What airport do you go to in St Louis?

[AndreiC]

I need to fly into the St Louis area and stay two nights in the near future. Unfortunately it seems that at KSTL the only FBO is Signature, and they want to charge me $92/night for a tie-down, which I find a bit obscene. Is there some other preferred airport to go to? Lambert has the advantage that where I need to go is quite close to it, so I may end up biting the bullet and paying the fee, but I want to explore other options if there are.

 

[Rwsavory]

Downtown or Spirit of St. Louis are very GA friendly. We’ve used both, but mostly KCPS. It’s very easy to get into the city from there. 

[toto]

+1 for Parks

Very convenient to downtown 

[N201MKTurbo]

I concur, I have used both. Spirit is out in the nice suburbs, Cahokia is in a bad part of town, but it is close to downtown.

I was heading to NY a few years ago and spent the night at Spirit. The next morning I asked approach if I could get a tour of Downtown. Their replay was "I need you to say you won't fly under the Arch". I said "Affirmative, I will not". They said they needed a readback. I said "I will not fly under the Arch". They then gave me an awesome tour of St Louis at 1000 AGL, right next to the Arch.

[AndreiC]

Any experience with Creve Coeur (1H0)? It is closer to where I need to go.

[Rick Junkin]

@AndreiC I lived in St Louis/St Charles for 25 years and was based at Spirit for 6 years. I also flew out of KSET and 1H0 before moving to Spirit. We now go in to St Louis Regional KALN when we go back to visit family. No tie down or airport fees, and Enterprise will stage a rental car there for you. It’s a bit of a trek but I like the airport.

1H0 is a privately owned airport that’s open to the public. You won’t get any line support and it isn’t obvious where the transient tie downs are (on the ramp just south of the fuel pump) but the fuel is always reasonable for the area. I’ve never arranged a rental car there but Uber is plentiful. Pay particular attention to the airspace, there’s an irregularly shaped 1,700’ shelf under the STL class B that can get pretty crowded on a VFR day. And there are a number of good old boys who’ve been there for a long time and operate as they like at “their” airport, so keep your eyes and ears open. I still fly into 1H0 occasionally for day trips/meetings in St Charles and it always works out well.
 

 

[AndreiC]

1 hour ago, Rick Junkin said:

Pay particular attention to the airspace, there’s an irregularly shaped 1,700’ shelf under the STL class B that can get pretty crowded on a VFR day. And there are a number of good old boys who’ve been there for a long time and operate as they like at “their” airport, so keep your eyes and ears open. I still fly into 1H0 occasionally for day trips/meetings in St Charles and it always works out well.
 

 

Do you think Friday morning around 11am will be crowded? I don't like to mess with "good old boys", but then on the other hand 1H0 is the most conveniently located place for where I'll go to...

[Rick Junkin]

1 hour ago, AndreiC said:

Do you think Friday morning around 11am will be crowded? I don't like to mess with "good old boys", but then on the other hand 1H0 is the most conveniently located place for where I'll go to...

You will be fine, I didn't mean to dissuade you from going in there. 90% of the time you'll find it pretty quiet. Just take a good look at the airspace and the field notes before hand and be head's up once you get to the pattern. Plan to head west out of the VFR pattern if things don't look/feel right and that will keep you out of the Bravo. Just be mindful of KSUS class D to the west if you execute that pattern bailout option.

It's more like a private airpark environment. There is a grass runway 90 degrees to the main hard surface runway, and the tail draggers will also land in the grass parallel to and west of the hard runway. All of the hangars are individually owned and on land leased from the airport owner so the folks based there tend to be a pretty tight group. Many of them are retired and the airport is their hangout. Lots of warbirds, and there's a museum on the field. Give them a call before you go and they can tell you where to park and what fees they have now. I think it was $5 a night with the first night free with fuel purchase.

 

 

[TangoTango]

I'd go to Creve Coeur 100%! I've done a bit of flying into 1H0 (although now I operate largely into CPS) and it's a pretty cool environment if you like small airports with a strong GA community. It was pretty sleepy all winter, but now that it's warming up you might start seeing more traffic. 

Tie downs for a transient is $10/night, paid in the building behind the gas pump. Tie down ropes are in good shape. There is no transient hangar unless you can chat up somebody local to let you into theirs. Gas is cheap for St. Louis and they'll help you pump during business hours. Bathrooms are nice, too. There is no AWOS, so grab the frequency for SUS on your descent if you want weather. 

The biggest issue for me is the low Bravo shelf above the pattern. It's easy to bust, so plan on a level off on your way out while you contact St. Louis Approach. Fortunately, approach hands out Bravo clearances like candy as long as you aren't crossing the active final into STL.