What makes a GA airport great? You tell us!

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tylerdurden4543

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tylerdurden4543
Hi everyone,

I'm working on a graduate school project with a developer who is building, from the ground up, a new general aviation airport in the mid-atlantic/Northeast US region.

It's being built by pilots for pilots, so we'd love to get your thoughts on how you decide where to base your aircraft or pick out airports to go to for day trips or longer. Is it fuel prices? On-site dining or home sites? Or perhaps close ties with local activities and businesses? You tell us!

We've put together a quick survey and would love as much feedback as possible. It can be anonymous but if you'd like to learn more about the project, you can add your contact information at the end.

The survey URL is: http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e66m9k6qh519quud/start

I've learned a lot from this forum already and look forward to being able to give back by helping to develop a new and exciting venue for my fellow POA members to travel to.

If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me.

Best,
Tyler
 
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Ground transportation
91 octane or higher mogas
Bikini clad line chicks, unless my wife is with me. ;)
 
Reasonably priced avgas.
Free popcorn and good coffee
Weather briefing computers.
Good restaurants in walking distance
Local attractions if ground transportation is available.
Bikini clad line chicks, regardless of who is with me.
 
If you're looking for comps, check the new GA port in Austin (KEDC) and the one being built by the same guy in Houston.
 
wabower said:
If you're looking for comps, check the new GA port in Austin (KEDC) and the one being built by the same guy in Houston.
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Haven't been to KEDC yet, but heard many very nice things about this place from Señor Cutler when he visited there recently. The idea to put in that nice very large awning to park under while loading/unloading was brilliant.
 
The Concorde engine on display in the lobby is interesting, as is the vintage Indian motorcyle on the stairwell landing.

AggieMike88 said:
Haven't been to KEDC yet, but heard many very nice things about this place from Señor Cutler when he visited there recently. The idea to put in that nice very large awning to park under while loading/unloading was brilliant.
Click to expand...
 
First make sure you got the basics covered:
Clean toilets. Make that several clean toilets, for men and women.
Decent tie downs, with a couple hangars available for transients.
Free wifi.
If you have the room, a couple runways to minimize crosswinds.
Ground transport.
 
Attractive 18 year old women behind the counter, free coffee & soft drinks.. that's about it.
 
Caming with showers and a donation box on the honor system.
TSA and fences about as far away as you can get. (Deer fences are OK, no gates)
A good wrench on the field not terribly interested in taking advantage of a bad situation.
Respectable gas prices.
Walking/Biking distance to something interesting.
Courtesy car a Plus.

If you have 4 of those things, I'm on my way.
 
Someplace where everything you want to do is within walking distance of the airport, given the context of the question. For any other reason, ground transportation is my only requirement.
 
Affordable avgas and ethanol-free mogas.
24-hour pilot lounge and flight planning room with good coffee.
Good restaurant.
A nice little viewing area for the public to watch planes come and go.
Instrument approaches.
Enough hangars that the wait list is short to nonexistent.
 
Thanks all -- this is great feedback, especially the lack of MoGas availability.

Keep it coming -- if you haven't yet taken the survey, please do! It'll only take a few minutes and is really helpful.
 
Thanks everyone for the great insights and the example Web sites -- we'll definitely pull from what's already working well at other airports.

I just wanted to bump this one more time for folks returning from Oshkosh -- it would be great if we could get a couple more responses before closing the survey later this week.

Best,
Tyler
 
I love KEDC. The huge covered area that you park your plane under to unload is awesome. The first time we flew there, they literally rolled a red carpet out for my wife to step out onto as she got out of our plane, plus they gave us both ice-cold bottled water and even handled all the baggage..definitely made an impression on me as to the right way to do things.
 
In my opinion,

a short enough strip to keep the rifraf out say 1800x20 or so, also having a nice parallel grass strip is great.

Good fuel prices and good fuel selection (JetA, 100ll, mogas)

gota have a place to eat too!
 
Mafoo said:
Yea, that's what we want. An airport to exclude people from a dying industry.

I think we want GA more accessible, not less :)
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quality not quantity

I dont understand alot of newly minted PPLs nowadays.

I learned how to fly in a 7AC off a huge 2500x25 strip, after my license I worked my way down to 1500, 1000, etc, then worked on high alt strips, then beaches etc. Whats the fun of landing your SR22 on a 10,000' strip and taking 8500" to get her stopped.

I have trained quite a few folks for both pleasure flying and career pilots, I have always asked them to promise me that they will always work on being not just the best pilot they can be, but the best pilot period.

The most fun I have had at airports have been getting into smaller and smaller little grass strips in the mountains, bringing a fishing pole or a rifle and some cans, to me at least that's what pleasure flying is all about. :goofy:

r21yx

5ebi6


to each their own
 

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The people! I have landed at some very nice facilities and the staff made me feel unwelcome... on the other hand I have opted to fly to some other less impressive strips where the people made the trip.
 
KEDC is a great example. I only wish they had more hangar space.

Ground transportation
Reasonable fuel prices
Good website
Friendly customer service people
On call mechanic without a fee for the odd times
Charts, approach plates, afds...
 
