Flying in Houston?

[joe2002]

Hi, all

I’m visiting friend in Houston in Aug and (hopefully) going to do about 50 Hrs, anyway I was just wondering of anyone’s flown in the area?

Recommendations of Places to visit etc, :confused:

I’ll probably flying out of Sugerland airport – any one been there (or infact any where else in south west Houston).

It doesn't seem like there's much GA there (in the area) full stop - is this really the case?

Thanks for any info guys and gals

[maggioneato]

We were over there last year and did'nt find anywhere to fly till we got to the Mississippi gulf coast,started off in Dallas, then down to Houston. Any airfields we found did'nt have FBO's, just private aircraft, loads of helicopters, presume something to do with the oil industry.
We had intended staying in Texas, but decided in the end to head east in the hope of finding somewhere more to our liking.Hope you have a bit more luck finding somewhere than we did.

[Ace Rimmer]

Well first off if you are going in August be prepared for some serious humidity…I mean really serious humidity. The kind of humidity where you turn into a towel that’s just been shared by half a Rugby team – limp soggy and smelly in the time it takes to walk 10 yards.


But on to flying there is a lot of GA in the area besides Sugarland itself Within 30 to 45 minutes flying you could go to Galveston (the Lone Star Museum of Flight is at Scholes Field) a little ways south is Clover Field there’s some pretty interesting stuff there (actually it’s where much of the early Rimmer childhood was spent... Hangar 20 being the home of ole man Rimmer’s fleet).

Further East the other side of I45 there’s Ellington – again all sorts of comings and goins there from UPS 767s to light Aviation via Air Guard F16s and NASA T38s and Vomit Comets (actually the the original Vomit Comet is the gate guard these days). I believe there’s a Wing of the CAF there too. Not to mention a couple of FBOs Last time I was there (hmm this would be in March) I had to wait for t/o while an bunch of Navy Res F/A18s did touch and gos and pretty loud I have to say.

Further afield, a comfortable hour or so (at 172/PA28 speed) west/southwest will get you to San Antonio, well worth a visit spend the night hanging out in the bars along the river walk. Or conversely, head SW to the Gulf Coast for Corpus Christi and South Padre Island. On the other hand go pretty much due East (or actually slightly south of East) for two or three hours (a bit hazy on this it’s been quite a while since I did that trip) and check out New Orleans.

Expect vis to be less than perfect – as I said before at this time of year there’s a LOT of mositure in the air combined with the fairly impressive pollution it can be a bit on the claggy side especially on the east side and south of the city (where a lot of refineries and chemical plants are). Having said that a quick flight near sunset and the pollution can be quite pretty!! The other thing I’d recommend is that you get your flying done early in the day . The convection turbulance can get… mmmm….let’s say…energetic… by lunchtime/ early afternoon and tends to stay that way until just before sunset.

That said there are a bunch of places to explore and the bigness of Texas means you won’t have too much trouble racking up the hours and doing some very different navigating – if you get to west ern part of the state you’ll really see what I mean. On the whole you’ll also find some of the most hospitable people on the planet I’d be amazed if you don’t have a great time.

[Algy's Monocle]

Plonked a C172 down at Hobby Field (10mi S of Downtown Houston) for an overnight stay, whilst trundling around God's Own Country last year.

The Fletcher Aviation FBO were very friendly, and provided excellent service. They do flight training, and quite probably also rentals.

[str12]

There's also Weiser, a 20 minute drive out of downtown houston. Single hard strip (good crosswind practise), friendly bunch but can be hard to find.

I did a night flight over downtown Houston, past the monument and did a T&G at Galveston. Key the mike on the ground frequency to activate the runway lights - cool!

Ellington was good, had a good eyeball at the F16s and got buffetted by their jetwash on the ground :-)

Flew over to San Antonio from Houston one day, just for the experience.

Have fun.

[Ludwig]

If you fancy some quality aeros instruction whilst you are there, go and see Debbie Rihn-Harvey at Rihn Harvey Aviation, at La Porte Municiple Airport, a real aeros centre (center?) there with a couple of US Unlimited team members. They also do straight and level stuff.

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

joe2002,

If you are looking for places to go, San Antonio has the Riverwalk, the Mexican Market on Commerce Street, The Alamo and Sea World. Dallas has many attractions if you fly in to Love Field, Addison, or Arlington like Six Flags, Great Night Clubs, and Restaurants. There is Lake Front in New Orleans where you can go to the French Quarter. South Padre Island and Galveston Island are places to go for the beach. Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Taos are great places if you want to see New Mexico too.

That should chew up a good chunk of your 50 hours. ;)

Take Care,

Capt. Richard J. Gentil, Pres.
Naples Air Center, Inc.

[joe2002]

Thanks for the replies guys,

Seems like a bit of local knowledge can go a long way. :ok:

Yea, I think I’m in for a bit of shock as far as humidity goes :D

I’ll get a sectional and have look, I must say I’m quite encouraged by the amount of aviation related activities (and the helpful responses). I’ll probably have to plan carefully in order to get to all these places now :D

A night flight over central Houston is deffo on the cards though. ;)

Hmmmm, maybe I could do a bit extra


Cheers again guys :D