Where it all began...

SkyHog

SkyHog

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Feb 23, 2005
Messages
18,510
Location
Middle of nowhere Texas
Display Name
Everything Offends Me
Home Airfield
KLUD
What a great day! Wife and I went to KFFA today, and despite the nasty turbulence and horrific heat, we had a lot of fun.

If you have not been there, I strongly recommend that you go.

Here's some pics:
 

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Cool beans. I especially liked the distance markers for each of their flights. Looks like you had a gorgeous day.
 
Glad you enjoyed it Nick. I have some friends who decided to do a weekend trip to FFA a month or so ago. They got within about 2 miles and ran into a snow storm and never got there.
 
SkyHog said:
What a great day! Wife and I went to KFFA today, and despite the nasty turbulence and horrific heat, we had a lot of fun.

If you have not been there, I strongly recommend that you go.

Here's some pics:
Click to expand...

Other than the fact that those Wright Brothers guys were from Ohio...

I've always thought it was annoying that the state of North Carolina claimed, "First in Flight" on their license plates. That's like putting "Home of Madoff" on NY state license plates.

"First in Favorable Winds", might be appropriate.

"Too stupid to design planes, but willing to lease windy ground" would be good, but too long to put on a license plate.
 
Trapper John said:
Other than the fact that those Wright Brothers guys were from Ohio...

I've always thought it was annoying that the state of North Carolina claimed, "First in Flight" on their license plates. That's like putting "Home of Madoff" on NY state license plates.

"First in Favorable Winds", might be appropriate.

"Too stupid to design planes, but willing to lease windy ground" would be good, but too long to put on a license plate.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Airplanes flew all over the country in other places first, right?

One of the plaques actually describes why its important to NC history, and that is because the Wright Brothers had a lot of people that helped get the first plane in the air, and none of them were from Ohio....they were all from North Carolina.

That makes it the home.
 
Beautiful day!

I need to get back down there and add to my collection of "Wright Memorial through the years". I have early '50's, 60's, 70's, and 90's. I may have 80's, too.
 
SkyHog said:
Yeah. Airplanes flew all over the country in other places first, right?

One of the plaques actually describes why its important to NC history, and that is because the Wright Brothers had a lot of people that helped get the first plane in the air, and none of them were from Ohio....they were all from North Carolina.

That makes it the home.
Click to expand...

Fail. The Wright Brothers' Kitty Hawk ground crew mainly consisted of gays that were thrown off the local fishing boats. Think about it - no normal guys would have named it Kitty Hawk in the first place. The only reason the Wright Brothers went to North Carolina was the shortage of gay ground crew people in Ohio.

I don't think the Columbia 400 has an ashtray or a lighter, either.
 
Trapper John said:
Fail. The Wright Brothers' Kitty Hawk ground crew mainly consisted of gays that were thrown off the local fishing boats. Think about it - no normal guys would have named it Kitty Hawk in the first place. The only reason the Wright Brothers went to North Carolina was the shortage of gay ground crew people in Ohio.

I don't think the Columbia 400 has an ashtray or a lighter, either.
Click to expand...

Are you drinking tonight because Lent is over? :dunno:
 
rpadula said:
Are you drinking tonight because Lent is over? :dunno:
Click to expand...

I was going to give up drinking for Lent, but all of the Catholic girls talked me out of it.

I lent my Commander to a friend, and he didn't return it. Doesn't matter because Commanders have no commercial value these days, according to my insurance broker. The cops weren't much help either, because they wouldn't take a theft report for something that wasn't worth at least $5,000. They said I'd have to settle it in small claims court.
 
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Trapper John said:
I've always thought it was annoying that the state of North Carolina claimed, "First in Flight" on their license plates.
Click to expand...

I've always found it amusing that NC's plates say "First in Flight" while OH's plates say "Birthplace of Aviation." Everyone wants something to do with one of man's greatest achievements, until you want to build an airport next door. :incazzato:
 
flyingcheesehead said:
I've always found it amusing that NC's plates say "First in Flight" while OH's plates say "Birthplace of Aviation." Everyone wants something to do with one of man's greatest achievements, until you want to build an airport next door. :incazzato:
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Thank goodness the Wrights didn't go to Texas, or we'd never hear the end of it. Or the math involved.
 
