Best GA airport to visit - and why?

[mmcgrew]

Lets do a happy thread. How about posting your favorite GA, FBO, Hangar visit. Tell us who, what, why and when and people. It will be fun to read about your experience, then making a visit to that airport.

Thanks

Michael

[WingsAloft]

I like my local FBO at KDAN, located in Danville, in South-central Virginia. The only FBO there has a very creative name: "General Aviation", which is a full service FBO, and even offers flight training by a no-kidding, very experienced CFII. You can see him here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?nomobile=1&v=bUtKcCtJ6uo . This was the very first FBO I ever visited, and I'll never forget seeing my first flight lounge there. (Incidentally, is that something every pilot remembers back when they were a potential flight student, their very first tour of the flight lounge?) Hope you visit there sometime; they've got model planes hanging from the ceiling and friendly folks!

[flyingriki]

Pretty hard to beat Chino. You can walk around for days peeking in hangars and see just about everything you can imagine.

[rosiejerryrosie]

For those in the neighborhood, you have to go a long way to beat Penn Valley at Selinsgorve, PA. Friendly, service oriented staff....free coffee and cookies in the Terminal lounge where you can eat and watch runway activity through the large picture window. Pilot's lounge furnished with large screen TV, shower, and leather loungers. Computer Flight planning available, as is major maintenance and flight school.

[Flyfalcons]

Million Airs have the best lookin' counter girls on average.

[2VW]

Check out KPLU. Pilot/mechanic toy store for hardware and supplies. Great staff, pilot lounge, and loaner car.

Here is a photo of me and my wife with the Spencer Aircraft front counter staff in front of our J3 Cub. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...type=3&theater

Another great place to go is Sunriver, Or. Great friendly staff, comfortable pilot lounge, with many visitors that come to the airport to watch planes land and takeoff. You can also hop on a free bike and ride in town.

[Bob Dingley]

I've got a couple of favorites. When I was stationed in Texas, I often volunteered for a run down to San Antonio once a week in a trainer. I always took a Flight Surgeon along because they need their 4 hours of stick time every month too. There was a pretty much deserted airfield halfway called Brownwood, (KBWD). The WW2 vintage hangar was jam packed with P-51s, Canadian Sabers and P-38s. The P-51s still had their central American markings (and central American mud caked on) One white P-38 had "Scatterbrained kid" on the nose. There were pictures from the set of Battle of Britain in the lobby. One of Lefty Gardiner dressed like Adolph Galand. The door was always open and it was always deserted. KBWD was always a hit with the Flight Surgeons.

Later, I enjoyed stopping at the terminal building at New Orleans Lakefront (KNEW). It was impressive Art Decco with murals done by WPA. There was a decent restraunt off the terminal and I got away with parking in the US Customs hot spot. I usualy stopped at MillionAir across runway 09/27. Those gals had a great attitude despite getting the FBO wiped out by a hurricane.

I was always going into New.Orleans. International (KMSY) It replaced KNEW with the airlines after WW2 when Richard Moisant donated his stock yards in Kenner so that the town could build a new airport. The ID stands for "Moisant Stock Yards." Its now named after Lois Armstrong. I once refered to it in a hurried moment as Don King International, but approach cleared me in without comment. Years ago the 2 FBOs on the west ramp were General Aviation and Transit Aviation. General Avn had snooze rooms. Both had crawfish in season. My passengers liked me taking them into Transit because the mgr recruited his customer service reps right off Bourbon St. They all fit a profile. Blonde, 6 ft tall, amazingly attractive and dumb as a box of rocks. However they were all world class dancers. Or so they said.They didn't seem to dress down all that much when they worked at the airport. I guess they headed for the "quarter" when their airport shift was over. Eventualy they moved both FBOs to the new North ramp. Transit was sold to Signature and General became Atlantic. They both still have cookies and the Saints still fly out of there.

Its fairly routine now compared to going in there during Katrina. The controllers are first class.

[Bob Dingley]

You always forget a few. A few years ago I was on an overly complex charter that required me to shut down at Wink, Texas for a few hours. Neat field. Once a B-29 training field, There was only a one man, one dog FBO. He built ultralights and could dish you up chili and a burger. He had 100LL and JetA. Roy Orbinson is the towns favorite son and there is a big blow out every June. I always liked Rockland, Maine for the scenery. My Champ took me there a lot.

[Bob Dingley]

Forgot Old Rhinebeck Aerdorome.

[martymayes]

Houma, Louisiana (HUM). Home of Charlie Hammonds Air Service. If you like FBO's with a lot of history and character, this is it. Some of the coolest aviation photos ever shot hanging on the walls. I guess people today would believe they are all photoshopped, like the pic from Apollo 8 of the earth as they came around the backside of the moon, signed by Borman, Lovell and Anders. Charlie Hammonds taught Corky Fornoff how to fly, and at one time ran an airline from his humble FBO. Son Ricky was USN Top Gun and in the movie of the same name flying the F-5 "Mig" call sign Ricky 'Organ' Hammonds.

While the airport is nothing special now, KLFT and the "old" Paul Fournet FBO would take a close second. Revis Sirmon and Paul owned the P-38 named "Scatterbrain Kid" N38LL, named after Revis' WWII P-38. The airplane crashed during landing at the LFT airport in 1974, killing the pilot, George Harper. The wreckage was dismantled and stored for several yrs then in the early '80's it was taken to San Marcos, TX and reincarnated into "Scatterbrain Kid II." In 1994 the plane crashed at the 1994 Breckenridge, TX airshow. It's now belongs to Paul Allen's Flying Heritage Collection in WA and hopefully is being restored. Bob, one day you may get to see it again.