When GWB would fly in to Crawford, Air Force One 747 would land at TSTI. If Laura flew in without him, she would come on a 737 to ACT.Nguyen One Soon said:CorsicanaBear said:
Runway 1/19 has a TODA of 7107 feet and an LDA of 6605. Looks to me like a number of 737 models could operate out of ACT but it would depend on loading, wet/dry runway etc.
I believe I have seen 737 charters into and out of ACT for incoming football teams and for BU teams. I could be wrong though. Maybe what I am seeing is Embraer E Jets. But the E Jets only seat up to about 125 which seems small for a football team by the time you get team, coaches, trainers, administrators and big money donors on board.
Worked at and around the airport several years. Saw 737 charters there fairly often , including team planes and others, especially during the Bush administration.
Waco Airport - A Fixer Upper
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Last: 2 yr ago by cowboycwr
whitetrash said:When GWB would fly in to Crawford, Air Force One 747 would land at TSTI. If Laura flew in without him, she would come on a 737 to ACT.Nguyen One Soon said:CorsicanaBear said:
Runway 1/19 has a TODA of 7107 feet and an LDA of 6605. Looks to me like a number of 737 models could operate out of ACT but it would depend on loading, wet/dry runway etc.
I believe I have seen 737 charters into and out of ACT for incoming football teams and for BU teams. I could be wrong though. Maybe what I am seeing is Embraer E Jets. But the E Jets only seat up to about 125 which seems small for a football team by the time you get team, coaches, trainers, administrators and big money donors on board.
Worked at and around the airport several years. Saw 737 charters there fairly often , including team planes and others, especially during the Bush administration.
During 9/11 and for a short time afterwards, I was living in a Bardominium temporarily located SW of Hwy 6 that was on a straight line as the crow flies from TSTI to GWB's ranch in Crawford. The Marine Ones (always 3) would fly direct over the Bardominium to and from. Watching on TV after Airforce One landed, the helicopters flying overhead weren't far behind. After 9/11 when GWB was at the ranch, there was always one or two fighter jets in the air. One Sunday morning when GWB and Laura went to church, the fighter jets were flying much lower to the ground than usual stirring up the horses in the pasture that surrounded me.
“We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one.”
One of the flight paths flew almost exactly the highway 84 corridor. We NEVER had air traffic overhead, except for the days we heard jets. And sure enough, the three helicopters would soon follow.
There were two flight patterns from TSTI to the ranch: one across Lacy-Lakeview and China Spring straight over ACT, but late in the evening when the last AA flight was due in, they would fly south then follow Franklin to Hwy 6 then along 185. During the 2004 campaign, if GWB was campaigning in the west or south, he would often fly to Crawford instead of all the way to DC for the night. Would often hear the choppers during or after the 10PM news when they took the southern route.
Sampi82 said:whitetrash said:When GWB would fly in to Crawford, Air Force One 747 would land at TSTI. If Laura flew in without him, she would come on a 737 to ACT.Nguyen One Soon said:CorsicanaBear said:
Runway 1/19 has a TODA of 7107 feet and an LDA of 6605. Looks to me like a number of 737 models could operate out of ACT but it would depend on loading, wet/dry runway etc.
I believe I have seen 737 charters into and out of ACT for incoming football teams and for BU teams. I could be wrong though. Maybe what I am seeing is Embraer E Jets. But the E Jets only seat up to about 125 which seems small for a football team by the time you get team, coaches, trainers, administrators and big money donors on board.
Worked at and around the airport several years. Saw 737 charters there fairly often , including team planes and others, especially during the Bush administration.
During 9/11 and for a short time afterwards, I was living in a Bardominium temporarily located SW of Hwy 6 that was on a straight line as the crow flies from TSTI to GWB's ranch in Crawford. The Marine Ones (always 3) would fly direct over the Bardominium to and from. Watching on TV after Airforce One landed, the helicopters flying overhead weren't far behind. After 9/11 when GWB was at the ranch, there was always one or two fighter jets in the air. One Sunday morning when GWB and Laura went to church, the fighter jets were flying much lower to the ground than usual stirring up the horses in the pasture that surrounded me.
You're close on the choppers. There were always three choppers brought up from Fort Hood that led the parade. Then there were two Identical Marine helicopters (with a heavily armed marine standing between them). The one Bush stepped on became Marine One. The final chopper was a Coast Guard machine brought up from Corpus in case Bush went down in a body of water.
