I Wish I Could Make More Comments Like This

HPNPilot1200

HPNPilot1200

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Jul 6, 2005
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Location
Huntington Beach, CA
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Jason
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KSNA
I wish I could say this more often:

Columbia Air Services at Groton-New London Airport
From Jason Herman on 22-Jul-2008 (AirNav.com)

We made an unexpected stop at Groton on 7/21 (and 7/22) due to weather at Block Island and were planning on leaving the aircraft overnight and taking the ferry to Block. After calling Lanmar who said their overnight cost was $50/hr. After 9pm for our small Cessna 172, I called Columbia where $8 was the only cost, even for towing the plane from transient GA parking across the field to their FBO. The really cute girls at the front desk were very helpful in making arrangements to get us to the ferry, etc. We ended up returning later in the afternoon to fly to Block Island after the weather cleared up, and upon returning to the FBO, was insisted to take the $8 overnight fee back. (Talk about high quality customer service!) The facility was gorgeous and the service was fantastic. This is easily the best FBO I have ever visited. It could even be worth making a trip to Groton to see how this FBO got it right.
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Great service, indeed! Post it on every board you can think of that record FBO comments. I'm sure Airnav is only the edge of resources though the first one thought of. That company deserves future business.
 
I'll add two FBOs here that I've complimented on AirNAv -- North Coast Air at KERI (Erie, PA) and Wilson Air at KCLT (Charlotte, NC).

Though fuel prices were a tad higher, the crew car, lounge, and available bag-handling service and overall positive demeanor of the staff made each a pleasure!

This weekend I was at KPTD (Potsdam, NY) where fuel was $5.05 (not bad for NY!).

The newer building had a nice 24 hr pilot lounge with an honor system refrig -- soda $1, popcorn, etc -- even frozen dinners. Free Wifi, planning area, and long distance phone.

Very nice!
 
KennyFlys said:
Jason. Ya failed, dude. You had a chance to get their pictures to submit to FBO Hotties and ya failed. Gosh... such a disappointing young pilot.





:D
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I definitely should have, but all I had was my cell phone with me. A friend said he asked them once for a picture and they declined, but I definitely should have. One of the girls was particularly attractive. I was more than happy to pay three visits to them. :cheerswine:
 
HPNPilot1200 said:
I wish I could say this more often:
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Dude...your home 'drome has one of the best FBOs anywhere....free freaking cheesecake for crying out loud!

And yes, those ladies at GON are cute
 
Jason, I haven't stopped at Groton but I did stop at Block Island on Saturday. I almost got stuck there overnight! The fog rolled in about 5 and covered the airport so badly you could barely see the VOR from the FBO (which, for those who haven't been, is very close).

It was coming and going a bit, so we went to preflight the airplane and I said "If we get an adequate clearing, we'll go for it." The fog was only up to 300 AGL (as reported by PIREP, and it was pretty obvious it was a low level when we saw the clearings). The fog cleared for long enough for us to get up in the air. Once we did, it was a beautiful view.

The FBO at Block Island was great, as far as I was concerned. Gave me a nice parking spot, a ride in the golf cart back to their building, and when I left didn't even charge me a landing fee. Plus they helped me try to find a hotel room when we thought we were going to be stranded.

Beautiful place, I'm going to have to go back soon.

And I agree... I wish I could make more comments like that, although I have generally had good luck. Panorama at HPN and SheltAir at FRG have been very nice to me. Only my own FBO here at IPT has been annoying!
 
Ted DuPuis said:
The FBO at Block Island was great, as far as I was concerned. Gave me a nice parking spot, a ride in the golf cart back to their building, and when I left didn't even charge me a landing fee. Plus they helped me try to find a hotel room when we thought we were going to be stranded.
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Actually the guys at Block were very rude to me and not helpful at all. They charged us $25 for landing and overnighting. In addition, they parked us at a tie down with no tie down ropes which essentially forced me to purchase rope from the airport office to accomplish the task. Needless to say, a letter is on the way to the airport manager.

Glad to hear they were nice to you though.
 
HPNPilot1200 said:
Actually the guys at Block were very rude to me and not helpful at all. They charged us $25 for landing and overnighting. In addition, they parked us at a tie down with no tie down ropes which essentially forced me to purchase rope from the airport office to accomplish the task. Needless to say, a letter is on the way to the airport manager.

Glad to hear they were nice to you though.
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Wow, that surprises me that you had such a completely different experience at BID. As to the rope, this is why I always fly with tie-down ropes. Maybe on the weekends they have nicer guys working there. :dunno:
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Wow, that surprises me that you had such a completely different experience at BID. As to the rope, this is why I always fly with tie-down ropes. Maybe on the weekends they have nicer guys working there. :dunno:
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Since I was flying a rental, I didn't have any tie down ropes with me. Now I have it for next time, but I did send the letter asking for a refund.
 
HPNPilot1200 said:
Since I was flying a rental, I didn't have any tie down ropes with me. Now I have it for next time, but I did send the letter asking for a refund.
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Our rentals don't necessarily have tie downs stowed in them, but we will send some with you if you ask for them. We will supply a set of chocks too.
 
$50 - an hour??? That's ridiculous. I don't complain about tie-down fees or landing fees; I realize that these guys need income to stay in business. However, I will complain about extortionate amounts and that definitely qualifies as extortionate. I think you got the "Scram kid, we've got better things to do than tie down your freakin' rental 172 for the night" Rate.

I'm glad it worked out for you. Did you get any phone numbers??:)
 
Maxmosbey said:
Our rentals don't necessarily have tie downs stowed in them, but we will send some with you if you ask for them. We will supply a set of chocks too.
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I figured that's what the $15 overnight fee at Block Island was for...a tie down spot with ropes. Now I know for next time, but it still wasn't right that I had to buy rope from the airport to use the tie down. Hoping to hear back from the airport manager shortly. Every other time I had been to Block Island, I was provided a spot with ropes.
 
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