Rendezvous at Lakeway Airport

 

Lakeway Airport 3R9
The COVID-19 virus has thrown a wrench into family gatherings. For Thanksgiving, this was really sad.

But there is a cure: Hop into your airplane, fly to an airport near family, and meet them at the airport with social distancing.

Did just that: Flew from Dallas to the Lakeway airport (3R9) near Austin and met with son Martin.

It was a perfect day: Clear sky, reasonable temperatures in the 60s, modest tailwind going to Lakeway flying at 2,500 ft, and then another tailwind going back in the afternoon at 5,500 ft.

Lakeway airport terminal

Distance about 200 nm one-way, took a bit more than two hours for each trip.

Son Martin brought two lawn chairs. We sat next to the terminal building in the shade, out of the wind, and had a great time together.

Am writing about this since that airport is a lovely place to meet. The runway is in excellent condition, though there is a rise in the middle and you cannot see the other end. Hence radio communication about entering and leaving the runway is mandatory.

You can tie down, but are asked to fill the tanks. We did so, gobbling up a huge 6.7 gal. If we had driven there with the same fuel consumption, would have had 35 mph.  

We met nice folks living at the airport, and had fun watching takeoffs and landings. The terminal building has an outside speaker with the radio transmissions, so we knew the type of the planes coming in for landing or taking off.

Judging the landings of the various planes is a great sport when you have done a good job yourself, as happened that day for me. 

The flight back late in the afternoon was like magic. The airport is near Lake Travis. With the sun already low, there was a wonderful view of the lake and the houses crowded around it.

The air was smooth. The autopilot kept the direction. The engine ran very well, purring as only Rotax manages to do---sorry, Continental and Lycoming folks. 

Approaching the DFW class B space, we decided to go around the outer perimeter so we could stay at 5,500 ft. That way we avoided descending into the headwind below the class B space.

Near McKinney we turned west, dove below the outer ring of the class B space, and in a few minutes were at Aero Country airport. 

What do you know? Managed another totally smooth landing.

Which all adds up to: A perfect day of flying, seeing family, and getting away from the COVID-19 misery.

Why do we write about such a simple trip? We want to convince you to go out and have fun with your plane.

One more thought. ADS-B showed once more how many planes are always in the air in the DFW area. Paying attention is a good way to avoid a collision.

Have any questions or feedback about this post? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

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