2024: Newer FBO with full kitchen and lounge area. Courtesy car is available 24x7, talk to the manager for the procedure for access. In town, there is a Hub City Railroad Car museum with old trains that are accessible anytime.
Great airport with new pilot’s lounge and lookout deck. Two courtesy cars are available in a heated garage (call ahead to get garage code). Highly recommend the Driftless Cafe owned by Chef Luke Zahm (“Wisconsin Foodie”).
Nice airport with simple pilot’s lounge and bathroom. Unfortunately, no courtesy car is available nor any reasonable transportation into town.
2024: Courtesy car (ex-police Ford Explorer) keys in the FBO
Good lounge with snacks and clean bathrooms. Great downtown area with a variety of shops & restaurants. Be sure to go to the downtown area vs. the surrounding residential area. Courtesy car must be reserved in advance now.
Smooth grass strip with Babe’s Steakhouse an easy ¾ mile walk away for some great prime rib. Call the airport manager for strip conditions.
The runway was re-asphalted and several hangars at the airport were revamped to give the airport an overall fresher look. Walk north 0.8m to the Green Valley Getaway or 0.8m south to main street with several places to eat.
Toppling Goliath brewpub moved across the street from the airport within walking distance offering food and to-go beers. Decorah offers alot for such a small city. Took the new bike loop around the city and was able to visit most of the major sites including the fish hatchery, Pulpit Rock campground and eagle’s nest (near fish hatchery). Airport not attended sunday (no courtesy car on sundays), bike rental, trout hatchery, wifi available in lounge.
Nice airport with self-serve fuel and simple lounge with wi-fi. Courtesy car is now available and accessible 24x7. The old phone booth is no longer there.
Grass strip right next to the Orchard Landing Apple Farm retail store, beautiful place to fly to in the Fall time. The runway is 18/36 and 2900’ X 100’ and very smooth relative to most grass strips. It does slope slightly to the south but it’s easy to land in either direction. If you are concerned about takeoff roll, the south departure is downhill and the terrain falls away quickly past the threshold.
Cattleman’s Steak House is an easy walk across the street from the airport and is located above the clubhouse of the golf course - great food with nightly specials. Pilot-in-command gets a free appetizer.
Nicely kept basic pilot lounge with clean bathrooms and a free-will-donation snack and drink selection. They used to have a courtesy car but it is out indefinitely due to maintenance issues. You can still call city hall during government business hours for a ride, instructions are posted in the lounge.
Pella doesn’t mess around with keeping its Dutch heritage alive and well. Lots of examples of Dutch heritage and plenty of places to eat or get coffee/baked goods. Recommend Jaarsma Bakery. The airport will shuttle people into town during Pella Tulip Days in the spring time. Anytime of year, take one of the two courtesy vans into the walkable town center and you can easily spend a half-day checking out the scenery, shops, and bakeries.
Cool location to fly into near the Wisconsin river. The FBO has been completely remodeled - if you remember the older owners who sold the canned goods, the old FBO and all the goodies they sold are no longer there. The new FBO is very nice with cheap snacks available for purchase with comfortable couches and TV. There are three courtesy vehicles available that have after hours access (two vans and a truck).
Multiple courtesy cars available that need to be arranged during business hours. Plenty of restaurants and things to do near the waterfront, the button museum is worth a visit. In the past, there have been restaurants within walking distance of the field but there isn’t one in 2022.
Monroe downtown square (swiss restaurants, chocolate, cheese, etc), Minhas Brewery and Distillery tours and shop (cheap beer and liquor). Call ahead to airport manager and he will put free taxi vouchers in the cabinet in the bathroom. Without the vouchers, the cab ride is $7-$12 each way depending on number of passengers. Monroe County Cheese Days every 2 years on the even year.
Two courtesy cars available afterhours via lockbock in the FBO building. Took the classic jeep into town with plenty of restaurant options, including some right on the river.
Class D field with restaurant right on the field (Bessie’s Diner).
The Picadilly Lily has reopened as Sams Airport Diner which serves good cheap food. The scenery near this area is spectacular in the fall time but also other times of year as it is on the brink of the Driftless area in Wisconsin.
There was a restaurant (Duffy Slades) about ¾ mile walk west on the road but appears to be closed now. The restaurant seems to change hands often - check the internet before travelling. Nicely done new FBO building in 2021 with lounge and self-serve snacks. No signs of a courtesy car this time.
Nice airport. Shuttles are available to Knoxville Raceway (sprint cars) on race days. Town square is about two miles into town and accessible with portable transportation, otherwise just arrange to take the courtesy car.
Campground, the nature trail, and the Mississippi river within walking distance right across the street from the airport. If you have personal transportation with you, there is a good restaurant (The Riverview Lodge) 2.5 miles down the trail. There are no longer any on-field transportation options.
