Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 14

Thread: Flying in and out of College Park, MD KCGS or Leesburg, KJYO

Hybrid View

Previous Post Previous Post   Next Post Next Post
  1. #1

    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Posts
    32

    Flying in and out of College Park, MD KCGS or Leesburg, KJYO

    I'm wondering if anyone knows about basing or flying in and out of airports in the Washington DC area. I know there is the SFRA (take course) and the FRZ (finger prints, etc), but I'm wondering about the practicalities of basing at some airport there.

    Hangars are hard to get. Tying down is easy to find, but that may be hard on the plane—worrying about water getting in, causing corrosion.

    And while I'm sure I can handle the SFRA or FRZ, in a practical sense, it might become a nuisance after a while.

    I'm interested in the thoughts of this great group.

    Thank you.

  2. #2

    Join Date
    Jul 2013
    Posts
    37
    Jen,

    Hello. When I first moved to the Baltimore-dc area I was obsessed with trying to find the right place to base my plane. I have a tube and fabric airplane so a hanger was a must have for me. And my ex thought that flying should not involve radios or hardtops runways. Not sure if you share those requirements. but those requirements kind of took CGS and JYO out of the running for us. We opted to drive a little and based at Harford,md. They had crossing grass runways, cheap hangers, and pretty lively community. Now, however, they put in a monster runway and new power hangers and boosted hanger rent. I understand that they are filling hangers there well and that some of the customers are folks who have left sfra airports that have closed or have the detriments you mentioned. On the other hand because they have shifted to more upscale clients some of the grassroots aviators have moved out.

    To get the plane closer to where we live in Annapolis, I moved the plane to Ridgley/Gooden. It was a nice quiet place and the old owner use to cut the grass down next to the runway so you had the option of hardtop or landing in the grass. The current owner is a crop duster and doesn’t cut the grass down anymore. So you have to land on the hard top. The hanger rates were cheaper than Hartford’s new rates, but I think there is a wait list now and it would be a drive for you I presume. Secondly, the owner is now renting to a jump operation which kind of tries to make everyone else feel unwelcome as they can these days and there is no gas there. I moved to bay bridge. I believe they have a wait list too for hangers. There is some life here, and you are about as close toDC as you can get and not have to deal with the sfra. I finally got over my fear of hardtops and they have gas and a good maintenance shop. So, this is a pretty good option for me now.

    Avoiding the sfra hubbub was something I wanted to avoid when I had less confidence, but I decided it would be fun to dip my toes in lately and the more you do it the easier it gets. It’s really just mandatory flight following. The only gripe I have is I have had trouble more than once calling to get a squawk from Baltimore sector Potomac. The phone just rings and rings. Kind of a bummer to be ready to go and you can’t get a squawk.

    I was at college park yesterday. It’s has an awesome clean FBO with some amazing history, but being in the frz it’s pretty quiet. They have gas but I don’t think there’s any maintenance on the field. If that’s true, that can present some issues trying to get an A&P to do an annual over the winter at your tie-down. I was there all afternoon yesterday doing some sim work and I think one plane landed. I haven’t been to JYO yet, but planing to visit soon. I do see a number of flight clubs, schools, and maintenance, so I am guessing there is more life there if that matters to you. JYO also has its own SFRA procedures which minimizes the ATC hubbub. This might be a better option. I presume you can put your name on the wait list and see what happens. It took me several years but finally a hanger came up at bay bridge. You just have to be patient.

    Hope some of these ramblings are helpful. Let me know if I can do anything else to help.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

  3. #3
    FlyingRon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    NC26 (Catawba, NC)
    Posts
    2,627
    I can't vouch for CGS but hangars were available at VKX last I checked. I was based there on 9/11 (took me five weeks to get my plane evacuated fro there). I ended up at OKV and then later CJR. CJR is a nice place and the hangars suddenly becaome obtainable when the forced people to stop subletting and to not allow non-aviation use of them.

    JYO's problem isn't the SFRA, but rather the fact that on a good day it's a very busy place. The pseudo-tower helps a bit. Don't discount HEF either.

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Posts
    32
    Yes, Nathan. Thank you. Very good story/information. I'll check it out. Also, Bay Bridge I hear has some good Light Sport facilities. I'll look into these things.

  5. #5

    Join Date
    Jul 2013
    Posts
    37
    Howdy Ron,

    I was at kVKX a few weeks ago. KVKX is an option. They have a flight school and seemed to have a few folks around. Don’t know about the hanger situation there but it wouldn’t surprise me they might have something available. I get the sense the frz has kind of killed business. The airport is stuck at the bottom of a hill in a neighborhood. Not sure I liked the approach down over the trees into a valley and wonder if they have noise abatement issues with the neighbors. And, it’s another Maryland 3 airport. That’s where I went to get fingerprinted. So that makes things convenient, if they are still doing it. But like CGS your having to do FRZ flight plans. Kind of a drag if you just want to jump in your plane and do touch and goes.

