What is your favorite GA airport you flew in an out of?

mscard88 said:
Doesn't Indy Cars race there too? Pretty soon too I think.
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I was there last week and there was a Formula One race. They had a lot of the area fenced off. It was really cool. Every time I go there, there is something else spectacular to do or watch.

SPG has to be my favorite airport of all time.
 
JOhnH said:
I was there last week and there was a Formula One race. They had a lot of the area fenced off. It was really cool. Every time I go there, there is something else spectacular to do or watch.

SPG has to be my favorite airport of all time.
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Yup but that was Indy Cars, just looked at the schedule and they were there March 11. Easy to confuse F1 and Indy Cars, very similar looking and fast.
 
Excursion Inlet, Alaska. This vid isn't me, but I have about 100 landings there with vacationers, cannery workers and hauling US mail. Haven't hit a tree yet, but I know those who have. While it's privately operated, it is open to the public.

 
KFFA. KHSE. KISZ (there's nothing like your first...). KNEW. And KRAS. Sedona was nice, too.
 
So far, Gaston's. Three Mike Zero.

I'm not very well traveled at this point, aviation wise.
 
Mtns2SkiesBetterHalf said:
As for best airport based on $100 hamburger. I'd have to say Rocky Mountain Metro (BJC) wins, even though I trained out of there, so never truly did a $100 hamburger trip to BJC, I love the Blue Sky Bistro.
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You need to fly down to Perfect Landing for dinner. Not lunch. Downtown tour at night and then a nice dinner at PL and back to BJC.

He’s gonna hate me for telling you about that. Dinner at PL ain’t cheap. :)
 
azure said:
As in NY? Haven't flown in there, what's special about it?
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The beach, sand dunes and nice restaurants up the road. Not to mention the stiff crosswinds over those dunes! The kind airport lady offered us a ride, but wife and I enjoy the short walk.
Block Island is nice as well. Some more of my favorites are Danbury,CT (beautiful scenery), Waterbury,CT (wife loves the food at the 121), Martha's Vineyard, etc.
FFA was one of my most enjoyable solo trips. On my way down, I actually landed at Accomack County Airport, VA for fuel, like they did on the Sporty's video. :)
 

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redtail said:
The beach, sand dunes and nice restaurants up the road. Not to mention the stiff crosswinds over those dunes! The kind airport lady offered us a ride, but wife and I enjoy the short walk.
Block Island is nice as well. Some more of my favorites are Danbury,CT (beautiful scenery), Waterbury,CT (wife loves the food at the 121), Martha's Vineyard, etc.
FFA was one of my most enjoyable solo trips. On my way down, I actually landed at Accomack County Airport, VA for fuel, like they did on the Sporty's video. :)
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Thanks, looks like yet another place I'll have to add to my bucket list! :)
 
I've done several mentioned on already here. I really enjoyed Cedar Key, St Simons Island and Destin to name a few.

My favorite is probably a tie between Gaston's and @hindsight2020 's hometown field.
hindsight2020 said:
Oh That's easy, my hometown airfield TJIG
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denverpilot said:
You need to fly down to Perfect Landing for dinner. Not lunch. Downtown tour at night and then a nice dinner at PL and back to BJC.

He’s gonna hate me for telling you about that. Dinner at PL ain’t cheap. :)
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PL is fine for lunch. I used to take business clients there. They usually wanted a repeat.

On the overall topic, it's hard for me to come up with a favorite. KAPA, my home base for 20 years is one. I miss that place and all the friends I have there. For the beauty and challenge of mountain airports, Angel Fire in NM and Glenwood Springs in CO are both favorites, as is the Mountain Air private airport in NC. Not too many things beat flying into Ocracoke along the beach in the NC Outer Banks and having lunch at Howard's (Nate, you gotta do that one with me if you every head this way). Then there is taking off over breaking waves at Kalaupapa on Molokai and the runway cut out of the hill on Catalina.

And....

Sorry. Just too many really great ones to even begin to rank them.
 
azure said:
As in NY? Haven't flown in there, what's special about it?
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Flew in there back in '74 for some prop work. I recall it as being very a wide but short runway. It was scenic flying enroute along Long Island from my departure point, McGuire AFB NJ, but don't recall anything special about the place. But that was a long time ago so maybe it's different now.
 
azure said:
As in NY? Haven't flown in there, what's special about it?
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It was pretty from the air approaching it, one end came in right over the beach and the other over a small marina and marshes. You could walk down to the beach through the bushes and dunes at the end of the runway. Across the street also had some food you could grab, etc. Was a cool place to also bring people for the novelty effect.. if you drove from Boston to Montauk that would be several hours, but even in a lowly 172 that trip was under an hr, and you felt like you were a world away
 
I always liked L52 - Oceano airport. Walking to the beach is always a cool thing to do.
 
Right now, Triple Tree. Great spot, but it's more about people than the place.

SSI is great - I haven't flown in there. Southern Soul....mmmmmm, Q so good you get to smell it for weeks.
 
Tantalum said:
It was pretty from the air approaching it, one end came in right over the beach and the other over a small marina and marshes. You could walk down to the beach through the bushes and dunes at the end of the runway. Across the street also had some food you could grab, etc. Was a cool place to also bring people for the novelty effect.. if you drove from Boston to Montauk that would be several hours, but even in a lowly 172 that trip was under an hr, and you felt like you were a world away
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I think it would be a lot more than several hours unless you took the ferry.
 
mscard88 said:
Flew in there back in '74 for some prop work. I recall it as being very a wide but short runway. It was scenic flying enroute along Long Island from my departure point, McGuire AFB NJ, but don't recall anything special about the place. But that was a long time ago so maybe it's different now.
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Maybe you're thinking of Mattituck?
 
paflyer said:
Maybe you're thinking of Mattituck?
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You might be correct, think it was Mattituck. I think it was on the northern shore of LI, that sound like it?

edit: Looked at sectional, pictures online and yeah, I'm pretty positive it was Mattituck. Thanks for the correction paflyer.
 
