Flying to ICT for a family getaway

drizzt76

drizzt76

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Jul 9, 2007
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Cedar Falls, IA
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Scott M.
I'm planning a trip from DBQ (Dubuque, IA) to ICT (Wichita, KS) to visit some friends in the club's Archer II. Is there any "must see" locations that I should visit? My wife will probably go shopping and well....I don't shop so I might have some free time on my hands.

Also I will be putting my new IA rating to use and plan on filing. I'm planning to stop a few times to give the kids and us some time to walk around and make it more pleasureable. Any tips or comments about flying arriving/departing ICT would be also be cool.

On a side note..I tried to sell Gaston's to the wife for the weekend but it was shot down.
 
drizzt76 said:
I'm planning a trip from DBQ (Dubuque, IA) to ICT (Wichita, KS) to visit some friends in the club's Archer II. Is there any "must see" locations that I should visit? My wife will probably go shopping and well....I don't shop so I might have some free time on my hands.

Also I will be putting my new IA rating to use and plan on filing. I'm planning to stop a few times to give the kids and us some time to walk around and make it more pleasureable. Any tips or comments about flying arriving/departing ICT would be also be cool.

On a side note..I tried to sell Gaston's to the wife for the weekend but it was shot down.
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FWIW, we stopped at Jabara Field in Wichita on our way to GEU (Phoenix).

The FBO is first rate (and so are the fuel prices!)

We wanted to stop at Beech field and pay homage (We were flying a Bonanza) but alas they were closed on Sunday...
 
Jabara (Ja-bare-ah, not Ja-bar-ah) is a great little field on the NE side of town. It has pretty easy access to a lot of nicer hotels and restaurants and such (Northrock 14 movie theater and bowling alley, and Towne East Mall, to name a few). Yingling Aviation at MidContinent is the FBO to use there.

Nu Way restaurants (either the original or the one at Central and Woodlawn) are a must-eat. Cinnamons Deli is quality, too. If you want to stop short of Wichita, Hutchinson (KHUT) hosts the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center...you won't regret the extra stop there!

When flying from HUT to ICT, watch out for the massive TV tower just north of ICT's airspace. It's the KWCH (my dad's station) transmission tower, and it's the largest man-made object in the state (I think). If you're flying anywhere near it, ICT Approach will make sure you've got it sight, or take you well above/around it.

ICT is a nice airport, with plenty of runway, and very helpful controllers. When are you going to be there?
 
If your hungry for BBQ, stop at Paola, KS (K81) great little BBQ joint on the field.
 
Thanks...all the suggestions sounds really good. Matt, I might stop at HUT because we are leaving Wed. morning and don't have to be anywere till 6pm. We are going to stay there till Sunday the 8th. I'm gaining ground with the wife...to maybe fly east to Gaston's on Sunday for the morning and then head home to DBQ that afternoon. Well see :) WX will be the factor.
 
Having spent the vast majority of the last month in Wichita...

I agree that Jabara is a nice airport for GA with a good FBO. Yingling at Mid-Continent is also a good FBO and they have a nice pilot shop. The Kansas Cosmosphere in Hutchinson is an interesting museum, mostly having to do with aerospace and rocketry. They start out with how rockets were developed in Germany and continue up through the US and Soviet space programs. The Apollo 13 capsule is on display, as well as the Liberty Bell 7 which they recovered from the ocean many years after it sank. Wichita also has a riverwalk and an old town area.
 
A fun experience may be a short fly out for breakfast/lunch at Beaumont, just east of Wichita. http://www.hotelbeaumontks.com/

On the way I would second Miami Co. (K-81) for the BBQ. For fuel stops, K-81 and Coffey County (KUKL) are usually the cheapest in the area. (KUKL has courtesy cars for short drive into town for lunch if you are not up for BBQ.)

I have not been there but I am told the Underground salt museum in Hutchinson is pretty neat. http://www.undergroundmuseum.org/index.php
 
dmccormack said:
We wanted to stop at Beech field and pay homage (We were flying a Bonanza) but alas they were closed on Sunday...
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Last summer I flew the Baron to Wichita for a ski tournament and tried to get a tour of the Beech factory. When I called Beech to see what would be a good time, they pretty much said unless I was buying a new plane from them I wasn't welcome. Kinda ticked me off considering I've owned a Beech product for the last 20+ years.
 
lancefisher said:
Last summer I flew the Baron to Wichita for a ski tournament and tried to get a tour of the Beech factory. When I called Beech to see what would be a good time, they pretty much said unless I was buying a new plane from them I wasn't welcome. Kinda ticked me off considering I've owned a Beech product for the last 20+ years.
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Wow.. that's quite the shock.

Guess that happens when conglomerates buy a brand name...
 
I think it'd be funny if you took your Piper to Beech field, Cessna field, etc. ;)
 
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