What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Fort Worth Spinks

zspivey

Well Known Member
I need to make trip to Fort Worth next month. It is a 5 hour drive or a 2 hour flight in a Cessna 172 (My RV-8 is at the wings stage). Fort Worth Spinks (FWS) looks like the most convenient airport for the trip. Can someone tell me about the airport.

I have the basic info from the AOPA Airport Directory and I have looked at the AOPA website to down load the kneeboard stuff. Still I wonder why I never hear any of you Texas folks mention flying in there.
 
Spinks

Nice airport, but ground transportation will be limited. I guess you can call a taxi...been there plenty of times, but never as a full stop. The city recently built a permanent control tower and they are slowly turning it from a GA airport to an executive type airport, although Meacham still caters to the business class aircraft for Fort Worth.
 
Nice airport and they have a well maintained grass strip. My in-laws live in 5 miles from the airport so I'm somewhat of a regular. Unless it's a holiday weekend there are usually plenty of tie down spots availible.
 
Thanks

That is what I wanted to hear. My brother will pick me up there. He is driving up from College Station and Spinks is right on the way to our meeting.
 
Consider HICKS (T67)

12 Mi North of downtown.

Home to Avery Tools, Pratt's RV central and many more RV-centric services.

Pratt has posted on this forum that he always has hanger space for RVs. Maybe your 172 too since you are a builder.

http://www.hicksairport.com/
 
Hicks

I considered Hicks. If I were in Fort Worth for pleasure, I would certainly go there. This is a business trip. We are meeting some folks for lunch. Spinks is convenient for getting together.
 
Nice place

I have done almost all of my limited amount of flying out of Spinks. Large runway and (usually) not a bunch of traffic. A lot of people like to shoot practice approaches to 35L so be aware of that. They've also been doing a lot of construction at the airport so check the NOTAMS. What was mentioned earlier about the trasitioning of the airport to an executive type is my understanding also (and the cause for most of the construction). The tower, I believe, is open from 8:00am to 6:00pm. Depending on the day & time you go (non-peak and flight schools closed) there may be only 1 guy on duty and its possible he could be out at one of the hangars fueling. Consider I haven't been there in 4 or 5 months so some of this info can be dated.
 
I flown in and out of there many times. Nice airport. You won't have any problems. Busy though....keep an eye out!
 
Spinks

When the Spinks airport went to a tower we BCs just quit going there. We like to be free and the tower is not in our mode of 'opperindie'
Spinks has some good restaurents and a Home Depot too.
 
Tower...

Although we call it a "tower", at least the last time I flew in there, it was about a 4'x8' portable building, that is sometimes manned, and sometimes empty :D

This was about a year ago, but I got a good laugh out of it when I finally saw the 'tower' :)
 
Spinks Tower

txaviator said:
Although we call it a "tower", at least the last time I flew in there, it was about a 4'x8' portable building, that is sometimes manned, and sometimes empty :D

This was about a year ago, but I got a good laugh out of it when I finally saw the 'tower' :)

Gary,

You need to go back for another look! Spinks is getting a "real" tower and a new FBO building just north of the current one. The project has been really slow, the guy at the FBO said something about the wrong size windows were ordered and the project was seriously delayed.

When we were down there for a steak at the Outback a couple weekends ago, it looked like they were starting to work on the FBO again but the tower construction hasn't changed much in months.
 
Thanks

My trip into Fort Worth Spinks was uneventful. The sod runway worked O.K. The AWOS was calling Rynway 35R-17L closed but the sod runway was open. I never did find out why the AWOS made the statement. After I landed around 7:30, an instructor and his student took off from 17R.

Thanks for all the information.
 
GPM and GKY towers

txaviator said:
Although we call it a "tower", at least the last time I flew in there, it was about a 4'x8' portable building, that is sometimes manned, and sometimes empty :D

This was about a year ago, but I got a good laugh out of it when I finally saw the 'tower' :)
Just went to the tower at GPM today. It's a perch on the top of the Eurocopter hangar with all of 120 sq ft inside. Amazingly low tech - not even a direct line to regional approach (so they can't give you a Class B squawk). But, as always, it's the people who make it happen - nice guy (only one) on duty.

We did get some info on the GKY tower. It will have 6 controllers on rotation and should start operations in an advisory role later this month. Supposedly, it will not have a terminal radar repeater.
 
Back
Top