Jan 2022 The Best Way to See Texas: From Above
We’re 12 days into our Texas flying tour and having a blast. We’re meeting lots of new people, pilots and non-pilots, touring museums, visiting airports, and usually eating what the locals eat. But at Day 12, we’ve really only seen a tiny portion of this enormous state. To put the size of Texas in perspective, Texas Monthly reports;
“Out in the Midwest, the amount of area you can cover while still staying within what would be the borders of Texas is impressive. People in St. Louis don’t tend to think of folks out in Charleston, South Carolina, as living close to them, but they’re almost the exact same distance apart as El Paso and Brownsville are. Charleston is a similar distance from Detroit, but they’re about as close together as Amarillo is to the Rio Grande Valley.”
We spent 3 days in the Hill Country and the lovely town of Fredericksburg, a destination not-to-be missed. If you visit, have breakfast or lunch at the very popular Airport Diner and stay overnight (or at least take a peak inside) the famous Hangar Hotel on the field at T82.
We were extraordinarily lucky to stay with fellow pilot friends Bob and Nancy in their Texas stone home on the outskirts of Fredericksburg.
See what I mean by “lucky”?! Getting close to a herd of Texas Longhorn cattle on their property was seriously cool.
More than just a pretty face, our host Nancy has many aviation irons in the fire. She flies a 115 hp Citabria and a Piper Dakota, is an IFR rated pilot, recovered the 7ECA and is the local go-to fabric repair/recovery specialist. She recently purchased a J5 project with a Continental C85-12, what looks to be a clean airframe.
Gotta love Nancy’s custom license plate.
Overflying the “Enchanted Rock” just north of T82. I’d never heard of this attraction known to UFO enthusiasts, apparently worldwide, so had to do the mandatory circle and entertain the crowd below. Amazing but the huge rock was swarming with sightseers and the base of the hill was lined with campers hoping for a glimpse of a shiny UFO.
Departing T82, we flew west to the little known metropolis of Pecos, Tx, KPEQ. Thank you KPEQ for letting us use your courtesy car overnite. Very helpful!
Don’t let anyone tell you there’s nothing in Pecos. You know you’ve found Pecos when you find the very first, 8′ high, painted cowboy boot…the 1st of many.
I’ve seen giant painted swans in Lakeland Florida, massive painted buffalos in South Dakota, even painted pigs somewhere, but 8′ cowboy boots is surely Pecos, Texas own.
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