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

[tnathan]

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.


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[tnathan]

Oh, one last thing. Not that you want advice from me, but when I moved here, I visited everywhere hoping I would find a mini oshkosh since we are near a population center. What I found was what you are seeing. It’s kind of a mixed bag. Its pretty unique you can visit dc and see the wright flyer for free anytime you want, but the sfra has made DC an aviation desert for GA between the cost, lack of hangers and sfra hubbub. Take it for what it is. Go visit some places, meet new people and enjoy the process.

As for W29, they have an active LSA sport pilot school run by a lady named Helen, who is sort of a notorious fixture in the local GA scene. She is a good resource too. If you are into LSA you may want to stop by her school, Chesapeake sport pilots. LSA is not my thing so I don’t know much, but they have rvs, Tecnams, autogyros, good instructors, and are a Rotax service center. Since they are on the field, I use them for my annuals. They aren’t cheap, but do nice work. It’s nice to be able to call them and they can pull my airplane into their shop when I need work done rather than trying to coordinate with a traveling A&P.

On the 23rd Helen is hosting a FAASTeam seminar given by a Potomac tracon controller who is going to talk about flying in the sfra. I am supposed to be in ocean city on October 23 for the Explore Maryland by air awards banquet for lunch, but will try to see if I can catch the end of the presentation. Might be a good event to hear about the sfra and meet the w29 LSA community if that’s your thing.

And of course if you have any other questions, let me know. Good luck in your search. As you can tell, I like talking about airplanes.


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[eaajen]

You are all giving me such great info. I'm reading what you're saying, using the computer a lot to look at things. I'm so much farther along than I was a few months ago. Thank you.

[FlyingRon]

I lived in Northern Virginia (at the end of Lawyer's Road which is feet out side of Reston) because my office was in Sterling. I initially got checked out at HEF because it had a lot of training operations and I was used to towered fields (in fact, the tower at HEF was taken from an airport I was previously based at, APA). I then joined a flying club at IAD because it was closer than everywhere else (and being based their, while not cheap, was cool). I then based my plane at IAD until the pricing got crazy an my mechanic was at VKX anyhow so I spent a lot of time there getting maintenance and fuel.

I spent the next few years at VKX until 9/11. I emergency evac'd out to OKV where I stayed until my engine blew. After getting it back a hangar was available at CJR, so while I was in the first bunch cleared to fly out of VKX, I only ever really used it as a curiousity. Of course now I'm down in NC where my hangar is downstairs and I don't even need to leave the hosue.