Trip to Port Aransas

bigred177

bigred177

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bigred
I'm planning a trip to Port Aransas this coming weekend with some friends of mine. I'm fine on all of the normal flight planning stuff but it looks like on the sectional I'm in the alert area, which just means I really need to pay attention. But do I need to screw with anything with the ADIZ since I'm so close to it? I'm pretty sure I don't, but I just want to make sure. I'd hate to be a "terrorist" in my 180.:eek: We'll be flying into KTFP.
 
You shouldn't need to do anything for the ADIZ as long as you stay on the land side of things. Even making a pattern over the water when approaching the airport won't bring you anywhere near the ADIZ. If you want, you can always get Flight Following, just to be on the safe side.

BTW - watch out in Port A... you might get the urge to buy a hotel while you're there. Happened to the last POA'er that visited...
 
Ok cool. I will definitely be on flight following for the trip just for the extra eyes.

I know, I wish he were open down there already, I'd rather give too much money to someone I know is going to do a good job than too much to someone I don't know who doesn't care.
 
bigred177 said:
I'm planning a trip to Port Aransas this coming weekend with some friends of mine. I'm fine on all of the normal flight planning stuff but it looks like on the sectional I'm in the alert area, which just means I really need to pay attention. But do I need to screw with anything with the ADIZ since I'm so close to it? I'm pretty sure I don't, but I just want to make sure. I'd hate to be a "terrorist" in my 180.:eek: We'll be flying into KTFP.
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Nope.. No issues with ADIZ unless you go way offshore.. and if you ARE going that far offshore you best be thinking life jackets, raft, and having an optional 406 ELT...

Keep an eye out for the restricted area near bay city where the Aerostat is tethered. Just avoid it... and try not to do turns on a point over the nearby nuclear power plant northeast of the R-(aerostat)..

Have a safe flight.
Dave
 
No, no trips offshore. Just flying to get there and back. Will definitely keep an eye out for the Restricted area. Thanks for the heads up.
 
I flew down to Port A last Labor Day from the Denver area. Me the wife and three kids in a Cherokee 6. I didn't think it was tricky. Just a nice clean airport in fairly clear airspace. The only issue I had was the power lines to the east of the runway. They actually aren't really an obstacle, but they look big from the ground.
We used the Trolley to get to town from the airport. It is 25 cents a person. Also the taxis are very cheap. Car rentals are hard to come by.
Beach is beautiful, and the water was soooooooo warm (like bathwater).
We loved it.
-Joel
 
COFlyBoy said:
I flew down to Port A last Labor Day from the Denver area. Me the wife and three kids in a Cherokee 6. I didn't think it was tricky. Just a nice clean airport in fairly clear airspace. The only issue I had was the power lines to the east of the runway. They actually aren't really an obstacle, but they look big from the ground.
We used the Trolley to get to town from the airport. It is 25 cents a person. Also the taxis are very cheap. Car rentals are hard to come by.
Beach is beautiful, and the water was soooooooo warm (like bathwater).
We loved it.
-Joel
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Amen! That's why we're moving there in 3 weeks! :yesnod:
 
I'm getting excited about it. This trip is actually making me have to work with my weight and fuel calculations, pretty fun. It will be interesting with more than one person in the plane finally. Going down there GTU-SGR-TFP, we have to grab two folks in Houston.
 
bigred177 said:
I'm getting excited about it. This trip is actually making me have to work with my weight and fuel calculations, pretty fun. It will be interesting with more than one person in the plane finally. Going down there GTU-SGR-TFP, we have to grab two folks in Houston.
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FYI, SGR does charge a ramp fee and gas is a bit more expensive. I'd suggest using IWS instead to pick up passengers - only about 20 mins away from SGR by car, no ramp fees, and the cheapest avgas in Houston if you go on a Saturday.
 
bigred177 said:
I'm getting excited about it. This trip is actually making me have to work with my weight and fuel calculations, pretty fun. It will be interesting with more than one person in the plane finally. Going down there GTU-SGR-TFP, we have to grab two folks in Houston.
Click to expand...

Dunno if you're here yet, or not, but the island is HAPPENING! Thousands of folks here to celebrate the sunshine and beach.

It's been around 70 each day -- perfect for us Midwesterners, but a bit chilly according to the homeboys. We're staying in our RV (we're here to sign paperwork and pre-position vehicles on the island in preparation for our move here next month) and loving it!

Dunno where you're staying during your visit to the island, but starting April 15th you'll have a new aviation-friendly home, the Harbor Inn. We won't have the aviation theme done for a while -- we're guessing about 18 months -- but we'll have a courtesy car available by May 1st.

Hope to see y'all this summer!
 
Jay Honeck said:
Dunno if you're here yet, or not, but the island is HAPPENING! Thousands of folks here to celebrate the sunshine and beach.

It's been around 70 each day -- perfect for us Midwesterners, but a bit chilly according to the homeboys. We're staying in our RV (we're here to sign paperwork and pre-position vehicles on the island in preparation for our move here next month) and loving it!

