Van's Air Force
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McGehee's Catfish Restaurant
- Thread starter PCHunt
- Start date
McGeehee's
The restaurant is open but the runway has been closed for a few years after one or two fatalities. The real show stopper was the C182 that flew right over the huge X's on the runway that was being reworked, landed in the soft dirt, and flipped. Not sure if he was one of the fatalities but that stupid pilot trick helped shut the runway forever!
The restaurant is open but the runway has been closed for a few years after one or two fatalities. The real show stopper was the C182 that flew right over the huge X's on the runway that was being reworked, landed in the soft dirt, and flipped. Not sure if he was one of the fatalities but that stupid pilot trick helped shut the runway forever!
Bubblehead
Well Known Member
A/FD says runway is closed indefinitely
I used to go in there too in a Cub back in the early 1990's and loved it. Moved back to DFW area 2 years ago and have been wanting to go up there but did not realize the runway was closed. Guess I'll have to (ugh) drive if I want some of their great catfish.
I used to go in there too in a Cub back in the early 1990's and loved it. Moved back to DFW area 2 years ago and have been wanting to go up there but did not realize the runway was closed. Guess I'll have to (ugh) drive if I want some of their great catfish.
Alan Carroll
Well Known Member
NTSB
According to the database there were two accidents in 2007. One was the 182 mentioned above (flown by a 27,500 hour pilot), but the previous month a Baron touched down short of the strip and ended up with one fatality.
Even if you have to drive its worth the the trip for the restaurant! (I take Wisconsin geology students there when we do fieldtrips to Oklahoma)
According to the database there were two accidents in 2007. One was the 182 mentioned above (flown by a 27,500 hour pilot), but the previous month a Baron touched down short of the strip and ended up with one fatality.
Even if you have to drive its worth the the trip for the restaurant! (I take Wisconsin geology students there when we do fieldtrips to Oklahoma)
jbDC9
Well Known Member
I read on another forum somewhere that the owners closed it due to insurance reasons... apparently after so many prangs it was getting prohibitively expensive. Not that the crunches were the airport owners fault; it was a challenging strip to fly into, but not a big deal if you know what you're doing. After reading through the many NTSB reports from there over the years, it appears that some of these guys didn't...
You are correct! The owner said the insurance cost after the major accidents became prohibitive for them. The Feds didn't close the runway, the owner did.
Neal@F14
Well Known Member
I 've landed my Cherokee 140 there several times over the years gone by and for the most part is was like just about like landing at any other grass strip nestled in trees. Except one day, when there was a very strong gusty crosswind out of the east, when I was about to flare, I encountered some really hairy turbulence/rotor effect that required rapid aileron input all the way to one lock, then the other side to keep level and I still thought I was about to drag a wingtip, and gave it full power to initiate a go-around, and then the turbulence quit as abruptly as it had begun and I was able to complete the landing normally. It sure was an eye-opener and adrenalin-maker. Each time I landed there after that one, I was extra-ready to handle any surprises, but never again encountered any weird winds there.
I've flew in there a few times when I lived in Oklahoma. It was definitely a challenging strip. There was a sort of dog leg in the middle of the strip as well as a road that crossed it. Looking at a sectional, it appears to be open, but who knows. One thing I noticed about flying in Oklahoma, is that the winds were always rough when they were coming out of the east.
T40
The runway is CLOSED! Yes, it is still on the DFW Sectional but if you go to the current AFD it says "Runway Permanently Closed, Do Not Land!"
Checking a sectional before flying somewhere is NOT enough of information.
A good example is the old Saginaw Texas airport (F04). I lived on the airport until the owner sold the property and closed the runway. It stayed on the DFW charts for several years and then they finally put an X thru the airport symbol and now it's finally off the charts and we moved 10 years ago.
The runway is CLOSED! Yes, it is still on the DFW Sectional but if you go to the current AFD it says "Runway Permanently Closed, Do Not Land!"
Checking a sectional before flying somewhere is NOT enough of information.
A good example is the old Saginaw Texas airport (F04). I lived on the airport until the owner sold the property and closed the runway. It stayed on the DFW charts for several years and then they finally put an X thru the airport symbol and now it's finally off the charts and we moved 10 years ago.
I realize that. I live in Alaska now and don't have a lot of current information on flying in that area. I just looked at the sectional on Sky Vector. I never understood why it can take so long for them to update a closed airport on a sectional. Seems like a pertinent bit of info to me.
Yes, I know I'm necroposting, but I just discovered something interesting, courtesy of another thread here: a 2013 amendment to 76 O.S. 10.1 that gives owners of private airstrips immunity from liability. See http://theraf.org/news/2010/update-state-recreational-use-statutes-they-pertain-aviation for details, but it looks like insurance ought to be available. Does anybody have any more current news? I flew down there a couple of time around 2006-ish (I think), but had heard about the closure.
