Moving to Fort Worth area - Fall 2018

[FlyRye]

Hello all, 

I am expecting to move to the Fort Worth, TX area this fall. I recently sold my share of a 1962 M20C. Is there anyone in the area that has been or may consider selling a share of your airplane?  It’s doesn’t have to be a C model. What airport is the preferred general aviation base in the area? I suppose I’m just checking out some options or checking to see what’s available.

 

Thank you,

Ryan

[carusoam]

We have a recent thread covering that area...

Addison, redbird, and Love field may have been mentioned.  I don’t recall the other ones that were probably more economical or closer...

See if the search function can help with that...

Good luck with your search.  I lived in N. Dallas area and worked down by Redbird... in th90’s.

@DonMuncy may be able to point you in a good direction...

Best regards,

-a-

[DonMuncy]

Ryan,

Can't help with the share question. Can't do much better with the airport question, but I'll try. There are plenty of airports available, but which one will work best for you gets trickier. With traffic like it is, I would start with where I was going to work, and start picking a residence area based on that. Then pick an airport convenient to that. 
I am based at RBD (Southwest Dallas), not really convenient to Ft. Worth. But Arlington and Grand Prairie are both popular (both on the southeast side of Ft Worth. On the northwest corner, Hicks is a nice choice. 

Let me know if I can be of any assistance in your search.

Don

[MBDiagMan]

Yeah, as Don indicated, let us know what specific part of Fort Worth you are moving to and working in.  The Dallas county choices probably won’t be best except for Grand Prairie which is on the line between Dallas and Tarant county.

Let us know where and Welcome to Texas.

Edited July 7, 2018 by MBDiagMan

[Stnelson903]

And by the way, welcome to TEXAS.


S. T. Nelson
N231JG
Just Go

[Greg Ellis]

I am based at Fort Worth Spinks (KFWS).  As others have said it all depends on where you will live and how close you want to be to your plane.  Other good choices are a Meacham (KFTW), Alliance (KAFW), Hicks (T67), and a little farther west is Parker County (KWEA).  There are plenty of choices depending on your location.  If I can be of any help let me know.  I have lived in Fort Worth for 40 years.

[gsxrpilot]

Get a hangar home on the field at Hicks. I have a good friend with an amazing hangar home at AeroCountry but that's the other side of the DFW metroplex. 

@Greg Ellis listed all the good airports. Spinks is as good as any for a reasonable commute into Fort Worth if you live close to your plane in Burleson or Crowley.

@Greg Ellis I used to fly into Spinks all the time when my daughter lived in Burleson. The Karmy's are good friends of mine and I would always park my Mooney in their huge hangar on the south end of the runway. They own the Liquid Stone Cement plant in town.

[FlyRye]

2 hours ago, gsxrpilot said:

Get a hangar home on the field at Hicks. I have a good friend with an amazing hangar home at AeroCountry but that's the other side of the DFW metroplex. 

@Greg Ellis listed all the good airports. Spinks is as good as any for a reasonable commute into Fort Worth if you live close to your plane in Burleson or Crowley.

@Greg Ellis I used to fly into Spinks all the time when my daughter lived in Burleson. The Karmy's are good friends of mine and I would always park my Mooney in their huge hangar on the south end of the runway. They own the Liquid Stone Cement plant in town.

What do you mean by a Hangar Home on the field?  If it's what I think it is, are there any for sale at the field?  I hope that wasn't a stupid question.

[FlyRye]

Thank you all for your responses and suggestions.  I suppose I should have been more clear on where in the Fort Worth area.  As it stands right now, I am looking to be in the Keller,  Haslet or Roanoke area.  I am hoping to make a trip there within the month to look at some properties.  Assuming I am in a position to solely own another airplane, I was eyeing Meacham (KFTW) or Alliance (KAFW).  I didn't even consider Hicks (T67).  So I appreciate that suggestion. 

I guess I also wanted to get an idea on hangar fees, wait list and maybe any oddities at those airports such as fuel availability or if they close runways often.  Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Ideally, I would prefer a sole ownership which is why I wanted to look into a good Airport Home Base.  However, time, availability to fly and finance suggests that may not be the best idea right away.  So if anyone knows or hears of an available share of any airplane, Please keep me in mind.  In that case, I understand that I would be at the mercy of their home base. 

 

Thanks again for all your helpful input.  Ya'll are great!!!

