Best "little" airports?

[Mr. Cole]

Gotta go with AV8TRXX by recommending Flying W (N14). Of course I'm biased because that's where I did my training, but whenever I take up a friend who hasn't flown before, I usually take them there. Great place to be in the spring and summer. Can't remember whether it was mentioned, but in addition to the great social atmosphere around the pool and the outdoor bar, they often have several live concerts a week during the summer.

Dave

 

[RFtech]

KMCD - Mackinaw Island

great island. even better if you fly in one a clear day!

 

[RFtech]

Cedar Key in florida is cool also.

They little lady and the car are classic.

 

[tarp]

Mid atlantic list:

Tangier Island, VA - strange accents, only 5 family names, good eats and bed and breakfasts.

Luray, VA - go visit the caverns. Pretty cool to cruise at 7,00ft to get there and then spend the day 200ft below the earth. Cars available to drive you to caverns or golf course (free transportation).

Kentmoor, MD - 2000ft grass strip just south of the Bay Bridge. Owners have hangars instead of garages on this fly-in community. Park in the transient spots closer to the Bay and walk a block down the street for great crabcakes at the Marina Restaurant.

Clearview, MD - Nice little pilot shop and great gas prices always BUT you have to be able to land in 1500ft or you are going off a cliff. If you land there safely, buy a mug that proves you are a "better" pilot and that you know what airspeed means.

Richmond, VA - land at the "big" airport, park at the FBO and walk to the Air museum - nice Saturday diversion. Some neat displays in the museum and worth the fee. Seems like you paid too much when you walk in, but there are little interesting displays all over and something will catch your attention. I know - I thought I was ADD (attention disorder) but then found some neat things.

And then there's golf and I mean close to the runway - Bryce Mtn resort in Bayse, VA, Wisp at Garrett County, MD and Butter Valley up at Perkiomen, PA. For upscale, go to Nemacolen, PA near Pittsburgh. Nothing like landing, tieing down and playing golf in 20 minutes.

 

[ShawnC]

Cedar Key in florida is cool also.

They little lady and the car are classic.

She died last year I hear. Unfortunate I heard she was nice.

 

[ellsworb]

so many

When I lived in AZ,
Flew my prom date to Sedona (SEZ) ate at the Heartline Cafe. . it was really cool. . kind of up the hill, set in the rocks, had a patio table to watch the sunset. Have since moved to IN, and Owensboro, OWB and Moonlite BBQ. . controllers are cool here, as to all the newcomers they say "Enjoy the BBQ". Put-In-Bay in OH is always a fun time. You can't go wrong, if you haven't been there, with going into Meigs Field in Chicago, if you can afford the landing fee, but hey, you can say you have landed at Meigs. Lambert's Cafe in Sikeston, MO is first rate. Don't think i have had a more entertaining meal other than Benihana. FInally, Rick's Boatyard and Cafe, at Eagle Creek in Indianapolis (EYE) has some of the best food i have tasted. Only about 50 ft. from the tiedowns, and situated on the shore of Eagle creek resevoir. Just walk across the street to some very fine dining. Some of my college buddies and I would "pull the move" and fly some girls down there. Normally turned out to be a fun time!

HOpe it helps.

 

[Aviator]

L54 Aqua Caliente Springs

49 sm NNE of KMYF in San Diego is an undiscovered gem in the California desert. After crossing the Laguna Mountains at 6000'+ a dramatic approach takes you down into this strip at 1200'. From there it is about a ten minute walk to the Aqua Caliente Hot Springs state park. Here you can soak to your heart's content in either an indoor pool in a glass walled building or an outdoor pool. Both are fed directly from the hot spring. There is an entance fee for cars only. So if you walk in, it's free to use the facilities complete with lockers and showers. There are hiking trails also. Here is a link for more info....
http://www.co.san-diego.ca.us/cnty/cntydepts/landuse/parks/camping/agua_caliente/agua_caliente.html

 

[VFR on Top]

Haven't been there, but I hear Agua Caliente is tricky due to terrain; one of my flying club's 172s suffered a prop strike there last month due to the pilot's decision to land downwind rather than try to maneuver around a hill that lies off the other end.

I'll echo the endorsement for Shelter Cove, and for the The Beachside Bar at SBA; I ate there about a month ago--great seafood.

