Ok gang, just wanted to share with you guys a little about my trek today.

First off, this is the same Dave S who has been posting here for years.
I just finally decided "what the hell" and use my full name. For those
who think its "no big deal" just keep in mind I have had some issues in
the past that have led me to be cautious.

Anyways.. The mission today was to fly to SWRFI, The Southwest Regional
Flyin. Today was the inagural year in Hondo, Texas, having been at New
Braunsfels the past two years (then Abilene for a few years before
that..I dont remember how long ago it was in Kerrville). I am based at
Pearland Regional (KLVJ) in the Houston area and used a rental from the
Bay Area Aero Club.. A Socata TB-9 Tampico that is on leaseback to us.
The owners of this craft have a reputation for well maintained, well
equipped leaseback planes, and this one is no exception: Dual King KX
155's, a color King GPS, a King Multifunction Display and a digital
pushbutton transponder. The interior is clean, intact, and the
upholstery is leather. For those unfamiliar with the Socata family, the
cabin has a wide, spacious feel, and there is great visibility out the
acres of windows.

We (myself and another pilot/Club member) launched this morning from LVJ
into marginal VFR conditions (ground fog/haze) but being at a Class G
field, we were able to climb above it and proceed VFR the rest of the
way. One downside to the Tampico. Its relatively underpowered in the
TB-9 variant and climb rate is anemic at sea level. It was damn near
non-existent above 4000 feet. That is the ONLY bad thing I have to
relate about that airframe. We climbed to 6500 and stayed in the cool
air (and avoided a pretty solid undercast for most of the trip). Things
opened up as predicted and we shot the arrival into Hondo using the
published VFR arrival procedures. In a nutshell, you approach from the
east, along a freeway through a rural area outside of San Antonio. You
cross over a few reporting points, and report yourself at them. The
prodecure brings you in from the east at a 90 degree angle to the
primary runway and you turn downwind, base and land as directed. They
had other runways at their disposal for fast movers and special cases,
including a parralel.

We entered the procedure and reported in, and we started to fall in
trail of a Glastar. At this point I will say that I was not the "pilot
flying"... the other pilot is a friend of mine, but a new private pilot
and in the sub-100 hr range, with about 5 hours in type. I'm comfortable
with the radios, and was handling them for the flight following and
arrival procedure. We didn't get slowed down enough and low enough
according to the arrival prodecures to fall in trail of the Glastar, and
I called in that we were overtaking him. At this point we were still
EAST of the entry point, so we werent in the no-passing zone. This call
was more of an advisory to the glastar than anything else. (This isn't
Osh... they don't do the "airplane remains silent" thing at SWRFI). The
arrival/approach folks told us at this point to deviate and continue
straight overhead to the field, then enter a right downwind for Rwy 13
(the active was 17L, and the departure ends of these LONG runways do
converge at the end). Ok.. No problem. The field is in sight. We have
other traffic in sight, everything is hunky-dory. THEN.. when we are
about 2 miles east of the field, arrival tells me I am supposed to go
ahead and do a downwind to 17L.. and I SWORE I heard him say RIGHT
downwind (when the procedure specifies LEFT downwind along the perimeter
of the field).

I wasn't sure WHAT I heard. I'm coming up on the turn point for the LEFT
downwind really quickly when all of a sudden the arrival frequency gets
busy.. three guys call in in rapid succession and I cant get a word in
edgewise until im OVER the runway. I clarify things, found out we missed
the turn after all. The arrival guy kept us on his frequency instead of
tower, took us overhead and had us turn right downwind for 13 instead.
We had some miscommunication in the cockpit and we ended up flying
downwind OVER 13, and when my friend appeared to be trying to turn back
towards 17... I asked for and recieved the plane controls, turned back
to the left, made a circling downwind/base/final and landed short on 13.
Ok.. all the excitement was over. I have to say, I was hoping things
would have gone smoother than that.. We briefed the approach in the
cockpit several times, including the airspeed/altitude and flight path
restrictions. Changing the plan twice in the last 4 minutes did NOT help
matters and I am wondering if we should have busted out. With regards to
the frequency being busy.. the same thing happened to me last year..
where we are supposed to report in/turn at a certain point, and missed
getting permission LAST year too.. anyways, rant off. Nothing was bent,
nothing was close to getting bent (and nothing that would require a NASA
form), and it all worked out in the end. Honestly, though, I like the
Osh style approach (with a "FISK-like" location, but that would involve
a much larger infrastructure than I believe is wanted.

