2021 Fuel Stop Reviews

[Learjetter]

Just a quick review of some of the places we stopped recently and how we found the services (in no particular order):

Billings, MT: KBIL -- Edwards Jet Center: Full service, excellent customer service, no fees, and they will hangar you if snow is forecast.

Danbury, CT: KDXR -- Reliant Aircraft: Full service, excellent customer service, $10/day ramp fee unless you buy gas (we did not because of climb gradient out of DXR)

Akron, OH KCAK: McKinley Air: Full service, Excellent customer service and crew car, but CAK charges a $10 landing fee I got in the mail a couple weeks after the trip. Why McKinley didn't collect and submit for us is a mystery.

Chickasha/Hinton/Weatherford Oklahoma (KCHK, K2O8, KOJA): All good muni airports with cheap(er) self-service fuel, crew cars, etc. Hinton has cheapest fuel in the state, and Weatherford has the Stafford Air/Space museum ($) as part of the FBO facility.

Ada, OK (KADH): Heartland Aviation, also GAMI and Tornado Alley Turbos are located at KADH. Full or self service, crew cars, nice FBO.

Tulsa, OK (KTUL) We went to Intercontinental Jet Service Corp to get the rear MT Prop re-sealed which was next door to Sparks FBO. Both provided EXCELLENT service. Evelyn's Soulfood is in the rear of Sparks FBO and is incredible.

Perryville, MO (KPCD): Self-service muni airport, with nice little FBO office. Good for a quick fuel stop.

Springfield, OH (KSGH): Self-service w/crew car. Nice airport, minimal services, good for a quick fuel stop.

Springfield, MO (KSGF): Premier Aviation FBO: always excellent customer service and nice facility.

Harrisburg, PA: (KMDT): AvFlight Aviation: Nice, full-service FBO. Excellent for a quick fuel stop.

Casper, WY: (KCPR): Atlantic Aviation, always a nice stop, responsive refueling.

Sidney, NE (KSNY): Excellent Muni FBO. On-duty A&P towed me into a hangar and let me assist in servicing the brakes in under 30 mins and with no charge after only buying only 20 gals full-service fuel.

Goodland, KS (KGLD) Butterfly Aviation: nice little FBO with a cafe next door. A couple of really nice C195s in their hangar. Quick with the full-service fuel.

Garden City, KS (KGCK) Saker Aviation: Opted to stop in Garden City due to severe wx + tornadoes in Oklahoma. Saker was dealing with 5 US Army Blackhawks + crews also stuck there--they got us all (20+ people) pizza, then rooms in the Heritage hotel (nice!) and courtesy transportation to and from, and all at a great rate! Provided excellent refueling & tie-down service for our stay.

Rapid City, SD (KRAP): WestJet Aviation: Nice FBO, quick refuel, good security, and good customer service getting us to/from hotel.

Ainsworth, NE (KANW): Self-service, small limited manning at Muni FBO. OK for fuel stop only.

Hays, KS (KHYS): Nice FBO, quick full service fuel. Vending machines.

Harrison, AR: (KHRO): OK FBO, we didn't refuel, nice crew car.

Mountain Home, AR (KBPK): Nice FBO, quick service.

[patrolpilot]

“Tulsa, OK (KTUL) We went to Intercontinental Jet Service Corp to get the rear MT Prop re-sealed which was next door to Sparks FBO. Both provided EXCELLENT service. Evelyn's Soulfood is in the rear of Sparks FBO and is incredible.”

Great report! TUL is my refuel/break stop for Victoria, TX to St Paul. Sparks and Evelyn’s!

[hharney]

Originally Posted by patrolpilot

“Tulsa, OK (KTUL) We went to Intercontinental Jet Service Corp to get the rear MT Prop re-sealed which was next door to Sparks FBO.

What happened to the seal on the MT prop hub?

[Learjetter]

Originally Posted by hharney

What happened to the seal on the MT prop hub?

Herb,
My six-year-old MT props were eligible for the Service Bulletin on the lag screws, and I also had some persistent grease leakage (& maybe a little oil leakage) on the rear prop, so I opted to have them overhauled in Dec 2020. By June 2021, the rear prop was still seeping grease, so I swung by TUL and the shop pulled the prop and re-sealed it, gratis, in about a six-hour time-span.

[hharney]

Good to hear that shop is responsive like that

Thanks for posting

[mshac]

Spent a week in Des Moines last month for an athletic tournament. Decided to use Exec One Aviation at IKV Ankeny instead of Des Moines Intl (DSM) due to lower costs.

PROS:
1. Ramp parking is FREE. Did I mention FREE? (Hangar is $100/night - I passed.)
2. FBO let me keep a crew car overnight (a 2019 Chevy), which they normally don't allow. I thought I had a Hertz car waiting, but mistakenly reserved it starting the next day. I came back the next day and swapped cars.
3. Hertz is across the street at the Chevy dealer and will deliver/pick up cars from the FBO. You get the "local" price instead of the "airport/FBO" price, saving hundreds in my case. Don't get me started on FBO rental car mark-ups.
4. Self-serve 100LL was $5.99, not bad considering. Pump and credit card machine were both in great condition. I topped off upon departure.

CONS:
1. Airport is about 10 miles north of downtown Des Moines (not a big deal to me).
2. Staff at Exec One acted disinterested at best. The type of place where you walk up to the counter and no one looks up from their phone/computer until you say something, even though they can see you. The staff upon leaving was different, and slightly nicer. I called twice and spoke with "Mark" prior to my arrival to make a reservation and provide my ETA, but when I arrived it was as if we'd never spoken before. What did the employee's name tag say? You guessed it - "MARK".
3. Fuel pump turns off quickly when it senses no fuel flowing. It turned off on me while I repositioned the ladder to fuel the other wing. First time this has ever happened to me. Just be aware.