Dunno where you're staying during your visit to the island, but starting April 15th you'll have a new aviation-friendly home, the Harbor Inn. We won't have the aviation theme done for a while -- we're guessing about 18 months -- but we'll have a courtesy car available by May 1st.

Hope to see y'all this summer!
Click to expand...

He has come and gone (and had a blast). :)

http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34935
 
t0r0nad0 said:
FYI, SGR does charge a ramp fee and gas is a bit more expensive. I'd suggest using IWS instead to pick up passengers - only about 20 mins away from SGR by car, no ramp fees, and the cheapest avgas in Houston if you go on a Saturday.
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I had already come through, the ramp fee was only $10 and was waived if you took 5 gallons of fuel which we needed anyway. Their price was $3.85 which I thought was reasonable, cheaper than GTU, and nice facilities and staff. What are the prices at the other airport? Might be an option for other visits.
 
Jay Honeck said:
Dunno if you're here yet, or not, but the island is HAPPENING! Thousands of folks here to celebrate the sunshine and beach.

It's been around 70 each day -- perfect for us Midwesterners, but a bit chilly according to the homeboys. We're staying in our RV (we're here to sign paperwork and pre-position vehicles on the island in preparation for our move here next month) and loving it!

Dunno where you're staying during your visit to the island, but starting April 15th you'll have a new aviation-friendly home, the Harbor Inn. We won't have the aviation theme done for a while -- we're guessing about 18 months -- but we'll have a courtesy car available by May 1st.

Hope to see y'all this summer!
Click to expand...

We stayed at the Travel Lodge in Aransas Pass, it was a dump, but it was also only $45/night and 4 miles from the airport. That was all we needed for a bunch of young'uns just there to sleep. We never had to wait more then about 15 mins to cross on the ferry either.

I'm looking forward to your opening, we need a place to be able to stay where I can tell people that a nice hotel is. And know I won't be wrong.
 
bigred177 said:
I had already come through, the ramp fee was only $10 and was waived if you took 5 gallons of fuel which we needed anyway. Their price was $3.85 which I thought was reasonable, cheaper than GTU, and nice facilities and staff. What are the prices at the other airport? Might be an option for other visits.
Click to expand...

Actually, $3.85 is not bad for SGR... that's almost as good as self serve up at Hooks (DWH)! I wasn't aware that the ramp fee is waived for only 5 gals. That makes me feel a lot better about going there.

Not sure what the current price is at IWS. I just know that whenever we take the museum's raffle plane anywhere on a Saturday, we swing by there on the way back to top off because of their Saturday fuel special. I have purchased for less than $3.25/gal there within the past year. I've not been there recently, however.
 
Wow, $3.25 is amazing. The 5 gallons is for us single piston guys, I don't know what you fly, I think a twin piston was 20 gallons. This was for the self serve too. They have their rate schedule on their website. Hooks does have pretty good prices too, I was there a few weekends ago. SGR is a nice airport with nice facilities, as long as their self serve stays low, I like going in there if I need to go to southwest Houston.
 
bigred177 said:
Wow, $3.25 is amazing. The 5 gallons is for us single piston guys, I don't know what you fly, I think a twin piston was 20 gallons. This was for the self serve too. They have their rate schedule on their website. Hooks does have pretty good prices too, I was there a few weekends ago. SGR is a nice airport with nice facilities, as long as their self serve stays low, I like going in there if I need to go to southwest Houston.
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SGR has self-serve now? Used to be it was just off the truck. I fly single pistons myself, and I learned to fly at SGR. Therefore, I never actually flew in to the FBO myself, I'm just going by what people were told at the monthly FAA Safety Seminars they hold there. Any time I've actually flown to SGR, I've gone in and out of the flight school.
 
They do, it's behind the hangars between C1 and C2. There is only one pump so you may have to wait a bit. When we were headed down to the coast I got behind a Baron who was apparently dry and had just started fueling :D.
 
That's right. I'd heard that they were going to put in self-serve pumps when they build the new hangars... I didn't realize they were open yet. Very cool and good to know that they have a decent price!
 
bigred177 said:
We stayed at the Travel Lodge in Aransas Pass, it was a dump, but it was also only $45/night and 4 miles from the airport. That was all we needed for a bunch of young'uns just there to sleep. We never had to wait more then about 15 mins to cross on the ferry either.

I'm looking forward to your opening, we need a place to be able to stay where I can tell people that a nice hotel is. And know I won't be wrong.
Click to expand...

Thanks. This summer, we'll be concentrating on the basics at the Harbor Inn, so not much will change in outside appearance. New TVs, clock radios, beds -- stuff like that -- will be the order of the first season. I just met with a hot tub company who's going to build us a big ol' 10-man hot tub, with a waterfall pouring into the existing pool. IMHO a great pool is an absolute necessity in the sunbelt, so we're sucking it up and gonna spend the money up front.

Second year? That's when the big aviation-ish changes start. :yesnod:
 
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