Flight Training - January 2014 - 24

FLYING CARPET

By Greg Brown

PLUS View the slideshow.

DOWNTOWN FORT WORTH'S Sundance
Square, glimpsed through a hole in the clouds.

TOURING TEXAS

BEST MILKSHAKES EAST OF THE PECOS

his year's AOPA Summit had long been marked on my calendar. I'd never been to Fort Worth, Texas, unless you count in
pilot parlance, "I've flown over it." And just two states from
Arizona, it initially appeared within reasonable Flying Carpet range. I was soon reminded, however, of how big those states really
are-we faced an 11-hour round trip. Then Jean was invited to a San
Antonio meeting the week after Summit. I phoned Texas pilot friend
Sergio Schaar to ask where to relax over the intervening weekend.
"Consider Fredericksburg, in the Texas
Hill Country," he said. "It's known for
wine and German cuisine, and you could
stay at the Hangar Hotel right there on the
airport." Sergio suggested that we could
take advantage of the $1-per-gallon avgas
promotion at San Marcos Airport, "though
I've heard there's a two-hour wait." Landing at San Marcos also would allow me to
tour Redbird Skyport's touted "aviation
laboratory." Each additional destination
made the long journey more attractive.
We fled Flagstaff ahead of a huge storm
system rolling in from the west. Although

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FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG

turbulent, powerful tailwinds urged us
along ahead of the approaching cold front.
Poof! Jogged by a bump, Jean's elbow
popped open the passenger window some
60 miles out. After recovering from that
ear-bending shock, we motored uneventfully over eastern Arizona, New Mexico,

and Texas. It's always astounding crossing just a handful of towns in five and a
half hours over the endless Southwest.
Arriving the day before Summit proved
painless. Upon crossing the convention
arrival procedure's inbound reporting
fix, we were cleared direct to Fort Worth
Meacham International Airport.
"Welcome to Texas!" Sergio texted after
we landed. Clearly he had been following our progress. At Summit, Jean and
I caught up on new technology and old
friends. We joined fellow conventioneers
at the town's famed Stockyards for barbecue, classic country music, and a rodeo.
We'd known that the cold front we'd
escaped in Arizona would eventually catch
us, and that happened as we departed for
Fredericksburg. Thunderstorms weren't
a problem, but we'd be cloud-flying. I'm
rarely assigned instrument departure procedures when flying the desert Southwest.
So, when issued a particularly complex
one departing Meacham, I asked clearance
delivery to go over it with me.
"Wait, I'll pull out my chart," the controller cheerfully replied, and together we
reviewed it. "Radio back with any more
questions," he drawled. "Y'all have a good
flight!" Departing Meacham, I glanced
downward through a hole in the clouds to
discover Fort Worth's Sundance Square,
where we'd enjoyed the past five days.
After 90 pleasant minutes between cloud
layers, we emerged into hazy visual conditions near Fredericksburg, so I cancelled
the instrument flight plan and abandoned
my programmed GPS approach.

TRAVEL LOG: GILLESPIE COUNTY (T82)
Runways: 14/32, 5,001 X 75
feet
Elevation: 1,695 feet

Location: Three miles
southwest of Fredericksburg

Extra: The Hangar Hotel
(www.hangarhotel.com) is a
re-creation of a World War II
military hangar.

http://www.hangarhotel.com http://FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG

Flight Training - January 2014

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