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- Mar 5, 2017
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Last weekend, my wife and I flew to Charlotte to catch the inaugural NASCAR Roval 400 race (recommended if you like auto racing). I went to Charlotte-Douglas Int’l (CLT) instead of Concorde Regional (JQF) that is closer to the racetrack because my wife would not agree to a flight than looked like 4:30 plus planned one-way. Four hours was her limit, and she budged and allowed for CLT which was 4:15 planned.
The flight up from South Florida was nothing short a dream come true. We cruised at 11,000ft in our Dakota most of the way. We got to fly very close to two F-35’s going opposite direction at our altitude over Georgia. Conditions became IMC as we crossed South Carolina to North Carolina with broken to overcast at about 3,000ft-4,000ft MSL. We were originally cleared as filed along the Columbia and Allendale VORs, but they rerouted us to the RASLN arrival (I asked direct to the RASLN intersection instead of going all the way through Florence, SC to save as much time as possible) and were then vectored to the ILS 18L approach. Going through the clouds in real IMC for the first time felt pro.
I could not be more satisfied with the service at Wilson’s Air Center. Everyone was super nice and efficient. There were no surprise fees. In fact, all but one of the day/night parking fees were waived with a 55gal fuel purchased. So, I needed up paying for fuel and $25 parking total, and my plane was there from Friday to Monday.
In short, I would not hesitate to fly to Charlotte and land at CLT in the future. Even my wife, who was skeptical of being in a small plane for four hours, enjoyed the entire trip (she was able to study comfortably with her legs stretched out on the back seats) and was enthusiastic about planning our next adventure.
The flight up from South Florida was nothing short a dream come true. We cruised at 11,000ft in our Dakota most of the way. We got to fly very close to two F-35’s going opposite direction at our altitude over Georgia. Conditions became IMC as we crossed South Carolina to North Carolina with broken to overcast at about 3,000ft-4,000ft MSL. We were originally cleared as filed along the Columbia and Allendale VORs, but they rerouted us to the RASLN arrival (I asked direct to the RASLN intersection instead of going all the way through Florence, SC to save as much time as possible) and were then vectored to the ILS 18L approach. Going through the clouds in real IMC for the first time felt pro.
I could not be more satisfied with the service at Wilson’s Air Center. Everyone was super nice and efficient. There were no surprise fees. In fact, all but one of the day/night parking fees were waived with a 55gal fuel purchased. So, I needed up paying for fuel and $25 parking total, and my plane was there from Friday to Monday.
In short, I would not hesitate to fly to Charlotte and land at CLT in the future. Even my wife, who was skeptical of being in a small plane for four hours, enjoyed the entire trip (she was able to study comfortably with her legs stretched out on the back seats) and was enthusiastic about planning our next adventure.
