Like many of you, I used a personal airplane over the Thanksgiving holiday to be with family. I flew from Florida to a spot in the Virginia mountains and back, over 700 nm one-way flown nonstop. The northbound portion featured decent weather and a tailwind. The southbound leg included a mix of everything, including stiff headwinds and moderate-to-severe turbulence.
I left a day earlier than planned, since the forecasts were calling for ceilings well below the approach minima at my mountain-ringed destination, the Luray (Va.) Caverns Airport, KLUA. Advancing my timetable turned out to be a wise decision, as the weather forecast proved accurate for my scheduled arrival the following day. Plan B fixed that problem but created another: renting a car at a small-town airport.
None of the available options were working out before I took off. I had even phoned the small FBO at KLUA to inquire if there were any other options; to his credit, the attendant I spoke with said he’d work on it. And he did.
By the time I arrived, Jimmy and Roger, the airport staff, had come up with a solution: I could use the airport’s courtesy car, gratis. (The car, a late-1980s Ford Escort, was a hybrid: it burned gas and oil.) I also wanted the airplane parked close to an electrical outlet so I could use my Debonair’s engine heater before departing. They came up with a solution for that, also: rolling me into an insulated hangar with electrical service. I installed my drop cord before I left the airplane, with the idea I’d call to ask them to plug it in the night before I planned to depart. And that’s what we did.
There was no charge for either the car, the insulated hangar or the electricity. I did, of course, leave a substantial tip for Jimmy and Roger. All of this was in the shadow of the recent Las Vegas Grand Prix and the $3000 fees that area airports were demanding for a piston single to use their ramps for just a stop, drop and hop.
Neither Jimmy nor Roger knew me from Adam, nor did they know I have this forum where I can publicly again thank them both and unreservedly recommend KLUA as a fuel stop or ultimate destination. Thanks again, gentlemen. I’ll be back.
