In Well Over 400 Hours Of Flight Time, ANN Sure Got Around This
Year
Final Compilations by ANN Editor-In-Chief/Cheap-Fuel-Finder,
Jim Campbell
It was a busy and wide-ranging
year for ANN. Since taking the plunge and buying a Cirrus G3 Turbo
in the wee hours of 2008 (literally on New Year's Eve), and we've
been spending a LOT of time on/over the road and with some 300
hours in our aircraft and nearly 200 more in a few others
(including a long/great trip in a Columbia/Cessna 400) and quite a
few hours in a really sweet Turbo-Aztec (with all the ice-fighting
goodies... one of the most rugged workhorses in the M/E world). In
so doing, we've been to a number of airports, FBO and maintenance
facilities in the course of the year... many of which truly
distinguished themselves... and a few that truly did not. That
being the case, we wanted to recognize some of the better
experiences we had this year in the hope that the word will get out
that these are aviation businesses worth frequenting and have
demonstrated their ability to earn our business... and a return
visit when the opportunity arises.
On a fall trip to the West Coast, N377SR got to see the best and
worst of a number of Southern tier FBOs... among those that truly
stood out include:
2M2 Lawrenceburg/Lawrence County Airport, Lawrenceburg,
Tennessee
We can't close 2009 without noting the exceptional experiences
we've had during a few fuel stops in ever-so-rural Lawrenceburg
Tennessee, a 'countrified' location that's becoming one of our
favorite "middle of nowhere" refueling locations. We must also
admit to a little bit of favoritism for such a wonderful little
country FBO out in the middle of America that has managed to do its
thing with courtesy, class, professionalism and value in such
trying times. I'm a sucker for the little guy... especially the one
that has a will to survive.
Such is the overtly positive
experience we have had on a number of occasions while swooping in
to refuel at the uncommonly cost-effective pumps at a single runway
airport in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. In the middle of a visage awash
with gorgeous green landscapes, Lawrenceburg is a sweet site
to stop in whether coming through in the best of VFR, or while
muddling through the miasma of an IFR approach to minimums.
Lawrenceburg is anything but a fancy airport, with just enough of a
facility to get the job done... but it's what it does with what
little it has that makes all the difference in the world. The
fellow who pumps the fuel is courteous, careful, just chatty enough
to be friendly, and constantly worrying about how to keep the price
of his fuel down so that people will find a good reason to visit
Lawrenceburg and keep flying. The little FBO on the top of the
hill that oversees the fuel island is clean, reasonably equipped,
and the sodas in the fridge are available for sale on the honor
system -- just leave your change in the cup. It's simply a nice
place to visit -- one which has never disappointed me each time I
dropped in and it usually boasts an unusually for low fuel
price which originally served as the initial attraction for my
first landing... and later revealed the calm sweet nature of a
country airport that mirrors the best of the fields I once visited
while a student pilot in my mid teens. Such Mom and Pop FBOs warm
my soul and give me such immense hope for the future of aviation --
even now.
Lawrenceburg is like a lot of little FBOs -- they can't be
making a whole hell of a lot of money, but they know what they're
there for -- to provide the best that they can with
professionalism, courtesy and the ever present wistful hope that
things will be better for general aviation sometime soon. For the
sake of such lonely but lovely little air-patches that dot the
American landscape, we hope that aviation collectively comes
together to find proper powerful solutions that will allow them to
survive and thrive in the future.
The little country airport, whether it be named Lawrenceburg or
something else equally American, deserves to survive not just for
the services they provide but because they are uniquely as
Aero-American as anything I know. If you get the chance, check into
Lawrenceburg Tennessee, (2M2), and be sure to tell them that the
folks at ANN said hello -- and that we'll be back soon.
Aero-Verdict: Good Service, Great Value, Very Pleasant Field,
Highly Recommended.
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