules :)
 
As for hotels, if you fly into KFCM, you'll be about 5 minutes away from a bunch of hotels in Eden Prairie (take your pick). Thunderbird can get a car for you too.

Also, when you are driving to the Ren Fest, if you are heading south on 169 there's a turn off for the Fest on the right...most people, even locals, don't realize that it's a 2 lane turn off. Everybody will be in the right turn lane. Stay in the left turn lane and you'll zip right to the front of the line.
 
You're *much* better off to call Thunderbird in advance so that they can have a rental car READY for you. It'll be running when you get out of your airplane.

If you just show up and ask for a rental car it'll take a good 45 minutes, possibly longer, for one to get there. I've made that mistake too many times.
 
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