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mscard88 said:
Yup but that was Indy Cars, just looked at the schedule and they were there March 11. Easy to confuse F1 and Indy Cars, very similar looking and fast.
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Oh. Well, it was neat anyway. Had to walk an extra mile or so to get around the track to Frescoe's restaurant on the water, but it was a fun walk.
 
Tantalum said:
It was pretty from the air approaching it, one end came in right over the beach and the other over a small marina and marshes. You could walk down to the beach through the bushes and dunes at the end of the runway. Across the street also had some food you could grab, etc. Was a cool place to also bring people for the novelty effect.. if you drove from Boston to Montauk that would be several hours, but even in a lowly 172 that trip was under an hr, and you felt like you were a world away
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Incredibly beautiful approach from the air, especially whipping around Montauk Point and past the lighthouse which is at the east end of the Island. My son took this picture on another flight.
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kayoh190 said:
I always liked L52 - Oceano airport
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Yeah, that's definitely up there on the list too. It's more of a hike from San Diego though, but that whole SLO area up towards Moro Bay is really something from the air as well. Especially after a bunch of rain storms that area from Hollister down to Santa Maria is a sight to behold

paflyer said:
I think it would be a lot more than several hours unless you took the ferry.
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Yeah, that was best case scenario / ferry. Really, Block Island, ACK, MVY, etc., all those airports have an awesome "flying is fast" novelty element to them when making the trek down from the MA / NH area
 
I was on a business trip, sitting in my hotel room watching planes obviously on final go by eye level out of the window. Started looking a bit and fount CTYZ, Billy Bishop Toronto City less than two miles away. Re-arranged some meetings, called down to the field, rented 172 and circling the CN tower less than an hour later.
 
I forgot to mention. I really like the vibe at Stearman Field in Wichita. Don’t know if I’d say it’s the best stop ever, but it’s nice.
 
kayoh190 said:
I always liked L52 - Oceano airport. Walking to the beach is always a cool thing to do.
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I drove there once when the weather wasn't conducive to landing.
 
Tantalum said:
It was pretty from the air approaching it, one end came in right over the beach and the other over a small marina and marshes. You could walk down to the beach through the bushes and dunes at the end of the runway. Across the street also had some food you could grab, etc. Was a cool place to also bring people for the novelty effect.. if you drove from Boston to Montauk that would be several hours, but even in a lowly 172 that trip was under an hr, and you felt like you were a world away
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That's kind of the way I felt about places like Put-in Bay and Kelleys Island in Lake Erie - would take so long by car (and ferry) as to kill the fun, but a nice little < 1 hr trip by small plane. Very cool and a nice way to introduce non-pilot friends to aviation.
 
No one has mentioned 1B2 (Katama, on Martha's Vineyard) yet.
3 grass strips, longest is 3700 ft. Great diner with outdoor deck on the field,
South Beach at the other end of the field.

Another vote for 89D (Kelleys Island) in Lake Erie.
 
eshazen said:
No one has mentioned 1B2 (Katama, on Martha's Vineyard) yet.
3 grass strips, longest is 3700 ft. Great diner with outdoor deck on the field,
South Beach at the other end of the field.
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I did I did!!

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eshazen said:
No one has mentioned 1B2 (Katama, on Martha's Vineyard) yet.
3 grass strips, longest is 3700 ft. Great diner with outdoor deck on the field,
South Beach at the other end of the field.

Another vote for 89D (Kelleys Island) in Lake Erie.
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Katama is a fun one. First grass landing I ever logged was in an SNJ at Katama.
 
Lots of fun airports. Telluride is my overall favorite. Also loved being based at both Newport State (UUU) and SAN Diego Montgomery (MYF).
 
So many to choose from.

Most of my favorite strips are not public, not paved and are not in a straight line.

One memorable experience was a charter to Cape Lisburne Air Force Station. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Lisburne_Air_Force_Station

After I was given verbal permission to land, I was told by the officer in charge to land and park as far away from the C-130 as possible. No problem. I landed and parked on the far end of the landing strip. A pickup came over and parked next to me. The driver got out and stood in front of the truck, as if I might just suddenly run over to the C-130. I didn't even want to ask what they were unloading. After I unloaded the mail, my passenger and I got in the truck. I was taken to the mess hall and given free reign to eat whatever I wanted, including anything I wanted to cook for myself. The driver took the passenger to the building with the equipment he was to repair.

After about 20 minutes the driver returned. He told me the landing contract had expired. So I am thinking I am at one of the most remote military stations ever, and I landed here without proper permission. I asked the guy if I would be detained. He laughed and said no, it will go against the company. So I ended up cooking hamburgers and fries for my escort and a couple other guys that came in for lunch. They seemed really happy to have someone different to not only cook for them but just to talk to. (I even cleaned up the grill and washed the dishes)

I went to Cape Lisburne several times. I knew the area was off limits to me without an escort, but that was the first and only time I had a guard keep me company. He claimed it was to keep me safe from polar bears that have been spotted in the area.


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My Dad was a radar maintenance dude at sites like that, fortunately not in remote areas like that, at least with us with him. His assignments were all in the states during the Cold War. AC&W sites they were called. Very small installations. One was at Birch Bay WA, just inland from Birch Bay. Foundations about all that's left now.

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