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

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"

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

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

"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

"Maule Driver" wrote:
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.

??

What's a "top 10 city?"
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

Top 10 in population. Real rough cut at trying to indicate where I would
avoid using the primary airport. I know census figures get a little weird
due to where the boundaries are drawn. but a quick search shows:

1 New York city/1 NY 8,008,278
7,322,564 685,714 9.4
2 Los Angeles city CA
3,694,820 3,485,398 209,422 6.0
3 Chicago city IL
2,896,016 2,783,726 112,290 4.0
4 Houston city TX
1,953,631 1,630,553 323,078 19.8
5 Philadelphia city/2 PA
1,517,550 1,585,577 -68,027 -4.3
6 Phoenix city AZ
1,321,045 983,403 337,642 34.3
7 San Diego city CA
1,223,400 1,110,549 112,851 10.2
8 Dallas city TX
1,188,580 1,006,877 181,703 18.0
9 San Antonio city TX
1,144,646 935,933 208,713 22.3
10 Detroit city MI
951,270 1,027,974 -76,704 -7.5
11 San Jose city CA
894,943 782,248 112,695 14.4
12 Indianapolis city IN
791,926 741,952 49,974 6.7
13 San Francisco city/3 CA
776,733 723,959 52,774 7.3
14 Jacksonville city FL
735,617 635,230 100,387 15.8
15 Columbus city OH
711,470 632,910

Kinda' works. I'd avoid HartsfieldAtlanta but have no experience.

"Dan Luke" wrote in message
...

"Maule Driver" wrote:
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.

??

What's a "top 10 city?"
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM