Total Eclipse Fly-In Info.

[FlyingVAce]

Cross posted to Vacations

KBMQ Burnett is having quite an affair April 8. 

DO NOT FLY in to KLZZ Lampasas. Airport will be closed April 5 thru April 9th. They have not posted the NOTAM for this. They don't have many tie-downs to begin with, ropes are missing, and one guy takes up half of them with his Navion projects. Besides, their gas pumps are broken. Such pot-lickers down there. Their pumps have been broken since Dec. 2023. 

Fly Safely 

[FlyingVAce]

Additonally, I have info on other airports if anyone is considering flying into this area. We are on the centerline of the Eclipse. ( Wills Point Texas ). Local airport 76F ( Van Zandt County RGNL ) has a parking for 15ish  airplanes. 

Let the craziness begin. Our town of 3500 people are expecting around 30,000 folks. 

[EricJ]

1 hour ago, FlyingVAce said:

Additonally, I have info on other airports if anyone is considering flying into this area. We are on the centerline of the Eclipse. ( Wills Point Texas ). Local airport 76F ( Van Zandt County RGNL ) has a parking for 15ish  airplanes. 

Let the craziness begin. Our town of 3500 people are expecting around 30,000 folks. 

We're thinking of flying in somewhere on the morning of, but have no idea where since it's not clear where there'll be space, etc.   

[0TreeLemur]

2 hours ago, EricJ said:

We're thinking of flying in somewhere on the morning of, but have no idea where since it's not clear where there'll be space, etc.   

Interesting problem and a bunch of us have the same problem.   Unless you are near Texas, cloud cover forecasts the day before will likely cause the candidate airports to shift.   Thoughts: Pick an airport with a runway too short for jets- cut down on the competition for parking.  Fly in with enough fuel that  you don't have to buy any before leaving to save time and avoid the worry about broken pumps.   Someplace with plenty of parking on the grass.  Fly in the day before and camp?

From me (west-central Alabama) the closest places to see totality are Arkansas or Missouri.  Could go to TX.   We watched the last one in 2017 near Paducah, but that was before we discovered the magic of Al Mooney's creation.

We flew to Chile (not by Mooney) in 2019 to watch a total eclipse on the beach!

 

[Mcstealth]

6 hours ago, EricJ said:

We're thinking of flying in somewhere on the morning of, but have no idea where since it's not clear where there'll be space, etc.   

I am headed to the airport Board meeting in the morning. I will get the skinny at KERV at least. 

[Mcstealth]

Kerrville is fully booked at the airport.

Monday arrivals mandatory PPR and  IFR only. 

[UteM20F]

On 2/27/2024 at 10:31 AM, FlyingVAce said:

KBMQ Burnett is having quite an affair April 8. 

@FlyingVAceWill KBMQ have places to tie down for a day or two?  It looks like the local hotels are already booked.  Is it acceptable, and are there places, to throw down sleeping bags?

Like others have said here and elsewhere, I don't know what to expect to find at any given airport for the eclipse.  We had an annular eclipse here in Utah a few months ago, and we drove to the middle of nowhere (Delta), and were surprised to see a dozen airplanes at KDTA, the sleepy airport there.  On a normal day you would see one or two planes there.

Thanks!

Ute

[FlyingVAce]

76F is dead zero for the eclipse. good runway, I fly in a lot. You can hang out there I'm certain. I probably will be over there if needed as the local guy who "should be around" is rarely around. Call first. The gas pump was a mess a few months ago. I believe they got it fixed. I'll check that for you as well. 

512-470-4701 Anytime

[FlyingVAce]

I re-read your message. Yes this little airport may have their share of planes. But they have room to part 10-15 planes. I know that because they had a flying there months ago and that was how many were there. ((( checking on the gas there 76F )))

[FlyingVAce]

The latest intel is the gas pumps are working fine at 76F.

Buck

[FlyingVAce]

On 2/28/2024 at 2:12 PM, Mcstealth said:

Kerrville is fully booked at the airport.

Monday arrivals mandatory PPR and  IFR only. 

OK I'm not proud to ask...... PPR is what? 

[EricJ]

20 minutes ago, FlyingVAce said:

OK I'm not proud to ask...... PPR is what? 

Sometimes means "prior permission required".

Does anybody have advice on going in to Del Rio (KDRT)?   We may be able to fly there on Sunday and stay.

[Mcstealth]

4 hours ago, FlyingVAce said:

OK I'm not proud to ask...... PPR is what? 

Ha. No worries. I didn't know until it was brought up in the airport board meeting. 

It is a permission request of sorts.

It is more a military thing than a private pilot thing I was told. 

[SethKeefer]

Well, I was planning to fly into Kerrville on the 6th, I guess I should have reserved a spot.

I rented a house and 2 cabins near Bandera, east of Kerrville, so I don’t need an airport in totality, but something close would be nice.  

KHDO looks like lots of ramp space and not too far, anyone have some intel on it?

The 2017 totality I flew into in Tennessee had probably 200 aircraft parked along the grass on a small muni airport.

 

Edited March 23 by SethKeefer

[LANCECASPER]

5 hours ago, SethKeefer said:

Well, I was planning to fly into Kerrville on the 6th, I guess I should have reserved a spot.

I rented a house and 2 cabins near Bandera, east of Kerrville, so I don’t need an airport in totality, but something close would be nice.  

KHDO looks like lots of ramp space and not too far, anyone have some intel on it?

 

Call the FBO at 830-426-3810 but don't expect anyone to answer. They may return a call? (https://www.airnav.com/airport/KHDO/A3)

If you land there bring your own wheel chocks, tie-downs. Hopefully you have a car to use. Don't expect a rental car or courtesy car or Uber to get you to Bandera. San Antonio has showed no cars available for weeks now for new reservations.  KHDO has a self-serve fuel pump, but again if there are a lot of people there wanting to fill up I wouldn't count on that. I've landed there for fuel and found a sign saying that they were out of fuel during "normal" times. Thankfully KCVB (17 nm east) had fuel for me when that happened.

KHDO has nice runways, a great building for the FBO, but other than an instructor that I used to use for Flight Reviews who met me there I've never seen another human in the building. Maybe they would allow you to sleep under the wing on an air mattress? If I remember correctly there may be a shower in the restroom (or that could be KCVB a few miles East of KHDO).

Kerr (Kerrville) and Gillespie (Fredericksburg) Counties (and maybe Bandera County) have declared their counties disaster areas for the eclipse and have advised locals to stock up on food, water and fuel weeks ahead of the eclipse. This could mean that the shelves will be bare in the stores or maybe not? Good plan to bring some food/drink.

[Planegary]

For anybody looking to fly into Searcy,ark KSRC the airport will have a $50 ramp fee for all planes and will not wave any fees for fuel purchase. They also will not have any additional services for transients and there is no taxi services there and the crew car availability is suspect. Fuel there is also one of the highest places in the state for a non controlled airport so always call ahead so you don’t get blindsided by some unexpected small town fees

[Mcstealth]

4 hours ago, SethKeefer said:

Well, I was planning to fly into Kerrville on the 6th, I guess I should have reserved a spot.

I rented a house and 2 cabins near Bandera, east of Kerrville, so I don’t need an airport in totality, but something close would be nice.  

KHDO looks like lots of ramp space and not too far, anyone have some intel on it?

The 2017 totality I flew into in Tennessee had probably 200 aircraft parked along the grass on a small muni airport.

 

Hondo is big and basically unmanned. It is equal distant to Bandera as Kerrville is. Fuel is usually less expensive than Kerrville by a good amount. Bring tie downs. Line up transportation. Go to HEB grocery store in Hondo before driving to Bandera. 

[Mcstealth]

Uvalde, TX KUVA has made ZERO preparations for the event. I talked to the FBO today and they are ill prepared. They have space enough for planes, but no organization for the actual event. 

I feel Kerrville has restricted itself somewhat. IMHO