No immediate plans to move to the Charlotte area. But with gold prices low and an uncertain future at my current mining company (long story), I'm just keeping my options open for future employment.

I don't want to get into details publicly, but there may be some opportunities in the Charlotte area and as with any possible big move I was already researching the area and noticed it has grown since I've been there for Supercross races in the early 90's. In fact, one of my first few small plane rides was in a 172 that we flew from Statesville, over Charlotte Speedway, landed at Concord to see some NASCAR jets and back to Statesville.

Anyway, just seeing if there are any BackCountryPilot.org members in or around the Charlotte, NC area or close by that wouldn't mind sharing some local info and knowledge. More specifically the north/northwest part of Charlotte. One strong opportunity is located in Huntersville and I've noticed a few small airports in that northwest area west of Lake Norman. Just curious about hangars, plane rentals, etc. (or I should just wait?? some know me well here that I tend to over think and get way too far ahead of myself. LOL).

Anyway.......... Looking forward to some info if there's anybody out there. Thanks!

There are several Maule pilots in NC, but I don't think they spend any time on the BCP site. You can find them at http://www.maulepilots.org/forums There are lots of grass strips in the Mid-Atlantic region, but very few places to land that aren't designated airports (private or public). Pretty much all of the land back there is either developed, in agriculture or heavily forested.

Flyhound wrote:There are several Maule pilots in NC, but I don't think they spend any time on the BCP site. You can find them at http://www.maulepilots.org/forums There are lots of grass strips in the Mid-Atlantic region, but very few places to land that aren't designated airports (private or public). Pretty much all of the land back there is either developed, in agriculture or heavily forested.

Thanks Flyhound!

I figured the type of flying will be completely different than Idaho and the rest of the northwest. I was thinking of trying to locate near an airport that has a good pilot network of the same interests and type of flying (chasing them $100.00 burgers and just sightseeing). I've noticed there are numerous small airports (Private and Public) in the vicinity of Charlotte, Statesville an Concord. So ideally it would be perfect to have home, work, and airport all within 30 minutes of each other.

Pat you would be pretty darn close to the Just Aircraft crew! Maybe there's a SuperStol in your future. The Acme shock guys are close well.

You don't really wanna move anyhow. Gold is going to come back strong.

AKT

aktahoe1 wrote:Pat you would be pretty darn close to the Just Aircraft crew! Maybe there's a SuperStol in your future. The Acme shock guys are close well.

You don't really wanna move anyhow. Gold is going to come back strong.

AKT

Hmmm...... Sounds good. I might have to ease up on the cheeseburgers and BBQ to fit in a small Experimental. And to stay under gross weight! LOL

Been researching all day today and I'm actually intrigued with the Charlotte area. So many airports and even a few airparks nearby. Amazing you can find a home with a hangar on a nice grass strip for well under $500K! (not in my budget right now, but hey ).

I'll see what happens. Hopefully our mine will be bought by a good company and everything will stay the way it is. I'm also highly considering the coal mines in Montana and Wyoming as a back up plan. But Gold should and always bounces back. Heck, gold is in a lot of products that most people don't realize.

Anyway.... There's a lot more to my story I'll save for another time.

aktahoe1 wrote:Pat you would be pretty darn close to the Just Aircraft crew! Maybe there's a SuperStol in your future. The Acme shock guys are close well.

You don't really wanna move anyhow. Gold is going to come back strong.

AKT

Oh yeah....... I'm still stuck on a Straight Tail 182. I think when the time is right, I'll find another one. But I really like your 180 and the mods you did. But probably out of my budget for many years. So maybe something like Joe's 180.

Thanks Kevin!

I'm a NC native, but I've not lived there in a long time so I have no recent/relevant guidance for you. There are a bunch of supercub.org guys from NC who are pretty active, though the ones I know are on the coast and near Raleigh. I recommend asking on sc.

Flyhound wrote: Pretty much all of the land back there is either developed, in agriculture or heavily forested.

And under VERY active military airspace. But in spite of that - there appears to be quite a lot of private strips and activity with the cub crowd. All word of mouth, however.

Oh, and get used to flying with very limited visibility. Haze sucks most of the spring and summer. It ain't like flying out west.

soyAnarchisto wrote:

Flyhound wrote: Pretty much all of the land back there is either developed, in agriculture or heavily forested.

And under VERY active military airspace. But in spite of that - there appears to be quite a lot of private strips and activity with the cub crowd. All word of mouth, however.

Oh, and get used to flying with very limited visibility. Haze sucks most of the spring and summer. It ain't like flying out west.

The haze and humidity will be a draw back. Dealing with afternoon thunderstorms can be another challenge, too. I guess there's a good reason why it's so green out east. I'll see if anything transpires and take it from there.