Once on the ground, we were directed by some strapping young CAP cadets
and parked on far south end of an otherwise FULL ramp full of several
hundred planes. We made the rounds of the factory built stuff and the
experimentals. Saw the Velocity XL RG, the RV 7 and RV 10 factory
planes.. a handful of Cozy's and Longs and one VERY distinctive
Vari-Viggen. I saw a few local guys, including a new RV8 pilot who is
hangared behind me at Ellington (where I am helping build a Velocity
with Mazda Rotary), A bright red Thorpe T-18 that is from EFD as well, a
few local (pearland) Yak Pilots were there with their planes as well. I
saw a total of 4 cessna 195's.. never seen so many at once.. numerous
RV's and other airframes filled the ramp. Grand Rapids and Dynon had
displays on site. Diamond had the DA 40 opened up at their display booth
on the ramp as well.

We spent about 3-4 hours on the ground this time, walked the ramp, hit
the booths and displays, bought t-shirts and do-hickeys in the "fly
market" and in general just had a good time. Last year, at New
Braunsfels, we took a car and went into town for lunch.. well Hondo just
isnt the same town.. and suffice it to say we stayed on field and had a
bit of fair food.. but we elected to come back home early.

Departure was not nearly as interesting.. but I have the feeling that
there was an "event" of some sort. We got clearance and fired up, and
got direction from ground to taxi to the north end of the ramp. After
runup, I switched to tower (but was still monitoring ground
intermittently at that point) and was given clearance to take off
(again, I wasnt the pilot flying so I was listening to the radios and
double checking checklist items... and I heard Ground call for all
aircraft not cleared by tower to hold position and shut down. I had my
clearance and was pulling on the runway at this point, so we continued
as cleared. I wasn't sure what was going on, since the airshow wasnt
scheduled for another 30-40 minutes... but as we rotated and lifted off,
I could see the fire truck rolling with their lights on.. and they were
converging on the ultralight area. The circumstances tell me something
happened. I don't know the details, and I HOPE it was minor... I will
have to wait for feedback to know for sure.

We departed per the posted procedure, then dropped into Castroville
(T89) about 15 miles east for some $2.55 avgas. The fuel truck didn't
have time to make it to us on the ramp at SWRFI so we refueled at the
next point along the path home. Turns out it was cheaper this way
anyways. Made it back to Pearland Regional around 4-5 pm, and just got
back from Margarita's and Tacos...

Overall.. I had fun. I will be back. The arrival was actually pretty
simple, and we bore most of the responsibility for how our arrival
turned out (altitude, airspeed, landing runway). The ramp was spacious,
and there was room for twice as many planes as were parked there - the
parking config was "pull through" instead of being "interlocked" tail to
tail. The FAA guys looked like they were comfortable.. there were some
"controller shacks" on the field that looked like permanent
installations - I think the military has a training presence there. The
"fly-in layout" appeared pretty decent... all in all the SWRFI guys did
a good job.

Critique wise..

1) the controllers meant well, but changing plans twice on us didn't
help much with a new pilot in the left seat going to an unfamiliar
airport. There was no opposing traffic to the non-standard arrival we
had been issued.. truth is.. we would have been past the gla-star and
been on altitude and airspeed before entry into the procedure, so the
deviation (and its recinsion, then re-issue) was unneeded in the first
place. Note to self: emphasize arrival procedure airspeed and altitudes
when doing the "pilot not flying" stuff next time - there was no reason
we SHOULDNT have been properly in trail behind the glastar.

2) Fuel guys were doing "first come - first serve". Sounds fair.. but
very inefficient. They were taking fuel orders on the phone as well as
by flag-downs.. What was happeneing was.. they'd search for each plane
that was next on the list.. and drive to opposite ends of the field in
the process. Or at least that was my perception. I realize that it is
not realistic to have an FBO buy a second fuel truck for a once a year
event.. maybe their is a "loaner" solution to this somehow. I like the
idea of marking the plane with a refueling sticker/sign and then just
driving the line.. fill em as you get to them.

3) Last year, we were met on the ramp and given armbands in exchange for
admission fees. This year, we walked the half mile or more to a pilot
registration booth, then if we wanted to put anything on the plane like
a prop-sign (or fuel sign, if one existed) we would have had to walk
back.. roving pilot registration seems simpler - 2 to 3 golf carts could
have accomplished it, even if they were simply parked down at the ends
where people were arriving (rather than chasing planes down one by one)

I hope nobody was seriously hurt in what I am presuming was an accident
in the ultralight area.

Any SWRFI guys reading this: Good Job, hope this location grows.. and
hopefully this will be the end of the moves for a while.

Dave Staten
Houston Area, Texas