Oakstone restaurant is an easy walk right off of the west side of runway 9. FBO building and lounge is in rough shape with no usable services. Runway condition is also a bit rough but usable.
Home field for SIG Manufacturing RC model aircraft. Not much to see here for the general aviation crowd though as its a couple miles out of town and no transportation.
Neat airport with two short 1400ft runways and one longer one. Active EAA chapter on the field. 1 mile walk to Sand Burr restaurant or Fowlers Stone Oven pizza. Courtesy van is available with key in lockbox. Kelch aviation museum on site.
Easy Scenic ¾ walk to Main street which has several restaurants. There are historical attractions along Main street as well. Pilot lounge is bare bones.
Challenging grass strip due to his proximity to towers and the town but very rewarding. Walk to several restaurants, mini-golf and a roller rink. No lounge.
The sleepy Lake Showme and primitive Campground are just off the east end of the runway.
Unusually long turf strip with some historical relics of hangars scattered along the flight line and a pilot lounge. Access code to the pilot lounge is the field elevation.
Nice turf strip surrounded by farm fields. The main attraction is an old outhouse amongst deterioriating hangars.
Cassville offers a scenic and challenging airport to fly into. Extra caution is necessary with low powered or loaded aircraft (use all the runway). There is a restaurant on each end of the runway right across the railroad tracks. The tiny pilot lounge and porta-potty on the east end of the airport while a city park is near the west end.
Nice grass strip with a bit of a time capsule for a FBO. Nothing nearby and no courtesy car. There is an outhouse in the back.
No car or transportation into town and nothing significant nearby or in the FBO. Nice airport with clean and simple FBO.
Walk right into town from the grass strip. ¾ mile walk to the restaurant at the Ackley Recreation Club.
Frequent destination primarily for the Black Angus Supper Club which is right across the street from the airport with great food. There is also a liquor store down the street for importing of indigenous Wisconsin beer. Cabella’s no longer will reimburse taxi rides here but the casino will pick you up in the shuttle. Keep in mind the shuttle will pick you up or drop you off anywhere as long as you are coming to or from the casino. Courtesy car is now available via lockbox as of 2022.
Modern FBO with new Chevy Cruze courtesy car. Small naval aviation museum inside the terminal. Plenty of places to eat in town.
Nice lounge with easy access to Ford Fiesta courtesy car.
Wildwood Zoo is free and right next to airport. Marshfield Hotel is within walking distance and has a good restaurant. Cranberry bogs can be seen from the air south of the airport.
Fannie’s supper club is a mile walk down the highway. Pilot lounge open after hours.
Located between two towns and on the edge of the Volk MOA but easy to access under the operating shelf. Courtesy car available with the keys under the prop in the pilot lounge. Ate at Roman Castle restaurant in Mauston which was good.
Nicely maintained grass strip right next to town. No restaurants as of July 2018 but according to local residents, an establishment tends to pop up from time to time. No facilities or FBO although the owner’s wife heard me on the radio and swung by to see if I needed a ride.
Nice facilities, easy access to courtesy truck (keys in vehicle). Plenty of restaurants in downtown Waverly. Ate at the Wild Carrot which was very good.
Longest continiously operating airport in Illinois. College town with several restaurants in the town square. Call ahead to arrange courtesy car (retired cop car).
Nice airport with clean FBO. Courtesy car is an ex-government Impala. Nice downtown area with a variety of restaurants. “This Is It” restaurant was very good.
Two restaurants within walking distance of the field. Ate at Lou’s Riverview which only had bar food / frozen pizzas, not recommended for food. The Edgewater Supper Club appears to be a better option (was closed on Tuesday night).
Landed and spoke to the airport manager who indicated there was no longer a courtesy car here and no plans to get one. Nothing nearby to walk to and no taxi service available. Pilot lounge was open after hours.
Stopped in to Fremont, Iowa to eat at JR’s Country Cafe. Great food, homemade Tenderloin and onion rings. Courtesy car was a Ford station wagon.
Lincoln Cafe restaurant is popular and OK food. Neat downtown area next to train tracks. Nice lounge in FBO and easy access to car. There appeared to be a bike available as well. Code to garage is 1228 (CTAF - 1).
B&B Hitching Post restaurant near field (Supper Club atmosphere). Other restaurants close by, too. Scenic area with the airport embedded in the town. http://www.air-portage.com
Shorter grass strip on top of hill in a scenic area. OK supper club away from downtown and an Argentian restaurant downtown by river. Call ahead to coordinate courtesy car with airport manager - easy transaction.
