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 View the GPS track for this flight |
| TERMINAL AERODROME FORECAST (TAF) : San Antonio TX [KSAT] - 10am UTC (10Z) wind 300° at 5 knots, visibility greater than 6 miles, sky clear, 2:00pm UTC (1400Z) wind 180° at 6 knots, visibility greater than 6 miles, sky clear |
| METAR (Weather Observed) :
San Antonio TX [KSAT] hourly observation on the 20th at 11:53am UTC (1153Z) wind 310° at 5 knots, visibility 10 miles, sky clear below 12,000 feet, temperature 12°C (54°F), dewpoint 11°C (52°F), altimeter 30.17 |
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Learning to fly in South Texas means you spend a lot of time high over farm land, see a lot of cows down there and generally feel a bit better that there are about a dozen emergency landing sites within an easy glide. But the South Texas pilot need only fly a bit to the northwest to experience his first taste of topography. That's where you'll find rolling hills of the Texas Hill Country. In the midst of this incredible landscape lies the Real County Airport and Karl Katzer's "49 Romeo Fly-Inn".
Shannon and I launched from San Antonio International Airport into a sea of blue sky. There were no clouds to be found. The winds were light from the north with a winds aloft forecast, at 3,000 feet, of light & variable. It was the recipe for a smooth flight with little worry about a sneak attack from the clouds. If clouds decided to show up, we'd be able to spot 'em for miles. We climbed to our VFR cruise altitude of 4,500 feet. It was a bit hazier than we had wanted but not a total surprise since it was the second or third day past an atmosphere clearing cold front - plenty of time for contaminants to work there way into the air and get suspended with the lack of wind. Our flight plan called for making an overflight of Garner State Park, about 12 miles to the south of the Real County Airport. Garner State Park is easy to identify because of "Old Baldy" - a large hill that overlooks the Frio River. We'd hiked up the hill 3-4 days earlier and were looking forward to an aerial view of the park. Before long we were circling "Old Baldy" with Shannon snapping photos with her Canon D60 digital camera. I'm impressed, on every flight, with the unique view that's possible being 2 to 3 thousand feet in the air. It's an amazing experience. As we completed our orbits, we followed U.S. Highway 83 to the north which we knew would end up in Leakey, Texas - the small town that is home to the Real County Airport. This was a breathtaking leg of the trip. As we got close to Leakey and descended in preparation for our landing, the Frio River Canyon started to reach up at us. It was a new experience for me to fly with hills staring back at you at eye level on either side!! The closest weather reporting station was Uvalde which reported calm winds. This was good news given the view ahead. As the Real County Airport came into sight, I could see that on the approach end of Runway 15, there were hills. A straight-in to Runway 33 was an attractive option since the terrain opened up into the river canyon we were flying down. I made my usual zillion calls on the common traffic advisory frequency indicating I was making a straight-in approach. This too was unusual for me since I'm a stickler for flying full traffic patterns at uncontrolled fields. I like having the time to inspect the airport, identify other traffic in the area and make a full, stabilized approach. In this case, the safest thing to do seemed to be the straight-in approach due to the surrounding terrain. Since the winds were calm, Runway 33 was an option. As we zoomed over U.S. 83 on short final, I flared for landing. Throughout the approach I was locked and loaded, ready to initiate a go-around at a moment's notice. Seconds later we touched down...a pretty decent landing. I was happy (and I'm - like most pilots - a mean critic when it comes to landings - I'm a member of the Rod Machado school of "landing like a butterfly with sore feet" so anything harder than that usually disappoints me!!). We taxied to parking and walked the short distance to Karl's cabin. Yes, the 49 Romeo Fly-Inn is a cabin you can rent just a few feet away from the runway. The cabin offers 900 square feet of living space that includes a fully-outfitted kitchen, large comfortable bed, a screened-in porch for catching the canyon breezes and access to the airport's courtesy car. You can learn more about the 49 Romeo Fly-Inn by visiting Karl's web site. You won't find a friendlier host. This was a fun VFR flight in an area with beautiful scenery. I patted the engine cowling of Skyhawk 614SP and thanked her for another safe journey... |
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