Chicago to Hilton Head SC - with post flight writeup

ArrowFlyer86

ArrowFlyer86

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The Little Arrow That Could
I have relatives who are snowbirds and they flocked down to Hilton Head for the winter. They sent me an invite to fly down and I'm considering heading to KHXD.
Wondering if anyone has reviews on the area/airport/FBOs and has any recommendations* in the area? The trip would be within the next 0-3 weeks.

*while in the Carolinas I would make a point to stop by BQ1 either on my way down or back up :D
 
The FBO is signature ,if your going call and see what the latest fee schedule is. I did an overnight,you can walk to the hotel,and a small mall with good restaurants. Everything is expensive as it is a resort community. The help is very friendly and accommodating.
 
Flight there:
Path: KDPA -> KRZL (refuel) -> BVT VOR -> OOM VOR -> MYS VOR -> LVT VOR -> KFGU (refuel) -> AHN VOR -> KXHD.
Altitude: 2500 until KRZL. 7500 after KRZL refuel.
Power: 65% power at 2400 RPM
Leaning: ROP EGT by 75 F
TAS: ~137 KTS
Total flight time: 5.5h
Conditions: Fantastic flight there. Hardly a single cloud or bump.
FBO: Signature. Only FBO on the field I believe. Good service all around. Gas was expensive ($8.35/gal) and ramp parking was $20/night.
City: Hilton Head was nicer than I expected. Perfectly manicured landscaping, lots of nice restaurants to pick from... Sea Pines / Harbor Town was a cool spot.

Flight back:
Path: KHXD -> KCHA. Stayed in KCHA 2 days to let a storm front pass.
Path #2: KCHA -> KDPA direct
Altitude: 6500 until southern Indiana when I started getting rocked by turbulence, then 4500.
Power: 65% power until aforementioned turb, then I was flying Va for about 2.5 hours
Leaning: ROP EGT by 75 F
TAS: Low enough from the turb that it makes me want to sob
Total flight time: 7.3h
Conditions: Horrendous. From 0' to at least 11k' yesterday (3/16) everyone near my en-route area was having a horrible ride. Turb... Up/Down drafts.. etc. I got solicitations for ride conditions from ATC half a dozen times. No one in the piston crew one could find a decent ride.

Landing back at home base was a fun time. Winds were gusting 39kts. METAR suggested it was down the centerline of RWY28... It was a little more erratic and variable direction.
It felt amazing to put it in the hangar and be done for the day.

Flight issues:
- Need to have the whole starter/wiring/everything looked at next week. It's been weak in cranking the prop. Just got a brand new battery so that's not the culprit.
- TC was OH at AQI last annual and failed this trip. It was out for several days then randomly came back to life on the flight home when I started encountering turbulence. Probably going to just get a new unit instead of another OH.

... Photos ...

Flight path there...
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Landing KHXD
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A sprawling mine (I think?) in Georgia
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Big sprawling complexes of warehouses or something north of Atlanta...
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Didn't want an engine-out situation here on the return voyage (it was a bit more open w/less dense forest on the other side :) )... Set it down shortly after at KCHA and stayed for 2 days.
1710693359665.png

Random, un-forecasted light precip on the way home
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And like the 1 photo I took of my actual destination in hilton head lol..
1710693521233.png
 
Last edited:
Awesome! More pics from Hilton Head please
 
Before they passed, my wife's parents had a winter home in Port Royal near the airport. We flew there in a Cherokee about 12 times over a 10 year period. They were very nice. They are a little expensive but after I complained once on AirNav, the manager called me and gave me a decent discount on fuel. At the time they had a better price on Tuesdays, so he gave me the Tuesday price. They also had weekly tie down fee and gave us that at a discount too, but that has been several years ago now. We typically visited for TG, Xmas, and/or Easter.

Based on the few airnav reviews they have posted, they are not as friendly as they used to be. If that is true it is very sad indeed.
We always had pleasant interactions with them in the past.
 
Did you get a chance to ride bikes on the beach? The sand pack is so hard that it's easy. And so wide you can easily land an light piston on it if you needed to.
 
midlifeflyer said:
Did you get a chance to ride bikes on the beach? The sand pack is so hard that it's easy. And so wide you can easily land an light piston on it if you needed to.
Click to expand...
Yeah, the sand on the beaches are really hard-packed. I did several miles of walking along the beach but no bikes.
But those beaches are so big during low tide you could definitely land a plane on it.
 
We rode bikes on the beach once. It was surprisingly easy. Rode for miles.
Then turned around and discovered the headwind that had been helping us going the other way.
Exhausted when we got back.
Beautiful place.
 
ArrowFlyer86 said:
Yeah, the sand on the beaches are really hard-packed. I did several miles of walking along the beach but no bikes.
But those beaches are so big during low tide you could definitely land a plane on it.
Click to expand...
We owned a timeshare there for over 30 years. Lots of bike miles :)
 
My parents have a townhouse in Hilton Head. Stopped by there on my southeast trip. Signature is very expensive there. I think it was $35/night, $8/gallon, extra facility and handling fees. KLHW to the south west has cheap fuel. It’s listed as an Airforese base colocated but treat it as any other class D. Stopped I made on the way back were Gatlinburg, TN. You’ll fly past one of the highest points in the NC/TN Appalachian Mountains. I was warned of mountain waves but it was smooth for me. Bardstown, KY was another stop I made for cheap fuel. The airport manager Tom is the nicest guy and helped me refuel at the self service pumps. It’s also Bourbon country! I didn’t know and next time will spend a night. You can probably borrow the crew car and visit a disterillery for something to go.
 
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