No courtesy car. Prairie House restaurant is good food and easy ½ mile walk from airport. Sauk Prairie Taxi Service operates Monday - Friday from 6:00 AM until 6:00 PM and on Saturday from 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM. You can reach Sauk Prairie Taxi Service at (608) 643-9616. This city is the location of the original Culvers fast food restaurant.
Highly recommend River Rock Cafe - Iowa Pork Producers best tenderloin 2013. Eclectic restaurant in an unexpected location.
Class D, very nice FBO with courtesy car and awning for aircraft parking. Easy in and out. Ate at Calamity Jane’s which was so-so.
Two courtesy vans available with easy after hours access. Dodici Cafe is a great place to go. Large town square had lots of restaurants / shops.
Tipton Golf and Country Club next to airport. Walk 7 minutes or so straight east of the airport towards the highway. Good food, outdoor seating.
Flight Deck Bar & Grill restaurant on-airport (indoor/outdoor seating), watch out for skydiving. Follow the walking path behind the hangars to find the restaurant.
Scenic area, neat approach. Grass turf deserves its “poor” rating, the Cessna 150 rattled hard on the roll out. Easy 5 min walk into town over the bridge.
Took the courtesy car into town this time and ate at Shawnees and ice cream at the The Creamery. Great views coming in. On top of bluff, cool views of valley, comfortable trailer lounge, car accessible afterhours, dinner & ice cream.
Easy access to courtesy car (available after hours). Best to call and reserve. Branding Iron is a great place to eat and great views. Mystery Cave is nearby, check website for when the tours are.
Enseason restaurant (fresh menu, very good) within walking distance (open THURS - SAT), drive in theater.
Winnebago RV Factory Tour is definitely worth the visit. 2 hour free tour visiting 4 different manufacturing buildings. Several good food options. Courtesy car available.
Easy access to courtesy car afterhours (keys in car). Some places to eat downtown. Cafe De Klos is closed now although a fellow flier recommends Fifth Street Koffee Haus which has great coffee, lunch sandwiches, and soup (open from 7am - 2pm weekdays though). Jolly Roger Pizza has very good pizza and is open for dinner (Closed Mondays).
Easy 24 hour access to the two courtesy cars and a large grocery / liquor stores in town. There’s a nice downtown area with not a whole lot of variety of restaurants. Steve’s Pizza is worth visiting again.
Accesible pilot’s lounge after hours with vending and snacks. Several restaurants in area including Perxactly Bar & Grill (top 10 best burgers in iowa). Cop car for courtesy car, shops downtown, drive in movie theatre, Bluff lake catfish farm (open Fri-Sun).
Watch out for 900ft displaced threshold on runway 26. Winds were calm enough we just landed the other direction (runway 8). Great food at Coffee Cup Cafe which is 3 blocks from airport. Airport is right next to town and entire town can be walked to.. Grass, airport right next to town, coffee shop / restaurant 3 blocks away (closed sundays, serves bfast and lunch and dinner some nights a week).
Great FBO, easy drive into town. Not much open on Sunday. Wild Rose Casino in town but no longer offers shuttle service. Several restaurants and things to do along the riverfront.
Socktober fest, restaurants within walking distance of airport, airport right next to town, Stans Drive-in (food), Lucy’s. No courtesy car but airport is right next to the town. The downtown area has several restaurants including Telluwut grill & pub which was good. Stopped by Stan’s Drive-in on the walk back (which is closer to the airport) for ice cream.
Originally shot for Hillsoboro, WI but hit the rudder limit with a cross-wind on approach. The alternate was Reedsburg, WI which is situated right next to the main town. Landed and walked down the street to a Mexican restaurant (Cancun) - there was nothing notable about this restaurant. There is a courtesy car which I’d recommend taking and finding a better place to eat. Martys in voyager hotel has buffet til 11am on sundays, mexican place is standard, liquor and beer store.
Lacon is a small river town with a nice airport. There is a restaurant across the field called Kenyon’s Place which has a nice 70’s feel on the inside with old fashioned (but cheap) food. It is worth a visit. Took the courtesy car into the small downtown area which had a coffee / gift shop. There’s not much going on near the river.
There’s no obvious courtesy car on the island but if you call Motion to Go they will give you a ride in town. Since most of the island is accessible by bike, its worth renting a bike or moped. Big Bay state park is worth a visit. Pick up fuel in Ashland (KASX) as there are no fuel services on the island.
Ellen Church Field is unattended and no courtesy cars are available. The Cresco town center, where there are several restaurants, is about a 1 mile walk from the airport.
Nothing noteable. Flew in on the memorial day weekend and Peoria was dead. There’s several good places to eat and the normal amenities of a mid-sized Midwest city. Ate at One World Cafe which was good.
