Hobby is fine for what you are wanting to do. Raytheon and Million-Air
are the upper tier FBO's and mostly cater to the corporate crowd, but
Fletcher's isn't low class by ANY means. Most of my experience there is
with Raytheon (I used to work in the back of an Air Ambulance Lear based
there) and I can say they are a top notch, professional outfit. I cannot
vouch for prices.. but I know that I came in there on a dual XC
during my private pilot training (end of a round robin) just to say I'd
gone into a class B field before I got my ticket, and they didn't charge
us for pulling in, using the restroom, buying a coke, and heading back
out.. Call ahead for a car. Hobby has a GA parralel runway (13L/31R)
that they can bring you in to from the west, over the top of the field
and vector to a downwind all while the big iron is landing on 13R/31L.
They have it down to an art.

I am based out of EFD now, but the bird is under construction. Southwest
Services is the FBO there, and they are about 15 minutes further out
than Hobby. They are nice, and they get the job done, but the Military
fuels contract is their bread and butter and they know it... call ahead
for a car too.. Be down to 1000 ft when getting close to EFD and the
traffic pattern is 600 for lil guys. Be VERY alert for military and NASA
guys doing overhead breaks at 1000 ft.. and for FAST movers entering the
area at 1500 ft. Yea.. theres a tower.. but still.

Sugarland and West Houston are BOTH excellent GA/Corporate fields, but
the fact of the matter is both are more distant from your destination
that even Ellington, and Hobby beats all of them.. Hertz has a rental
center AT SGR.

I've been into IAH once (again, to do it) and as a general rule all the
big iron lands east or west, and departs on 15/33 pair. The exception is
STRONG crosswind days. If you absolutely want to do IAH, its doable, and
fairly easy, but set yourself up to approach to the NW corner of the
surface area, and be on the money with your speed and altitude. When the
push is on, they need you to be a good stick.

Hooks is nice, but from a practical standpoint its a longer drive to the
convention center/downtown than ANY of the other choices. Hooks has a
rental car or two I think.. its been a while.

Before I was a pilot (and in my current occupation as a nurse) I worked
as a paramedic, and drove over practically every square mile of Houston
and surrounding counties in 10 years in various ambulances. From a
drive/simplicity standpoint, HOU or EFD are the best bets, hands down.
Construction will be crippling the corridors from SGR or IWS to downtown
for the next few YEARS.

Dave


wrote:

I'm planning a trip to Houston in April to pick up some friends. They
will be taking part in an event at the convention center earlier in the
day, so I'm looking for an airport close to downtown. I've taken a look
at Hobby. Any feedback/suggestions?