Ever feel unwelcome at an airport?

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With the weather here in the mid-atlantic the last couple weeks I made a spur of the minute decision yesterday to cancel an afternoon meeting and bailed out of work early to take advantage of the wx break before the next set of winter weather and get some flying in from Fredrick in the Archer.

No real agenda but a couple of landings and an approach so wandered down to Harpers Ferry then back up the Potomac to one I had been meaning to do for a while. W35 Potomac Airpark sits in the Potomac River Valley across from Hancock MD. I know the area well as my wife and I have a camp on the WV side and I'd been meaning to fly in for a bit just to get the check in the block.

The airfield notes are a bit daunting, the runway isn't in great shape, gate is locked, rubber on the runway from drag racing, model airplane flying but almost 5K long and scenic as all get out even with leaves off the trees in that pretty MD/WV border area.

Made the normal calls, right hand pattern to 29 and no muss no fuss as I slow to a stop and call for back taxiing. There was a newer Cadillac sport sedan on the ramp with the hood up and a pickup and three guys next to it. As I complete my turn around one of them strolls across the runway in front of me and stands there and the other one stands on the north side of the runway. I wave, nothing but stares.

Oakly doakly neighborino. I spin around at the end of 29 for departure and these guys are standing in the middle of the runway about 2000' feet down. Landing and taxi lights are on and I'm thinking WTF. I bring the rpm up a little to make some noise and they slowly start to move off to the edges. I drop a notch of flaps and as soon as they are at the edge of the runway I execute a short field take-off and I'm well above them by the time I get to where they are standing off to the side of the runway. One good thing about winter and 35 degree temps and with 1/2 tanks is even the Archer climbs away very well.

What the heck was going on here? Were they monitoring Unicom and heard my 10 mile out and pattern calls and I interrupted their high speed driving fun? It's a private airport with public access but the Mooney 201 and 150 on the ramp look abandoned. There was another guy in a partial open hangar door and I could see a prop but not what the airplane was. I put a note in the AOPA airport page

Certainly not a place I'm going back to. Anyone ever seen something like this?

Still had a nice flight, another T&G at Franklin co and the ILS back at Fredrick. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N43187
 
Probably just observing, doesn't sound like a place that sees a lot of action. Certainly wouldn't stop me from going back.
 
Just some Western MD rednecks, hoping to get a Spitfire style fly-by on their GoPro. You give them far too much credit: monitoring Unicom, indeed! o_O
 
Ha, why did I know this thread was about W35 before even reading it...
 
GeorgeC said:
Ha, why did I know this thread was about W35 before even reading it...
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So not a unique experience there?

Not like the natives are hostile but I have never encountered any unpleasant folks at the airport and having spent a fair amount of time out there on the ground it's a very pleasant area with nice people.
 
My last trip there was like that, heard other stories as well. Too bad, it is pretty. Were the airport nicer, it would beat driving out to Berkeley Springs.
 
USW, Boggs Field in Spencer, WV. Very similar experience: Private airport open to the public, not really used as an airport anymore. Waited out a squall line there and couldn't get out of there fast enough. I think I heard dueling banjos in the distance; very "Deliverance" feel, with people more than unfriendly: they'd just stare at you when you'd speak, and not respond, like they couldn't understand you (maybe they couldn't?) if you didn't have their drawl.

16G, Seneca County Airport in Tiffin, OH. About as unfriendly as an airport can get. I particularly disliked the chained up pit bulls that continually tried to break off their chains and make me a chew toy as I pumped fuel.

Literally every other airport I've ever been to has been miles ahead of both of those.
 
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I showed up at BVY and had the guy at the FBO chew me out for not calling ahead when all I asked was where I could park the airplane for a couple of days. A local instructor witnessed the tirade and invited me over to his outfit's office and let us know that we had indeed parked in an open space (that didn't belong to the FBO in particular).

Years ago we had an odd run in with the police at New London, VA. I was helping a friend ferry his 172 back from the engine overhaul it INT and we decided to stop there for some reason. I'm flying the approach and notice that there's more rubber than usual for a little GA strip at the end of the runway and bleachers on both sides. "I work at a drag strip," I say. "This is a drag strip." But there is enough stuff to indicate it's an airport so we land and park. A state trouper shows up and asks how long we are going to be there. We said just long enough to use the bathroom, why> "No rush. We just want to set up cones on the runway and practice driving fast." It was about this time that I realized when I heard my coworkers talking about going to Lynchburg one Sunday a month to run drags that this must be where they did it.
 
I have met unfriendly folks a few times at remote Alaska airports. Small public airports in villages with mostly native populations. Apparently, some have developed a distrust/dislike for visitors they do not know. If you are meeting a local, or delivering something for the village, you are OK. Otherwise you are not welcome. I'm sure there are logical reasons for this, but it can be pretty uncomfortable at times.
 
