MEACHAM AIRPORT FIELD TRIP, Nov 22, 2008 On Saturday, November 22, from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm we visited 4 fascinating locations at the Meacham Airport in Fort Worth:
Click here for many great pictures of our trip - compliments of Cheryl-Annette and Brandon Parker
On our early morning flight from Majors Field to Meacham, Regional Approach allowed our aircraft into the Class B airspace and then vectored us directly over DFW. What a sight! Truly breathtaking to see DFW directly overhead at 3000 feet. At Fort Worth Meacham, we parked the aircraft at Sandpiper Aviation. Sandpiper is located in the old Main Terminal Building that was used before DFW was built when Meacham was the only commercial airport serving the Fort Worth area. Sandpiper was kind enough to let us use their courtesy crew car to travel around the airport throughout the day.
We saw, up close and personal, just what goes into building these 2-seat SX-300 hot rods in the sky.
As an extra bonus, Deborah invited us to see two short, but very interesting, FAA safety videos. The videos stimulated quite a bit of discussion and questions and were a great addition to our experience. Meacham Tower has 27 air traffic control staff and 12 airway facilities support specialists. The tower was dedicated in 1963 and FAA's presence at the airport goes back an additional 15 years. The Meacham Tower was named national air traffic control facility of the year for 1999 by the Federal Aviation Administration. Midway through the day, we had lunch at the Dixie Cafe, a local airport hangout with wonderful home cooking. Yummy! Unfortunately, after our huge lunch, not many folks had room for the Dixie's fantastic homemade pies. Guess we'll just have to go back for dessert!
Our final stop of the day was at Phazar Aerocorp, Inc. Phazar performs complete interior refurbishment on corporate and executive jet aircraft, including upholstery, woodwork, panels, and avionics. We toured their facilities and saw, first hand, how they create the magic of a posh aircraft interior.
All-in-all, we had quite a day... |
The
day began with a fantastic surprise.
Our
first stop was to visit Karl Byam's Propellor Service and it absolutely
"blew us away" (pun intended). What many take for granted that
prop on the front that generates thrust on your air machine is actually quite
a piece of work. 
On
this visit, we saw exactly what happens to a propellor as is ages and changes.
We were amazed at what goes on behind the scenes and saw how propellors
are manufactured, maintained, and tested -- big ones, small ones, fixed and variable
pitch, 2-blade, 3-blade, 4-blade, and more blades.
Our
second stop of the day was to see Doug Poli. Doug is the Technical
Representative for the SX-300 Owners Group and has 20 years of SX building and
maintaining experience. His continuing efforts with kit modifications and
improvements have made the SX-300 a fantastic (and very fast) aircraft.
The
SX-300 was originally designed by Ed Swearingen in San Antonio, TX and was marketed
as a kit from 1984 to 1989. The basic concept was to set new standards for
Amateur Built Aircraft as a dependable, fast mode of transportation. The
SX-300 uses all metal construction and proven techniques to provide an airframe
that was equal to advanced jet aircraft.
Next,
we visited the Meacham Tower -- always a great experience. We were
hosted by Deborah Chapronniere, the Tower Manager, and her on-duty staff. All
of us got to spend some time in the Tower Cab learning about how the tower functions
with pilots and other aviation agencies, such as Regional Approach and the Fort
Worth Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC), i.e. the Center, in the Federal
airspace system.