Did you fly in? If not, there's something to do, plus you get free admission.
My first NC trip (ever) was March 2003. Me and my friend hopped in a rental C172 from MQI and did a whole tour of the area. MQI was peddling a certificate for the "official" tour.
The whole experience was the impetus I needed to get the OFFICIAL FAA CERTIFICATE.
Yeah, definitely a memorable experience.
 
silver-eagle said:
Did you fly in? If not, there's something to do, plus you get free admission.
My first NC trip (ever) was March 2003. Me and my friend hopped in a rental C172 from MQI and did a whole tour of the area. MQI was peddling a certificate for the "official" tour.
The whole experience was the impetus I needed to get the OFFICIAL FAA CERTIFICATE.
Yeah, definitely a memorable experience.
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Yep. 2 hours in an Archer each way front KINT to KFFA (and a return stop for fuel at KRDU).

Splendid!
 
Sounds like a great day, Nick!

Absolutely should be on every pilot's to do list. Landing and taking off from FFA is a very moving experience, and seeing the place in person really makes the trip worthwhile.

:yes:


Read one of the better Wright biographies before going -- it will let you move in time and space!

:thumbsup:
 
SkyHog said:
Yep. 2 hours in an Archer each way front KINT to KFFA (and a return stop for fuel at KRDU).

Splendid!
Click to expand...

Love the Outer Banks! Sounds like you had a wonderful time! Next trip, take the time to check out Billy Mitchel and Ocracoke, well worth it. I'm very jealous that it was only two hours.

Gary
 
SkyHog said:
Yep. 2 hours in an Archer each way front KINT to KFFA (and a return stop for fuel at KRDU).
Click to expand...

Fuel stop... At KRDU?!? :hairraise:

So, were you trying to impress your bride by flying into a "big" airport or just find the most expensive 100LL possible?

Not tryin' to be sarcastic or anything... Serious question. Some people in the club buy fuel at expensive places too - I never understood why. I buy the cheapest fuel I can find, especially if I'm just stopping for fuel on the way from point A to point B. I save a significant amount of $$ on my flying that way - On the order of 10% on a lot of my flights.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Fuel stop... At KRDU?!? :hairraise:

So, were you trying to impress your bride by flying into a "big" airport or just find the most expensive 100LL possible?

Not tryin' to be sarcastic or anything... Serious question. Some people in the club buy fuel at expensive places too - I never understood why. I buy the cheapest fuel I can find, especially if I'm just stopping for fuel on the way from point A to point B. I save a significant amount of $$ on my flying that way - On the order of 10% on a lot of my flights.
Click to expand...

This from the guy who buys Macs. :ihih:
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Fuel stop... At KRDU?!? :hairraise:

So, were you trying to impress your bride by flying into a "big" airport or just find the most expensive 100LL possible?

Not tryin' to be sarcastic or anything... Serious question. Some people in the club buy fuel at expensive places too - I never understood why. I buy the cheapest fuel I can find, especially if I'm just stopping for fuel on the way from point A to point B. I save a significant amount of $$ on my flying that way - On the order of 10% on a lot of my flights.
Click to expand...

It was a dumb mistake. I knew there were pilots here based at KRDU, and didn't see any obvious GA airports around, and didn't know how big it was.

Unfortunately, the place I rent from will only reimburse fuel up to $3.50 a gallon too (which is dumb, IMHO), so I came out of pocket for more than half of the fuel cost.

But, the headwinds were a lot stronger than I planned for, and we wouldn't have made it home on the fuel we had left. So I stopped.

At least its in the logbook....can't say I'll ever go there again for fuel. LOL.
 
rpadula said:
This from the guy who buys Macs. :ihih:
Click to expand...

Well, at least when you buy a Mac you get something for your money. ;) 100LL is 100LL whether it's the $3.45 self-serve at Podunk Muni or the $7.00 stuff from the truck at Big City International.
 
Trapper John said:
I was going to give up drinking for Lent, but all of the Catholic girls talked me out of it.
Click to expand...
Catholic High School Girls in Trouble!!!


Trapper John said:
I lent my Commander to a friend, and he didn't return it. Doesn't matter because Commanders have no commercial value these days, according to my insurance broker. The cops weren't much help either, because they wouldn't take a theft report for something that wasn't worth at least $5,000. They said I'd have to settle it in small claims court.
Click to expand...
Right. No other aircraft that have an AD against it for cracks is worthless. Got it.
 
SkyHog said:
It was a dumb mistake. I knew there were pilots here based at KRDU, and didn't see any obvious GA airports around, and didn't know how big it was.
Click to expand...

Ah.

Maybe next time the magenta circles on the sectional will clue you in. ;)

I shouldn't be hard on class C fields since I'm based at one that has an awesome FBO with reasonably priced (not cheap, but fairly average) fuel. But most other C's I've been to (Green Bay being a notable exception) have been of the "We'll gouge you because we can" variety.

