On the Ground

After I land at an unfamiliar airport, I feel like a homeless person.
This summer I planned a long cross-country from Missouri to California
and back, and I wondered if I could fly into small airports and be
assured of finding food and lodging. What I learned may be of interest
to others. Here is what I encountered after landing.

Start: KPOF Poplar Bluff, MO I was able to stay in the snooze room
overnight so I could get an early start. Coffee, popcorn, hot water for
chocolate, provided, and before they closed I could have taken the
courtesy car into town for food, although it was not provided
overnight.

2F1 Shamrock, TX. Totally deserted, 3.5 miles from town, but with self
serve fuel. The week before I had called the airport. The phone number
had rolled over to someone in town who assured me there was NO taxi
service, and the FBO would not help. I called my first choice hotel for
someone to pick me up, but, "Sir, we do not provide that service." The
next choice was a hotel run -- if the accent was any indication -- by a
family from India. "Yes, Mike will come for you." And a week later
after I landed, he was there within a few minutes following my cell
phone call to the hotel. The next morning his nephew delivered me back
to N8526J, my Cessna 150.

KPEQ Pecos, TX. The FBO had free chips and salsa, cookies, ice cream,
soft drinks, and bottled water. The hotel was only a quarter mile away,
but the FBO gave me a courtesy car overnight in case I wanted to drive
elsewhere to eat.

KAVQ Marana, AZ. Earlier in the day, during a fuel stop, I had called
to find out the hotel situation. Everything was five to eight miles
away, but the Marana FBO offered an overnight crew car. When I arrived,
they met the plane in a golf cart, helped me carry my luggage to the
FBO office and gave me the courtesy car, which turned out to be a nice,
reasonably new, passenger van.

KOKB Oceanside, CA. Earlier at a fuel stop I had picked up a photo
chart that showed how to land at Oceanside to avoid over flight of
noise sensitive areas. At Oceanside, a hotel and several restaurants
were within a reasonable walk and the next day a bicycle path (about
three miles, paved, no highway crossings, very pleasant) took me to the
beach where I spent the day.

KPGA Page, AZ. The FBO and most of the hotels have free shuttle
service, both to and from the airport. However, after the first ride, I
realized everything is within easy walking distance. For my three days
in Page, I walked between hotel and airport and used the airport as a
staging point for flights over the Grand Canyon, to Sedona, and around
Sunset Crater and Meteor Crater, and along Lake Powell.

KCNY Canyonlands, Moab UT. From Page to Moab, the land was the most
rugged I have ever seen. It is essentially an endless array of vertical
rock formations and devoid of good landing sites. Flying higher doesn't
gain any better emergency landing sites so I decided to fly lower, find
Rainbow Bridge, and enjoy the scenery. Canyonlands airport would be a
tough one for transportation. It is eighteen miles from Moab. However,
almost as soon as I walked into the FBO office a pilot was going into
town and offered a ride. I spent two days in Moab and enjoyed the
pedestrian path that runs throughout town. It was easy walking on a
wide shaded path to an interesting park and restaurants. But how to get
back to the airport? On the evening of the second day I called the FBO
office before it closed. The young man said he drove to work at six
o'clock in the morning and would come by the hotel for me. In the small
world category, it turned out that Paul Miller, the same CFI that had
given me the flight review shortly before my trip, gave the multiengine
rating he received in February at St. Charles Flying Service near St.
Louis, Missouri.

TCCC Tucumcari, NM. A ninety minute courtesy car is available for going
into town to eat, but the car is not available for overnight use.
However, two hotels have free shuttle service, and the FBO would have
allowed me to spend the night in the FBO office. I enjoy staying
overnight in deserted landing fields, especially older ones because it
feels almost like I'm time traveling. However, because of the summer
heat, a shower was a welcome treat so I took the shuttle to hotel.

KXNA Northwest Arkansas Regional, AR. A true jet center, and my 150 was
so unusual that the line boss had one of his men fuel the 150 because
the fellow had never fueled anything but jets. Not a single GA aircraft
is based on the field. But they gave me a Lincoln courtesy car and
pointed me to a hotel that had a special rate for pilots that included
both evening and morning meals.

KPOF Poplar Bluff, MO. Back to where I started.

A total of 52 hours in the 150, landed at 24 airports with overnight
stays at those described above. Everyplace I landed I felt welcome.

Does anyone have experience going northeast? Am I likely to find FBOs
that are as accommodating?