Houston'ers- EYQ or IWS?

I'll be flying into Houston from Denver (APA) for about a week stay.
I'd rather not deal with the Class B at Hobby so am looking for a spot
to park the 206 on the north or east side of town. Relatives live
around Kirby and Hwy 59.

I'd appreciate some recommendations/preferences in terms of quality of
service, ease of pattern/landing, fuel/tie-down $, friendliness, drive
time, etc.

TIA

Hmm... West Houston takes the cake for quality with regards to the
service and facilities end of things (for uncontrolled fields). Plenty
of room, nice FBO lobby (something you would expect at a major airport),
plenty of tiedown room. I've only been in there once (never had a reason
to go, nothing to eat there and its across town from me) but it strikes
me as a first class place. I would pick this as #1 based on what I THINK
you are looking for (No ATC, good services)

Weiser, while a great lunch spot, has a narrow asphalt runway, perpetual
crosswind, short final over fenced in school buses and essentially all
parking is on grass, not to mention you back taxi on the grass
IMMEDIATELY adjacent to the runway if its busy. Rent a cars dont appear
to be readily available at Weiser but I'm sure they can be arranged with
advanced notice. The folks at Windsock aviation ARE friendly, and they
DO a great job, but they are limited in what they can offer facility wise.

Sugarland is also an option. Its towered, but has a long runway. Its
operated by the city. They have tiedowns and hangar space from what I've
seen. Prompt service, but you do pay for it. Sugarland is trying to
market itself as the next best thing for a corporate hub, so they have
cars available and good service. I would rate this at least as good as
West Houston.

Unfortunately, ALL of these options are at least 20 miles from where you
are wanting to go. I can appreciate not wanting to deal with the Class B
for whatever reason you choose, but if you want to get in CLOSE, Hobby
is only like 7 air miles from where you are wanting to be. I have flown
into, out of and around the Hobby airspace for the majority of my 400
hours and will say that they have a low pressure way of dealing with
little guys. There are training operations out of Hobby so they deal
with students all the time. As a general rule they will pull you in from
the due north direction and dogleg you onto the smaller parallel (13L
-31R) or they will bring you in from the west, overhead, and cross over
and enter a downwind for the parallel rwy. There are at LEAST 4 FBO's
the Millionair and Raytheon are a little pricey but you get what you
pay for. Fletchers is more GA/Small Guy oriented and there is another
one in the SW corner of the field south of Millionair that I cant
remember the name to at the moment.

Good luck and have a nice trip.
Dave

Shawn wrote:

I'll be flying into Houston from Denver (APA) for about a week stay.
I'd rather not deal with the Class B at Hobby so am looking for a spot
to park the 206 on the north or east side of town. Relatives live
around Kirby and Hwy 59.

I'd appreciate some recommendations/preferences in terms of quality of
service, ease of pattern/landing, fuel/tie-down $, friendliness, drive
time, etc.

TIA

By the way.. Kirby and 59 is more to the South Central/ Near Southwest
part of town, not so much the North or East side.

The fields you were asking about are West and Northwest about 20 miles
from center of town.

And, Dylan is absolutely right about what he said - the food and the
hang-out factor are big plusses for Weiser. I based my comments favoring
the other fields based on what appeared to be service offerings and
convenience to a specific location (relatives).

Dave S wrote:

Hmm... West Houston takes the cake for quality with regards to the
service and facilities end of things (for uncontrolled fields). Plenty
of room, nice FBO lobby (something you would expect at a major airport),
plenty of tiedown room. I've only been in there once (never had a reason
to go, nothing to eat there and its across town from me) but it strikes
me as a first class place. I would pick this as #1 based on what I THINK
you are looking for (No ATC, good services)

Weiser, while a great lunch spot, has a narrow asphalt runway, perpetual
crosswind, short final over fenced in school buses and essentially all
parking is on grass, not to mention you back taxi on the grass
IMMEDIATELY adjacent to the runway if its busy. Rent a cars dont appear
to be readily available at Weiser but I'm sure they can be arranged with
advanced notice. The folks at Windsock aviation ARE friendly, and they
DO a great job, but they are limited in what they can offer facility wise.

Sugarland is also an option. Its towered, but has a long runway. Its
operated by the city. They have tiedowns and hangar space from what I've
seen. Prompt service, but you do pay for it. Sugarland is trying to
market itself as the next best thing for a corporate hub, so they have
cars available and good service. I would rate this at least as good as
West Houston.