A grass field in FL. I parked the plane. Only sign of life was an open hangar door, very large hangar. I walked over to ask if it was okay to park where I was parked. Two very large guys met me at the hangar door. No they did not know if it was okay. The airport manager lives in a trailer (pointing) but he's not here. I did get a peek in the hangar. Fiberglass semi-submersible, x-large offshore speed boat with massive engines. A few neat looking aircraft. They weren't so much unfriendly as very protective of the hangar.
 
Weekend Warrior said:
USW, Boggs Field in Spencer, WV. Very similar experience: Private airport open to the public, not really used as an airport anymore. Waited out a squall line there and couldn't get out of there fast enough. I think I heard dueling banjos in the distance; very "Deliverance" feel, with people more than unfriendly: they'd just stare at you when you'd speak, and not respond, like they couldn't understand you (maybe they couldn't?) if you didn't have their drawl.

16G, Seneca County Airport in Tiffin, OH. About as unfriendly as an airport can get. I particularly disliked the chained up pit bulls that continually tried to break off their chains and make me a chew toy as I pumped fuel.

Literally every other airport I've ever been to has been miles ahead of both of those.
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Wow, i was very surprised to read that! I was just there, stopped for fuel on Tuesday. I found 16G to have a very nice FBO and the people were great! Must have changed since you were there. Also they must have traded in the pit bulls for 2 very friendly white labradoodles! They both ran up and licked my had when i walked in.
 
Arnold said:
A grass field in FL. I parked the plane. Only sign of life was an open hangar door, very large hangar. I walked over to ask if it was okay to park where I was parked. Two very large guys met me at the hangar door. No they did not know if it was okay. The airport manager lives in a trailer (pointing) but he's not here. I did get a peek in the hangar. Fiberglass semi-submersible, x-large offshore speed boat with massive engines. A few neat looking aircraft. They weren't so much unfriendly as very protective of the hangar.
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Now that sounds like a scene out of American Made.
 

"Ever feel unwelcome at an airport?"

Well, there was that one time at the air force base....
(kidding)
 
not like that exactly
but one time flying solo and I wasn't liking the visibility so much, so found an airport along the route to get down for a while to let things improve a bit.
I think it was Martin County (MCZ) in North Carolina
It was a long time ago, but I remember it as a very odd place.
I remember what seemed like brand new pavement with bright markings on it, and a new looking little FBO building that looked extremely nice. I think there might have been a small hangar there at the time, not sure....It was like a brand new little airport stuck out in the middle of nowhere..... just perfect....except not a soul to be seen or heard. Everything was locked up tight. Just seemed odd....and erie
 
A few years ago, trying to hit as many SC airports as I could, landed at Pageland....abandoned except for a feral dog having her puppies in a closet off of the “hangar” (more like an attached garage to the ranch style “FBO” which seemed long unused). Spooky!
 
I was flying fire patrol in West Virginia and weather made me look for a place to wait it out.

I found a brand new runway out in the sticks. No building, just a brand new runway on top of a flat hill. A small dirt road came up from the holler. I never found out why the runway was there.

Here in New Mexico I saw a newly graded dirt runway once. Nice size, probably 5000 feet long and 50 feet wide, so I marked it on the GPS for possible emergency landing area, thinking it was a private runway. Then a few months later a wood hangar was there. Then a few months after that I saw a beacon flashing white, white, green.

I wasn't in the area for about a year, then one day I was near so I decided to see what was new. Nothing new, except everything was gone and I could barely make out where the runway was.
 
AlphaMike said:
Wow, i was very surprised to read that! I was just there, stopped for fuel on Tuesday. I found 16G to have a very nice FBO and the people were great! Must have changed since you were there. Also they must have traded in the pit bulls for 2 very friendly white labradoodles! They both ran up and licked my had when i walked in.
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Tiffin was fine for me too, this summer. Flew in to have a prop balance completed at Tiffin Aire. Friendly FBO.
 
Deming NM at night once ... LEO snuck up on me and turned on all his lights, and blocked me. Claimed I was flying without a flight plan (I agreed), tried to claim I was landing without lights (not a chance). Called ABQ CTR from the ground with him wearing the other headset so they could confirm I landed under flight following, that no flight plan was necessary at night (it is in Mexico and IFR) and was aware of the drone NOTAM for all lights ON (which I think he had heard about somehow which started all this). He attempted a ramp check also ... a real Barney Fife.
 
danhagan said:
Deming NM at night once ... LEO snuck up on me and turned on all his lights, and blocked me. Claimed I was flying without a flight plan (I agreed), tried to claim I was landing without lights (not a chance). Called ABQ CTR from the ground with him wearing the other headset so they could confirm I landed under flight following, that no flight plan was necessary at night (it is in Mexico and IFR) and was aware of the drone NOTAM for all lights ON (which I think he had heard about somehow which started all this). He attempted a ramp check also ... a real Barney Fife.
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You let him in your plane?