[gsxrpilot]

3 minutes ago, FlyRye said:

What do you mean by a Hangar Home on the field?  If it's what I think it is, are there any for sale at the field?  I hope that wasn't a stupid question.

At Hicks field there are lots of large size hangars that have homes either upstairs, or in the back. From the outside it just looks like a hangar. But inside will be an entire living quarters with multiple bedrooms, kitchen, living room, bathrooms, etc. My wife hates the idea, but lots of people live there.

AeroCountry on the North East side of the city has some beautiful town homes with huge hangars attached. They homes are beautiful three story brick about 2800 sq ft or so built around and over a 60 by 60 hangar. 

You might also look at Northwest Regional (52F). It's a very active field with lots of flight training, several shops, and avionics shops on the field.

The best way to get a share in an airplane is to join the RFC Dallas club based in Addison, Metro Flyers based in Denton or Six for a Six based at Meacham. There are also other clubs around the area. I don't know that any have memberships available right now. But I was a member of the RFC club for a couple of years. If I was still there I probably wouldn't own a Mooney. It was just very cost effective flying.

Best of luck.

[Greg252AY]

If you end up in roanoke then you will want to consider 52f (northwest regional) or Denton. 52f is a small private airport with a cool vibe and lots of experimental type planes around. Denton is where i keep my plane. Its a busy towered airport with plenty of services, either would be a good choice depending what you are looking for

[Jpflysdfw]

On 7/7/2018 at 8:45 PM, FlyRye said:

Thank you all for your responses and suggestions.  I suppose I should have been more clear on where in the Fort Worth area.  As it stands right now, I am looking to be in the Keller,  Haslet or Roanoke area.  I am hoping to make a trip there within the month to look at some properties.  Assuming I am in a position to solely own another airplane, I was eyeing Meacham (KFTW) or Alliance (KAFW).  I didn't even consider Hicks (T67).  So I appreciate that suggestion. 

I guess I also wanted to get an idea on hangar fees, wait list and maybe any oddities at those airports such as fuel availability or if they close runways often.  Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Ideally, I would prefer a sole ownership which is why I wanted to look into a good Airport Home Base.  However, time, availability to fly and finance suggests that may not be the best idea right away.  So if anyone knows or hears of an available share of any airplane, Please keep me in mind.  In that case, I understand that I would be at the mercy of their home base. 

 

Thanks again for all your helpful input.  Ya'll are great!!!

Welcome.  I lived in Colleyville for several years (west of Keller a few miles)and hangered out of Grand Prarie (it was about a 25 min drive). Towered and seldom so busy that you’re more than 1 deep waiting for takeoff. Only down side is really close to DFW so about a mile north is a 2000 MSL Bravo shelf TPA 800AGL.  Price wise, you’d be hard pressed to find cheaper hanger costs. (Full enclosed T @$215 gated access). About 18 months ago, moved between Roanoke and Denton. (52F and KDTO). Both locations you’re gonna pay around $350/mo for a single T. enclosed.  Denton is towered and has a nice long/wide runway. There are a mix of city owned and privately owned hangers and all are controlled gated access.  There is a lot of training out of Denton as it is home to US Aviation. I hear folks complain that it’s a zoo but personally have not experienced any real issue.  Denton also has a good FBO (recently taken over by US Aviation) as well as a nice public facility for wi-fi, rest rooms, place sit/rest and watch TV etc.  Both FBO and public are adjacent to the tower and have a common parking lot.  Roanoke, 52F is non-towered, much shorter and narrower than KDTO but plenty big enough for GA aircraft. They have self serve gas and they’ve recently completed a runway refurb project which significantly improved the surface. Lots of open t-hangers and a considerable number of enclosed hangers (all privately owned).  Also they are a number of large community hangers ( hold 3 or 4 airplanes) I have no idea on the cost of the open T’s, but several of them are empty. All hangers are public access, meaning anyone can drive right up to them. Truthfully, finding an available hanger will likely be your biggest challenge. It took me a few months to find one. I was searching Hicks, 52F and Denton and finally got a call back from a man that owns about 20 enclosed T hangers at Denton.  My advice would be to start your search as soon as you can. A friend of mine owns hangers at 52F. I don’t think he has anything open but he likely knows others there and I can get you my guys name at Denton. Again, I’m not aware that he has anything open but that’s I finally found one. At Denton, you can also rent through the city of Denton( on site at the airport building mentioned above) or Nebrig and Assoc and US Aviation.  Again, welcome to DFW and I hope this is somewhat helpful. Jeff