Unfortunately, ALL of these options are at least 20 miles from where you
are wanting to go. I can appreciate not wanting to deal with the Class B
for whatever reason you choose, but if you want to get in CLOSE, Hobby
is only like 7 air miles from where you are wanting to be. I have flown
into, out of and around the Hobby airspace for the majority of my 400
hours and will say that they have a low pressure way of dealing with
little guys. There are training operations out of Hobby so they deal
with students all the time. As a general rule they will pull you in from
the due north direction and dogleg you onto the smaller parallel (13L
-31R) or they will bring you in from the west, overhead, and cross over
and enter a downwind for the parallel rwy. There are at LEAST 4 FBO's
the Millionair and Raytheon are a little pricey but you get what you
pay for. Fletchers is more GA/Small Guy oriented and there is another
one in the SW corner of the field south of Millionair that I cant
remember the name to at the moment.

Good luck and have a nice trip.
Dave

Shawn wrote:

I'll be flying into Houston from Denver (APA) for about a week stay.
I'd rather not deal with the Class B at Hobby so am looking for a spot
to park the 206 on the north or east side of town. Relatives live
around Kirby and Hwy 59.

I'd appreciate some recommendations/preferences in terms of quality of
service, ease of pattern/landing, fuel/tie-down $, friendliness, drive
time, etc.

TIA

On 2004-06-14 14:13:53 +0800, Dave S said:

Weiser, while a great lunch spot, has a narrow asphalt runway,
perpetual crosswind, short final over fenced in school buses and
essentially all parking is on grass, not to mention you back taxi on
the grass IMMEDIATELY adjacent to the runway if its busy

That's exactly why I loved Weiser. It made you think about your flying,
made you learn about crosswinds (and go-arounds....) and be precise in
your flying (think lights off night landings with an instructor, which
was a lot more fun that I thought it would be). Weiser is the nearest
you'll get to an 'old time' airfield around there.

I loved flying there, and I miss it, and the folks at MVP Aero very
much. Here in Brunei, there is 1 (count them, you only need a single
character in binary) private hire aircraft in the country. Weiser is
30-45 minutes from downtown unless you're in the rush hour. I lived in
the museum district and could get there in 30 minutes if the roads were
clear. One other field you might try is LaPorte on the east side. Only
take about 20 minutes to get where you're staying. Another small place,
but if you've ever fancied playing acro or tailwheel, Harvey Rign
aviation is the place to go.

good luck,

Justin.

In article , Shawn wrote:
I'd appreciate some recommendations/preferences in terms of quality of
service, ease of pattern/landing, fuel/tie-down $, friendliness, drive
time, etc.

If you want to meet some newsgroup people, at least a couple of them
hang out at Weiser. It also has a great little BBQ place to recharge
after a long flight.

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

In article , Dylan Smith wrote:
In article , Shawn wrote:
I'd appreciate some recommendations/preferences in terms of quality of
service, ease of pattern/landing, fuel/tie-down $, friendliness, drive
time, etc.

If you want to meet some newsgroup people, at least a couple of them
hang out at Weiser. It also has a great little BBQ place to recharge
after a long flight.

None of the non-Class-B fields are real busy except for DWH. There's
not much on the NE side except IAH. For friendliness, you can't
beat EYQ or Williams (I don't know the ID for it).

If Hobby is closest to your destination, I'd give it serious consideration.
They have a flight school on the field, so the controllers are used to
dealing with people who aren't, well, professional pilots. It's not
bad, as far as Class B's go.

I'm based at EYQ. If you email me with more info about where in Houston
you're trying to get to, I can probably be more helpful.

Tina Marie
--
http://www.tripacerdriver.com "...One of the main causes
of the fall of the Roman Empire was that, lacking zero, they had no way
to indicate successful termination of their C programs." (Robert Firth)

Shawn,

My wife and I base our plane at West Houston, and it's a very friendly
privately owned airport (public use). They are staffed 24 hours a day,
7 days a week, too.

Access to the I-10 (Katy) freeway is easy, and you could get to 59 a
number of ways from there.

As it turns out, we are planning a trip from Houston To Denver
(Centennial) leaving here around the end of June, so we'd love to meet
you on your arrival and discuss the trip with you.

You can email me at if that works for you.

Enjjoy Houston.

On 13 Jun 2004 16:28:16 -0700, (Shawn)
wrote:

I'll be flying into Houston from Denver (APA) for about a week stay.
I'd rather not deal with the Class B at Hobby so am looking for a spot
to park the 206 on the north or east side of town. Relatives live
around Kirby and Hwy 59.

I'd appreciate some recommendations/preferences in terms of quality of
service, ease of pattern/landing, fuel/tie-down $, friendliness, drive
time, etc.

TIA

"Shawn" wrote:
I'll be flying into Houston from Denver (APA) for:
about a week stay. I'd rather not deal with the
Class B at Hobby so am looking for a spot
to park the 206 on the north or east side of town.
Relatives live around Kirby and Hwy 59.

EYQ is more fun but crowded: finding a place to tie down is sometimes
difficult. If there's been much rain lately, you can get your airplane
stuck in the mud there - ask me how I know! Great BBQ at Carl's.

IWS is roomier and all paved but more expensive: I once had to pay $7
for a qt of oil there.

Either one is a long way from Kirby and Hwy 59. As Dave said, HOU would
be more convenient. Unlike IAH, they're quite used to handling little
airplanes.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

I've gone into Houston twice (relative). Long flight from RDU in a Maule!

We used EQY because it was closest. Everything said rings true. Seems like
a very homey airport, great people, barbecue, FBO. The runway is narrow and
the area around it congested. Parking is tight and totally arbitrary (I
parked on a hard stand next to the runway and fuel both times - I'm guessing
that the locals know better). Talked to a friend who took a Navajo in
there - I wouldn't. Rain could completely screw the deal.

We flew over to Hobby one night to visit friends on our way home once. From
ATC to the FBO (forget which one), everyone was great. After screwing up a
tightly vectored IFR approach, I appreciated ATC's patience and being
given hangar space for no/or tiedown cost was much appreciated (I don't know
where the tiedown rope is.... might be easier to just roll you in the
hangar..., need a ride?)

That experience along with others convinced us to generally fly into the
closest airport whatever it is. Most big city airports and 2nd airports are
great and secure. We only avoid a handful. Rule of thumb - If it's less
than a top 10 city, it's worth investigating the major airport if it's handy
to your destination - Pgh, Cleveland, Ft Lauderdale, Baltimore, Charlotte,
Houston Hobby, etc. It's a great resource - use it!

_
"Shawn" wrote in message
om...
I'll be flying into Houston from Denver (APA) for about a week stay.
I'd rather not deal with the Class B at Hobby so am looking for a spot
to park the 206 on the north or east side of town. Relatives live
around Kirby and Hwy 59.

I'd appreciate some recommendations/preferences in terms of quality of
service, ease of pattern/landing, fuel/tie-down $, friendliness, drive
time, etc.

TIA

I second the "closest airport" approach.. Unless its LaGuardia, LAX,
O'Hare or JFK, chances are its workable and not too inconvenient in
small aircraft.

I've even taken a cessna into IAH once (wasnt for kicks either, bonifide
reason to land there). When I went to Osh 2 years ago, our overnight
stop was at STL/Lambert Field. VFR. 2 "low time" private pilots.

I can respect "not wanting to hassle with ATC" though, as my flying
buddy is still not up to dealing with them from a comfort standpoint.

Dave

Maule Driver wrote:

I've gone into Houston twice (relative). Long flight from RDU in a Maule!

We used EQY because it was closest. Everything said rings true. Seems like
a very homey airport, great people, barbecue, FBO. The runway is narrow and
the area around it congested. Parking is tight and totally arbitrary (I
parked on a hard stand next to the runway and fuel both times - I'm guessing
that the locals know better). Talked to a friend who took a Navajo in
there - I wouldn't. Rain could completely screw the deal.

We flew over to Hobby one night to visit friends on our way home once. From
ATC to the FBO (forget which one), everyone was great. After screwing up a
tightly vectored IFR approach, I appreciated ATC's patience and being
given hangar space for no/or tiedown cost was much appreciated (I don't know
where the tiedown rope is.... might be easier to just roll you in the
hangar..., need a ride?)

That experience along with others convinced us to generally fly into the
closest airport whatever it is. Most big city airports and 2nd airports are
great and secure. We only avoid a handful. Rule of thumb - If it's less
than a top 10 city, it's worth investigating the major airport if it's handy
to your destination - Pgh, Cleveland, Ft Lauderdale, Baltimore, Charlotte,
Houston Hobby, etc. It's a great resource - use it!

_
"Shawn" wrote in message
om...

I'll be flying into Houston from Denver (APA) for about a week stay.
I'd rather not deal with the Class B at Hobby so am looking for a spot
to park the 206 on the north or east side of town. Relatives live
around Kirby and Hwy 59.

I'd appreciate some recommendations/preferences in terms of quality of
service, ease of pattern/landing, fuel/tie-down $, friendliness, drive
time, etc.

TIA