I take it you filed a formal complaint at least, contacted his boss, local FSDO and filed a NASA for the runway incursion and also called GA secure for him forcing a aircraft to abort a takeoff

Hopefully called a lawyer
 
James331 said:
That’s it?

Want to feel unwelcome fly into NYC or BOS area airports.
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well yeah, there's that different experience too... similar back in 1992 flying the C172 into DCA and TEB....
 
Brad W said:
well yeah, there's that different experience too... similar back in 1992 flying the C172 into DCA and TEB....
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Not lighting these idiots up is why they feel empowered to put lives in danger like this
 
James331 said:
You let him in your plane? I take it you filed a formal complaint at least, contacted his boss, local FSDO and filed a NASA for the runway incursion and also called GA secure for him forcing a aircraft to abort a takeoff Hopefully called a lawyer
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Headset was on him standing in front of the wing of the Tiger. He "searched" with the flashlight through the windows I guess looking for drugs when I landed. I wasn't on the runway, he trapped me near the FBO. NASA report wasn't going to do anything. I *think* this same Barney Fife is the one responsible for the arrest of another pilot in Lordsburg NM for no cause. Things were rough here on the border a few years ago. Now the ultras-lights flying from Mexico to drop their contraband and high tail it back are real ballsy and pass directly over my airport (KDNA Dona Ana) and Deming (KDMN). Saw (actually heard) one after my last flight a week ago. I understand what he was *trying* to do, but the ultralight drug runners NEVER land on the USA side - he'd have to shoot one down.
 
Brad W said:
not like that exactly
but one time flying solo and I wasn't liking the visibility so much, so found an airport along the route to get down for a while to let things improve a bit.
I think it was Martin County (MCZ) in North Carolina
It was a long time ago, but I remember it as a very odd place.
I remember what seemed like brand new pavement with bright markings on it, and a new looking little FBO building that looked extremely nice. I think there might have been a small hangar there at the time, not sure....It was like a brand new little airport stuck out in the middle of nowhere..... just perfect....except not a soul to be seen or heard. Everything was locked up tight. Just seemed odd....and erie
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Not so odd really, once you understand that the military paid to have it paved as an outlying landing Field (OLF) for nearby CPMCAS and Oceana. But I agree it is oddly located. But there is not a lot of high ground around there. Cheap fuel
 
Zeldman said:
I was flying fire patrol in West Virginia and weather made me look for a place to wait it out.

I found a brand new runway out in the sticks. No building, just a brand new runway on top of a flat hill. A small dirt road came up from the holler. I never found out why the runway was there.

Here in New Mexico I saw a newly graded dirt runway once. Nice size, probably 5000 feet long and 50 feet wide, so I marked it on the GPS for possible emergency landing area, thinking it was a private runway. Then a few months later a wood hangar was there. Then a few months after that I saw a beacon flashing white, white, green.

I wasn't in the area for about a year, then one day I was near so I decided to see what was new. Nothing new, except everything was gone and I could barely make out where the runway was.
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Z: Are you sure this wasn't an episode from The Twilight Zone ?
 
danhagan said:
Headset was on him standing in front of the wing of the Tiger. He "searched" with the flashlight through the windows I guess looking for drugs when I landed. I wasn't on the runway, he trapped me near the FBO. NASA report wasn't going to do anything. I *think* this same Barney Fife is the one responsible for the arrest of another pilot in Lordsburg NM for no cause. Things were rough here on the border a few years ago. Now the ultras-lights flying from Mexico to drop their contraband and high tail it back are real ballsy and pass directly over my airport (KDNA Dona Ana) and Deming (KDMN). Saw (actually heard) one after my last flight a week ago. I understand what he was *trying* to do, but the ultralight drug runners NEVER land on the USA side - he'd have to shoot one down.
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I’d file the NASA for the aborted takeoff

I’d also lock the plane and keep my mouth shut and record that criminal.

Letting these things go is why we see more of it
 
Weekend Warrior said:
16G, Seneca County Airport in Tiffin, OH. About as unfriendly as an airport can get. I particularly disliked the chained up pit bulls that continually tried to break off their chains and make me a chew toy as I pumped fuel.
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Like the other poster I always stop by Seneca County when passing by--cheap gas and great service. awesome FBO. There's always a Suburban in teh parking lot with keys under the visor...

I frequent Beverly too. North Atlantic Aviation takes good care of us and never charges for parking. Great Thai food in town!
 