The Centerville airport is the closest airport to Rathbun lake (Honey Creek Resort). The airport has 2 courtesy cars and they do permit the 30 minute drive to the resort. The resort is quiet but does have a marina with boat and jet ski rentals.
Heartland Aviation provided use of the courtesy car. State park in the area has a surprisingly nice zoo. Leinenkugel’s Leinie’s lodge is worth a stop for beer samples.
Grinnell Steakhouse (cook-your-own w/ great salad bar) is about a 10-15 minute walk from the airport. Theres probably more stuff going on near the college or in the town but haven’t made it past the steakhouse everytime we go here. Car not accessible afterhours but there appears to be one available during the day (maybe the owners?).
Flew in for Airventure 2010 which turned out to be relatively painless - just stay relaxed. Be sure to monitor the status of the a/c parking and campgrounds before flying in. We flew in on Friday morning and the traffic was light. Airventure, EAA museum
Flew in to watch some glider flying at the Sky Soaring Glider Club. It’s free to watch and cheap to take part in.
This is an easy airport to arrive into to visit Door County. Rental car is on-site and hotels are nearby. Ephraim-Fishcreek (3D2) has rental bikes available and a courtesy van.
Flew in to Burlington after finding out the courtesy car at Keokuk was MIA. Late 80’s courtesy car was available and successfully navigated snake alley. Catfish Bend casino and Fun City are right next to each other. Several restaurants can be found near the river. Fun City, Catfish bend, Big Muddys (restaruant on river).
This is a fun airport to fly into as it has a TSA security checkpoint for commercial flights right next to the general aviation entrance. Rental cars and courtesy car are available to take to the lake (Clear Lake). Jet ski rentals and several restaurants are located on the lake. Buddy Holly memorial.
Private - land on an island. Flew in to Abel Island for annual fly-in. This was a unique experience landing on an island in the middle of the Mississippi. It is private so normally requires permission but was not required for the fly-in. Nothing notable for visitors when the fly-in is not happening.
Check the NOTAMs for this airport before landing to make sure it is still open runway is safe. Runway was being overcome by grass and concrete was not in the best condition. Walk across the street to the resort which has golf and water sport (jet ski / kayak rentals). Restaurant & deli.
Kewanee has a neat Pilot’s lounge worthy of a fuel stop. Took the courtesy car to downtown to visit Good’s furniture store. There is not much else going on downtown. The restaurant in the basement of Good’s was surprisingly decent.
Read NOTAMs for noise abatement procedures before arriving. Mustard Museum is worth visiting. 5th Street Diner has good food and specializes in pies. Capital Brewing company is nearby. Courtesy car and rentals available.
Winona offers a scenic approach in a river valley. Supposedly there is an ice cream shop around the airport but I couldn’t find it. There is no courtesy car so took a taxi into the downtown area which was small but had a variety of restaurants and coffee shops. Without a courtesy car its not worth much of a visit. No courtesy car, taxi only, scenic approach.
Schaumburg is about the closest non-towered airport to downtown Chicago. If you aren’t going into town, Pilot Pete’s restaurant is located on-field. If you are going into the city, Hertz and Enterprise offer drop-offs at the airport. Tiedown was $10/night but was waived with fuel purchase.
Flew in to Fond Du Lac as a stepping stone to getting into Airventure (Oshkosh, WI). Fond Du Lac has a convienient shuttle system that frequently shuttles pilots into Airventure. They were selling parking tie-downs if you didn’t pack any. We arrived at 10am and parking was easy. Air traffic was hardly noticeable.
Good destination (class D airspace) w/ choice of 2 brand-new courtesy cars to take into town. Paperwork says there is a 2 hour limit but its likely not enforced. Downtown Dubuque has several decent restaurants and Diamond Jo Casino. River Museum, Greyhound park.
Whiteside County airport is right off of I-80 and I recognized it immediately upon driving into the town. It is a common place for travelers to stop on I-80. The downtown area of Sterling had a few shops including a decent chocolatier. There were mostly chain restaurants but Arthur’s deli was good.
No courtesy car available but the Ho-Chunk casino shuttle will pick up from the airport. Wisconsin Dells, Devil’s Lake nearby.
Lots of restaurants (vegetarian), Maharishi. Plenty of interesting places to see in Vedic City where the Maharishi live. Downtown square has interesting vegetarian restaurants that support this lifestyle.
Flew in to Clow International for the weekend. Coordination of rental car was easy. There appears to be an on-field restaurant named Charlie’s (didn’t eat here). As expected, the airspace is busy. Mini-golf course right outside airport grounds.
Easy drive into town, food was pretty good at Bill’s. River Ridge Country Club is also a good restaurant with good views.
Annual fly-in. FBO has both courtesy and rental cars. Highly recommend Hickory Park for good cheap BBQ. Hickory Park, Iowa State University.