I believe the nicest Airport I've had a hangar is the one I am at now. (BVS) we have a card we wave at the gate, to get thru, and a remote for the hangar door that will open it from far away enough that the hangar door will be open when you get there and drive right in the hangar. The hangar is heated, polished floors, well lighted, and the airport personal are great to work with.

With all the construction going on they keep us informed as to what's happening and ask how they can help us during the construction.

Just being able to go flying as you wish with no hassles from cranky airport folks, is a great relief.
 
NineThreeKilo said:
quality not quantity

I dont understand alot of newly minted PPLs nowadays.
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You sounds like that old guy sitting in a rocking chair on the porch, complaining about air bags, anti lock breaks, and cumple zones in a car. "In my day, you either knew what you were doing in a car, or you died. I don't understand young drivers these days."

Ok, so it's not 100% like that :p

Anyway, I would rather have a place with a nice restaurant, a lively community, nice selection of rental cars, and adequate staff. For all those things to be true, you need to get "butts in the seats" so to speak. You need your airport to be inviting for as many people as possible. I doubt building a runway with the purpose of making those that land there feel special, is going to positively impact everything else.

And for what you enjoy doing, no one is going to build an airport around. If they did, you would not enjoy it nearly as well.

It's like asking someone to build a parking garage in your favorite fishing spot, but build a difficult one to navigate, to keep the riffraff out.

I suspect, if they built exactly what you asked for, you would find a new place to fish.
 
Hi all,

Thanks again for the great responses so far. I'm going to close the survey tomorrow so if you haven't yet taken the 5 minutes to add your thoughts, I'd really appreciate it if you did!

I'll be sure to share the top-line findings with the group once I've analyzed.

Best,
Tyler
 
Hmmm, sounds like the proverbial 'small fortune' is about to be made in the airplane business by this developer...
I have noted over a lifetime of flying that the "hotter" the gal at the counter the higher the gas price... Chattanooga was so hot I darn near had to file bankruptcy after the fill up...

Has the developer gone to the av gas suppliers for that area and asked which way their gas sales are trending?
Has he gone to FBO's in that area and inquired which way their gross cash flow is going?
Has he gone to ATC and asked to see the trend statistics for aircraft movements in that sector?
Has he gone to the FAA and asked for trend analysis of aircraft registrations for the area?
As an old pilot and an old sailor I have learned the heard way that spitting into the wind just does not work out well...

Anyway, pilots are cheap and a competitive gas price will bring em on in...
A greasy spoon on the property with good coffee and a $100 burger...
And regular programs that offer pilot stuff along with spouse stuff to do...

denny-o
 
I would like to see rental cars. Reasonable priced ones, that you can look at and book online. Get a deal with hertz or alamo or something.

Decent FBO with nice bathrooms.

Self serve 24hr fuel
 
Well, it kinda depends on the size of the field.

What I like to see at a small uncontrolled field is cheap self-serve fuel and a building I can get into 24x7. Bonus points if you allow camping and there's showers in the building. Vending machines or better yet a fridge with a jar, or both. Super-duper bonus points for a courtesy car and some way to access it.

You also need reasons to go there. One of the neatest things I've ever seen a small airport do - And this airport didn't even have a building for the general public or even really a ramp, but you could park your plane in the grass - And there was this little hut that had brochures listing the phone numbers of dozens of local businesses (restaurants, hotels, golf courses, etc) that had agreed to send someone down to the airport and pick you up if you ate/stayed/golfed/whatever there.

Larger airports - Yup, friendly staff, fuel in a truck, more ground transportation options (but don't forget the courtesy car!!!), a nice pilot lounge...

And of course, a good restaurant on field that also attracts locals is a great thing - You'll get pilots to fly in, you'll show GA to the community, and you'll have enough business to keep the place open! Final Approach at KSBM and Pilot Pete's at 06C are good examples - Even with only a few transient aircraft on the ramp, they're usually bustling.
 
I think it's great when the local airport is so close that I can ride my bicycle there for a flight. Or if I'm running a little late, it's just 5 minutes away from my apartment. That's how it is now. I finally got it right. I never cut the grass any more. I fly on weekends.
 
A non-GPS instrument approach that doesn't require DME or an ADF. Not everyone has an IFR approved GPS. When you only have a single NAV radio with glideslope, the lack of instrument approaches can limit what airports you use for fuel stops. A full ILS would be nice, but a VOR approach with the VOR located on the field will also work.

24-hour fuel, preferably self serve. You don't have to be the cheapest fuel in the area, but you need to be competitive with the surrounding airports offering a similar level of service.

Bathroom, water fountain, and vending machine that are available 24 hours a day.

Ryan
 
n12365 said:
A non-GPS instrument approach that doesn't require DME or an ADF. Not everyone has an IFR approved GPS. When you only have a single NAV radio with glideslope, the lack of instrument approaches can limit what airports you use for fuel stops. A full ILS would be nice, but a VOR approach with the VOR located on the field will also work.
Click to expand...

+1. Us /A and recently with our DME "drama", /U guys and gals get no respect. ;)
 
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