Unfortunately, the place I rent from will only reimburse fuel up to $3.50 a gallon too (which is dumb, IMHO), so I came out of pocket for more than half of the fuel cost.
Click to expand...

Well, I can see them maybe not reimbursing too much more than they pay since they do need to turn a profit - But $3.50's pretty low. Landmark at KINT is charging $4.94 as of last Thursday, so I'd say that would be a more fair reimbursement rate. If they reimburse too much less than you can get it for elsewhere, that'll simply encourage people to try to make it back rather than tank up, and that's not safe.
 
My dad flew Beech 18's in Hawaii doing inter-island cargo after he left the army.... and on weekends he'd go drop skydivers at Dillingham on the North Shore. I got to ride home with him after the day was done.

Later he smuggled me into one of DHL's DC3's doing the same milk run.. I was 7.. LOVED IT..
 
I have had the pleasure of landing at KFFA twice. First time was back in July, flying a 172 from RDU. Second time was on 12/17/2011 where I had the honor and privilege of leading a fly-over celebrating the 108th anniversary of powered flight and the 100th Anniversary of Naval Aviation. The fly-over consisted of 11 aircraft, led by 2 CAP C-182s, 2 C-172s from Elizabeth City State University's Aviation program, a L-17A Navion, a Fairchild PT-19, 2 SNJs, a T-6 (as a flight of 3), a T-28A Trojan and the massive C-54 "Candy Bomber" from the Berlin Airlift.

Landing at FFA is an interesting experience - one I look forward to repeating.
 
Sounds like that was a great flight. Never thought of a C-54 as massive but the euphemism Candy Bomber is a good one.
 
Massive is all relative. It isn't a C-5, but sitting behind a PT-19, it is doggone huge.

We didn't get any air to air pictures, but did get some decent shots at MQI before we launched and some at KFFA.

Pictures from the Kitty Hawk Flyover 2011
 
Thread resurrection, I know... but can anyone who has been to KFFA recommend any nice places to stay if they were planning to make a weekend out of it??
 
flygirl34q said:
Thread resurrection, I know... but can anyone who has been to KFFA recommend any nice places to stay if they were planning to make a weekend out of it??
Click to expand...

I would say fly to Edenton after your're done at First Flight. Several B&B's there.
 
It's been a few years but we stayed one night at the Cyprus House Inn before heading south down the coast to our beach house. Nice bed and breakfast setup. I'm guessing rates aren't bad in the off season. Walking distance.

That said there are also a number of chain hotels across Croatan Hwy from the memorial in the same vicinity. Best Western, Quality Inn etc.
 
Manteo. Great folks at the FBO, good B&Bs nearby in town.
 
I was there in 2003. Bought a bottle of Scorned Woman hot sauce at a store in the town. It finally ran dry last fall. Hot stuff. Reminds me of the guy who said he and his wife had been married so long they were on their second bottle of Tabasco Sauce. Must have been Canadians...

Dan
 
I recommend staying at the Surfside, clean, great service and one of our regular stops.

Surfside is south of First Flight, short drive. Best steak house in the area is JK's and one of the nice lunch places is over in Manteo, it's called Darrels.

KMQI - Dare county provides excellent service and they have rental cars available.
 
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wsuffa said:
Manteo. Great folks at the FBO, good B&Bs nearby in town.
Click to expand...
+1 on Manteo.

When we flew into FFA a few years ago, there was a young boy obviously having a ball. He had a smile on his face that wouldn't quit. Every time a small plane would land he would point and say "look; another reenactment!". We finally asked his parents if either one of them would like take the boy up with us on a short flight. I am not sure who was more excited; the boy's mother or the boy. But we took them up and they were ecstatic.
 
Glad the thread was resurrected! Have not been to FFA since 2010 so it's time for return trip. Last time I stopped in Currituck for fuel. Easy in and easy out! I'll have to check out Dare County.
 
While not allowed "officially", part of every area familiarization tour for noobs operating out of CGAS Elizabeth City was a landing at FFA to get it in the log book. I got mine in 1983 in a HH3F. We drew a curious crowd, and got our free admission. Wonder what Orv and Wilbur would have thought of the "Pelican"???
 
Trapper John said:
Other than the fact that those Wright Brothers guys were from Ohio...

I've always thought it was annoying that the state of North Carolina claimed, "First in Flight" on their license plates. That's like putting "Home of Madoff" on NY state license plates.

"First in Favorable Winds", might be appropriate.

"Too stupid to design planes, but willing to lease windy ground" would be good, but too long to put on a license plate.
Click to expand...

Hmmmm....Bernie lives in NC now...:D
 
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