Flying in Austin, Texas

[gijoe]

I'm off to Austin for a work trip and fancy a trip around the Austin skies for an hour or so.

Can anyone recommend a nice friendly operation that is likely to let me and a couple of others turn up and fly with one of their guys in the right hand seat?

G :cool:

[futurshox]

You lucky, lucky thing! Austin is a great place - for anything, never mind flying...

Austin Bergstrom has a couple of flight schools on the southern end of the airfield. You have to drive right around the edge of the airfield to get to the road though. They are probably fine but very 'businesslike' in looks.

There's a great little airpark about 40 minutes drive north-west of the city called Lago Vista (http://www.airnav.com/airport/5R3), up on top of a hill. Mostly private, but some great people and aircraft. Maybe they've installed the F-4 gate guard by now.

North on I-35 about 40 mins is Georgetown Airport (http://www.airnav.com/airport/KGTU), which might be your best shot at a flight. Loads of GA stuff here. Also inhabited by a B-25 bomber and there's a guy will take you in his Bell 47 if you fancy some rotary time.

Don't be fooled by maps telling you of Robert Mueller or the business airpark at the north end of town- they're both long gone, covered in houses and the new Dell computer factory.

Go down I-35 if you have the time, to San Marcos airfield (about 40 mins south of Austin). There's a flight school there if I remember rightly and check out the CAF hangar (http://www.realtime.net/centex/cntxwing.htm) full of interesting beasties.

A little further south is New Braunfels airfield - again, some good GA stuff here with a lovely wide open field.

Fly in the early morning or late evening if possible as the heat at this time of year creates HUGE thermals....

And when you're done flying, head on down to West 4th Street to the Ginger Man (http://www.gingermanpub.com/) - a class watering hole with over 150 handpumps of beer.... :D

If you want any more details on any of these places, give me a shout. Check out my website (http://futurshox.net/aerolistbyshow.php3?event=93#93) for plenty of pictures taken at these places last summer.

[gijoe]

Fantastic - many thanks - I'm looking forward to the trip even more now. The CAF place looks worth a visit.

G

[futurshox]

No worries :) Hope you enjoy your trip. Here's a few more tips:

If you go to San Marcos, don't miss visiting the huge outlet mall for some cheap shopping! You can't miss it - it's right on I-35, about a mile long...

If you're short on time and head North, hang a left somewhere by Georgetown and go west to Burnet. There's another CAF outpost there although I don't think it is as big as San Marcos.

Finally, any flying you do, if possible go and fly over Lake Travis (the big lake to the west/noth of Austin) - it's beautiful from the air.

Have fun!

[Megaton]

Helpful ATC at Austin. Use to fly up from San Antonio for a quick ILS in my lunch hour!

[Tim_CPL]

Second all that has been said. Georgetown (GTU) is the place for GA. Two main FBO's are Wright Aviation (930-7577, www.wright-aviation.com) and Pilots Choice Aviation (869-1759, http://www.pilotschoice.com/). My preference is Wright, they have newer planes such as an OMF Symphony-300, 2000 172R's with GPS (but more $) and friendly staff. PCA are cheaper and have a lot of older student 'beaters' (Tomahawks and Archers, no GPS ). Beth, the owner, can appear unfriendly, and the school does not allow night VFR X-C (strange!?!) but they are cheaper.

One thing about GTU is that it is a very busy uncontrolled airport, it is not unusual to have 4 in the cct and 3 at the hold. They have just agreed to install a control tower as they have had a number of 'problems' the most recent was a mid-air back in May. So keep your eyes outside and use the radio!

Finally other places worth going to are Fredericksburg (T82) for good sightseeing and Burnet (BMQ) for cct practice. Also for a good X-C go to either Waco or College Station and for a great day out go to Galveston (Moody Gardens and great Air Museum), but be up on Bravo airspace, as you'll either have to go through or around Houston.
Feel free to PM me for more details or if you want an intro to GA flying in Austin or want to do some flying with another pilot before launching off on your own.

- Tim