I'll also add a recommend for Napa County, CA (APC)--wine country, 'nuff said.

 

[jdru25]

One of my favorite fly in restaurants is Mickelbobs in Naples. Burke Lakefront in Cleveland is another one of my favorites. Just take the subway from Burke into town and you will always have a great night out. The Flats have a lot of nice places to eat.

 

[PA28/C172 Flyer]

Go to Smith Island in the Chesapeake bay. These people invite you into their homes to eat blue crabs, no cars on the island and the english they speak is like 200 years old, totally different then what we speak. Only way to go there is by boat or plane (3000 ft unlighted asphalt runway)

metrodriver,
I'm always looking for good places in the Chesapeake to get fresh crabs. I looked and found Smith Island on the sectional, but there is no airport listed there. When was the last time you were there?


Easton, MD was listed in a previous post, but you can take a rental/cab/courtesy into St. Michael's about 15 minutes away. Its on the Chesapeake Bay. And there all all kinds of great seafood restaurants there.

Flying W Airport in New Jersey, a self-contained small resort (I had my wedding rehearsal dinner there in October)

Buttervalley, in Eastern PA for golf. The runway splits two fairways. They have GPS on the inexpensive golf carts.

Before 9/11, you could land at College Park MD, and hop on the Metro right there into DC, and to the Smithsonian. With the DC TFR/ADIZ it may be a while before you can do that again.

 

[wickedpilot]

Fly-IN Community

THUNDERBIRD AIRPARK! Crecent City, Fl.
I don't know if your planning on hitting up any grass strips but if so, this is the place to go. Ive Sauls, Wife and two daughtrers <- live on the strip and have an immaculent guest house at an incredible rate. The place is surrounded by lakes too, if you care to drop a worm. 2FA5

 

[Ravengirl]

OK, I will definitely second Napa in Northern CA (APC) and First Flight Airport (FFA) in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Both are awesome places, especially in the summer.

Stephanie

 

[Pilotadjuster]

UT-Wyoming

Most scenic land I have ever flown over (no jabs now, I haven't been that far out of here...) has got to be the trip from Salt Lake City to Jackson, Wyoming. Over Bear Lake on the way, then into Grand Teton territory. Overwhelming mountain scenery.

Oh, and Jackson seems to have a lot of wind no matter when you arrive, so watch the AWOS...

Nothing great at the A/P, but get into town somehow (renting a car is cheaper than a cab--go figure), and there are plenty of great places along the main drag (Mangy Moose, etc.).

 

[Illini Pilot]

two great airport restaurants are:

Schuamburg, IL (06C) - closest airport to ORD and has a super friendly staff, the lady there, forget her name but everyone knows her, came out personally to chock my plane when my i took my mom and sister up there for lunch. Pilot Petes is the restaurant and is really nice. great bar there(if you aren't heading back out later) and the atmosphere is cool. the food is incredible (esp. for a FBO!) and it attracts alot of people from the area. i've also been there twice just driving the 1/2 hour up there. there are big glass windows that allow a great view of the ramp and runway. also, in the summertime if you fly in during the evening, the Schaumburg Flyers field is about 1/2 mi from one of the ends of the runway, so you turn final right over the stadium. great place

Eagle Creek, IN (EYE) - right near IND, really nice restaurant. pretty upscale place with dinner prices 15-20 bucks. there was a live jazz band when i was there, and there is a big deck overlooking the reservoir that looks like it would be nice in the summer. it is right across the street from the FBO, so its about a 200 yd walk from the ramp.

 

[ArcticFlier]

3U2 Johnson Creek fun place to camp........fun approach over Yellow Pine unless you're into tight, steep approaches in the same valley as the strip.

EUL Caldwell.......easy to get into and out of. Good breakfast at the restaurant on the west end of the airport. Get the ham with your food, it's a meal all by itself.

WVI Watsonville.....partial to it, it's my home airport. Zuniga's has good food. Just down the street from the City FBO is a mexican bakery called Hector's. Burrito's the size of your bicep. Ecclectic group of aircraft based on the field, and a good antique fly-in Memorial Day weekend.

AF

 

[gnx99]

Duluth Sky Harbor - KDYT
Duluth, MN

It's on a LITTLE penninsula on Lake Superior.

Look at this satellite pic.

http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?t=1&s=11&x=1432&y=12936&z=15&w=2