It occurred right after I bitched out the owner, He didn't like what I called him. (OKH)
 
Quite awhile ago flew to Hawk's Nest on Cat Island in the Bahamas. When we landed people rushed out to ask if we were the "relief" airplane? There was no water for 3 days and they were bathing in the ocean and drinking rum for fluids. We had a reservation for a week and decided to move on. Further down island chain there was a "resort" with its own airstrip. We picked the resort from the Bahamian Flying Guide. We dropped in unannounced and from a tent next to the runway appeared two fellows armed with rifles pointed AT us and wanted to know our intentions. We explained our predicament and wondered if there was room at the resort? They suggested that we leave and NEVER come back. Which we did without a second's hesitation. When after the trip we were clearing customs at Fort Pierce we got the most invasive examination of our persons and the aircraft. The "resort" subsequently became identified as a clearing point for the drug folks entry to the US. Two 30 year olds flying a Lake Amphibian that landed at the resort did not fit any profile I am sure to the US customs. Just kept thinking how mad my Dad was going to be when Customs confiscated his new Lake Amphibian.
 
Zeldman said:
I was flying fire patrol in West Virginia and weather made me look for a place to wait it out.

I found a brand new runway out in the sticks. No building, just a brand new runway on top of a flat hill. A small dirt road came up from the holler. I never found out why the runway was there.

Here in New Mexico I saw a newly graded dirt runway once. Nice size, probably 5000 feet long and 50 feet wide, so I marked it on the GPS for possible emergency landing area, thinking it was a private runway. Then a few months later a wood hangar was there. Then a few months after that I saw a beacon flashing white, white, green.

I wasn't in the area for about a year, then one day I was near so I decided to see what was new. Nothing new, except everything was gone and I could barely make out where the runway was.
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Cool story, Z: When you mentioned "holler" and W Va, I recalled:

A taxidermist was traveling for a job in a rural area, and stopped off for a meal at a local bar and grill. After entering all eyes were on him, and he felt quite uncomfortable so he hurried to the bar to place an order to go, when he turned around he was surrounded with hillbillies glaring. The leader says "what are you doing here stranger"? Taxidermist replies nervously, "I'm a Taxidermist I'm here for work" the glares intensify, " a taxidermist! What the hell is that"? The taxidermist goes " I stuff and mount animals" the hillbilly breaks into a wide grin " it's all cool boys he's one of us"!!!!!!
 
Arnold said:
A grass field in FL. I parked the plane. Only sign of life was an open hangar door, very large hangar. I walked over to ask if it was okay to park where I was parked. Two very large guys met me at the hangar door. No they did not know if it was okay. The airport manager lives in a trailer (pointing) but he's not here. I did get a peek in the hangar. Fiberglass semi-submersible, x-large offshore speed boat with massive engines. A few neat looking aircraft. They weren't so much unfriendly as very protective of the hangar.
Click to expand...

semi submersible and speed boats! Drug runners.
 
danhagan said:
Deming NM at night once ... LEO snuck up on me and turned on all his lights, and blocked me. Claimed I was flying without a flight plan (I agreed), tried to claim I was landing without lights (not a chance). Called ABQ CTR from the ground with him wearing the other headset so they could confirm I landed under flight following, that no flight plan was necessary at night (it is in Mexico and IFR) and was aware of the drone NOTAM for all lights ON (which I think he had heard about somehow which started all this). He attempted a ramp check also ... a real Barney Fife.
Click to expand...
Ah, yes, Deming. The only time I was there, fuel stop, they had a runway with X marks, but no NOTAM or other indication the runway was closed. No notice on the AWOS, either. Got my fuel and a snack from the vending machine, saddled up and left. They gladly took my money for fuel. Couldn't see the X markings until on final, but FBO confirmed that it was closed. Not exactly unfriendly, just stands out as one of the weirder airports I've been to. I used LRU every trip thereafter.

Belen, NM was a ghost town when I landed, save for a coyote howl. Self serve pump locked up tight, no one around, and no indication as to how to contact anyone. Not particularly friendly. Went elsewhere for fuel.

Flying across NM taught me more about fuel management than flying anywhere else.
 
James331 said:
I’d file the NASA for the aborted takeoff
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I guess I was obtuse ... I pulled all the way to parking and was in the shutdown process when he pulled in front. Plan was courtesy tank to the local food locale ... decided against that as the "courtesy" vehicle would probably get ticketed for something like not street legal ...

James331 said:
I’d also lock the plane and keep my mouth shut and record that criminal.
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This was the same week that another pilot spent the night in jail in Lordsburg NM doing the same thing.

James331 said:
Letting these things go is why we see more of it
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I didn't "let it go", I stood him in front of the co-pilot window and put a headset on his fat ass and let him talk to center.
 
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