    Both CjR and HEF avoid the sfra hubbub. I was at culpepper on Saturday for the their airshow. Looks like a hell of a airport with an active CAF wing. HEF has one of the most active local EAA chapters with Dick Koehler et al. Like CJR, HEF Is kind of a ways south, but with an eaa chapter I am guessing hangers might be available. If I didn’t have any other constraints and my focus was solely on being close to grassroots aviation I would move somewhere between culpepper and manassas.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

  6. #6
    FlyingRon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    NC26 (Catawba, NC)
    Posts
    2,627
    VKX was a great place in the day. Cheap fuel if you were in the fuel club. Good mechanic on field. Owner was a bit of a crackpot but his heart was in the right place. Was great departing Runway 6 and looking right at the Capitol building. It was a quick ride around the beltway to where I lived by IAD. (Of course, I was crazy enough to base at IAD before the trippled the parking prices and generally got hostile to us small fry, when I got started there the FBO owner was of the impression that you should treat everybody nice because the guy in a Bonanza on Sunday might be in the back of the Gulfstream that came by on Tuesday).

    HEF doesn't avoid the SFRA, it's smack inside it. CJR misses it by a few miles indeed (which worked well for me as I was mostly heading toward CLT anyhow). I was in EAA186 back in the day as well.

  7. #7

    Join Date
    Jul 2013
    Posts
    37

    Flying in and out of College Park, MD KCGS or Leesburg, KJYO

    You are right about VKX. The guy that runs it has an interesting sense of humor he not shy about sharing. I kind of worry how long Potomac, Hyde, and Freeway will stick it out. CGS is managed by the city and have nice facilities except no hangers. I think they could make a bundle if they built some. They are close to DC and there is a train stop near by.

    And, you are right about HEF. HEF is in the sfra.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    Last edited by tnathan; 10-12-2021 at 12:30 PM.

  8. #8

    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Posts
    32
    Hi guys, and thanks. I'm learning.

    From what you're sharing:

    I notice no one mentioned Montgomery County airport, GAI, so that mitigates.

    I've called CGS College Park and it's supposed to be quite nice in some ways, but no hangars and no maintenance. The guy there said I'd need to get to know some A&P or IA who was willing to come over if I ever needed on-site work, and I'd kinda like to be able to get into a hangar at some time. To me, the hangar is important as well as maintenance on the field.

    I think I'll check out W29, HEF, CJR, JYO. Local pilots know the good airports. I talked with JYO who said there is a LONG wait list for hangars, but they had room in a community hanger right away, so that's nice. HEF sounded inviting on the phone. will check there again, too.

    I'm glad I checked, and I'll also keep checking in as more info is shared.

    Jen

  9. #9

    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Posts
    32
    You guys think it's better to live in VA, MD, or DC?

  10. #10

    Join Date
    Jul 2013
    Posts
    37

    Flying in and out of College Park, MD KCGS or Leesburg, KJYO

    Quote Originally Posted by eaajen View Post
    You guys think it's better to live in VA, MD, or DC?
    Don’t know how to answer that question. Depends on what’s important to you.

    I moved to Annapolis because I wanted to be on the water. We have GA airports over here but not the life that I see at some of the Virginia airports. I wish I had a more active GA community over here. If I didn’t want to be near the water and I wanted to be near the most lively GA airports, I would live near HEF-CJR, or FDK.

    If being part of a super active aviation community aren’t important, and you just want a good grass runway, vintage airplanes, and don’t want to be in controlled airspace, you could consider Massey on the eastern shore. They are in the middle of nowhere but have a little museum, and give stearman rides. Just built some new hangers a few years ago and last I heard they had availability, but you are in rural Maryland closer to Delaware than DC.

    If you hate little planes and NORDOS and like the security of controlled airports with clearance delivery and think a fun day is flying IFR, I would consider GAI, FDK, or maybe even Martin State. Martin has some cool history, a couple of flight schools, fuel, A&Ps, often have hangers available, and outside the SFRA, but you’re again at an airport catering to jets at a class D airport.

    DC would be an adjustment for me. But if you prefer using public transportation and all the culture that DC provides, DC has a lot to offer, but it’s wicked expensive. From a flying standpoint, other than the Maryland three, You can’t fly there. But you do have the air and space museum on the mall and the udvar hazy museum at Dulles. Some of the most unique airplanes in the world are here, and they bring in interesting speakers if that’s your cup of tea.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    Last edited by tnathan; 10-12-2021 at 12:39 PM.

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •