avnav526
Filing Flight Plan
We recently bought into a partnership with a 1978 Cessna 172, and over the 4th of July week my wife and I flew it from Appleton, Wisconsin to San Antonio, TX to visit my family. In Missouri we ran into a weather front and diverted to Lebanon, MO. That turned out to be a blessing. When I parked the plane, a lady from the FBO came walking up and told us to go inside and eat, she'd tie the airplane down for us and gas it up. Turns out they put out a free lunch every day. They had sandwich fixings, mac and cheese, homemade soup she'd made herself (fantastic!), bratwursts they'd grilled outside, salads, and home made pies for dessert, plus lemonade, iced tea, sodas or milk to drink, and more. After we pigged out, I checked the weather and saw we were stuck for the night. They gave us the airport car and we went into town to find a motel. We left the next morning after tossing a $20 in the tip jar.
We decided to stop there on our return trip a few days later, and again we ended up having to stay the night for weather in our path. This time one of the guys working at the FBO suggested we just sleep in the pilot's lounge, which had a nice big sofa, a couple of recliners, and a large TV with lots of satellite channels to choose from. They gave us a key to the car and to the building when they closed and went home for the night, in case we got bored and wanted to go into town. They told us to help ourselves to the food in the refrigerator too. What a great bunch of people!!! They have a nice little kitchen in the place, we cooked ourselves some omelets in the morning before the FBO workers showed up. We ended up stuck for a good part of the next day waiting on fog and low clouds, and visiting with those nice folks made it actually quite enjoyable. After having yet another free lunch, we were finally able to get on our way.
I saw on the guest register that Gene Soucy had been there a couple of days before our first arrival. If he was as impressed as I was with these people, I'd bet he makes it a regular stop. Next time we fly down that way we'll definitely be stopping in Lebanon again. I can't say enough good things about these folks!
Scott Wilson
Appleton, WI
We decided to stop there on our return trip a few days later, and again we ended up having to stay the night for weather in our path. This time one of the guys working at the FBO suggested we just sleep in the pilot's lounge, which had a nice big sofa, a couple of recliners, and a large TV with lots of satellite channels to choose from. They gave us a key to the car and to the building when they closed and went home for the night, in case we got bored and wanted to go into town. They told us to help ourselves to the food in the refrigerator too. What a great bunch of people!!! They have a nice little kitchen in the place, we cooked ourselves some omelets in the morning before the FBO workers showed up. We ended up stuck for a good part of the next day waiting on fog and low clouds, and visiting with those nice folks made it actually quite enjoyable. After having yet another free lunch, we were finally able to get on our way.
I saw on the guest register that Gene Soucy had been there a couple of days before our first arrival. If he was as impressed as I was with these people, I'd bet he makes it a regular stop. Next time we fly down that way we'll definitely be stopping in Lebanon again. I can't say enough good things about these folks!
Scott Wilson
Appleton, WI