That's interesting. Thanks for posting.Nguyen One Soon said:Sampi82 said:whitetrash said:When GWB would fly in to Crawford, Air Force One 747 would land at TSTI. If Laura flew in without him, she would come on a 737 to ACT.Nguyen One Soon said:CorsicanaBear said:
Runway 1/19 has a TODA of 7107 feet and an LDA of 6605. Looks to me like a number of 737 models could operate out of ACT but it would depend on loading, wet/dry runway etc.
I believe I have seen 737 charters into and out of ACT for incoming football teams and for BU teams. I could be wrong though. Maybe what I am seeing is Embraer E Jets. But the E Jets only seat up to about 125 which seems small for a football team by the time you get team, coaches, trainers, administrators and big money donors on board.
Worked at and around the airport several years. Saw 737 charters there fairly often , including team planes and others, especially during the Bush administration.
During 9/11 and for a short time afterwards, I was living in a Bardominium temporarily located SW of Hwy 6 that was on a straight line as the crow flies from TSTI to GWB's ranch in Crawford. The Marine Ones (always 3) would fly direct over the Bardominium to and from. Watching on TV after Airforce One landed, the helicopters flying overhead weren't far behind. After 9/11 when GWB was at the ranch, there was always one or two fighter jets in the air. One Sunday morning when GWB and Laura went to church, the fighter jets were flying much lower to the ground than usual stirring up the horses in the pasture that surrounded me.
You're close on the choppers. There were always three choppers brought up from Fort Hood that led the parade. Then there were two Identical Marine helicopters (with a heavily armed marine standing between them). The one Bush stepped on became Marine One. The final chopper was a Coast Guard machine brought up from Corpus in case Bush went down in a body of water.
Nguyen One Soon said:Sampi82 said:whitetrash said:When GWB would fly in to Crawford, Air Force One 747 would land at TSTI. If Laura flew in without him, she would come on a 737 to ACT.Nguyen One Soon said:CorsicanaBear said:
Runway 1/19 has a TODA of 7107 feet and an LDA of 6605. Looks to me like a number of 737 models could operate out of ACT but it would depend on loading, wet/dry runway etc.
I believe I have seen 737 charters into and out of ACT for incoming football teams and for BU teams. I could be wrong though. Maybe what I am seeing is Embraer E Jets. But the E Jets only seat up to about 125 which seems small for a football team by the time you get team, coaches, trainers, administrators and big money donors on board.
Worked at and around the airport several years. Saw 737 charters there fairly often , including team planes and others, especially during the Bush administration.
During 9/11 and for a short time afterwards, I was living in a Bardominium temporarily located SW of Hwy 6 that was on a straight line as the crow flies from TSTI to GWB's ranch in Crawford. The Marine Ones (always 3) would fly direct over the Bardominium to and from. Watching on TV after Airforce One landed, the helicopters flying overhead weren't far behind. After 9/11 when GWB was at the ranch, there was always one or two fighter jets in the air. One Sunday morning when GWB and Laura went to church, the fighter jets were flying much lower to the ground than usual stirring up the horses in the pasture that surrounded me.
You're close on the choppers. There were always three choppers brought up from Fort Hood that led the parade. Then there were two Identical Marine helicopters (with a heavily armed marine standing between them). The one Bush stepped on became Marine One. The final chopper was a Coast Guard machine brought up from Corpus in case Bush went down in a body of water.
Thanks. I read they shift in formation during flight - shell game to hide which one the President is in. I witnessed this as well. During one of the flights from the ranch back to TSTI, one of the helicopters hovered in an area for a short time after passing over my roof while the other 2 kept on going. Not sure what they were looking at or for some other reason.
“We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one.”
I worked at L3 during the Bush administration.
The Coast Guard heli would always circle the airport about 20 mins before he arrived and took off. I always assumed that the CG had some type of inferred cameras that were looking for potential threats hiding in the areas around the runway and the immediate flight path.
Also Air Force One would take off in different directions at TSTC to avoid a predictable routine.
The day before W would arrive, a C5 would fly in and drop off the two Marine Ones.
When Bush would be in town for more than a few days, they would park Air Force One outside the building in which I worked. It was a little surreal to walk less than 100 feet away from the nose cone of AF1.
The Coast Guard heli would always circle the airport about 20 mins before he arrived and took off. I always assumed that the CG had some type of inferred cameras that were looking for potential threats hiding in the areas around the runway and the immediate flight path.
Also Air Force One would take off in different directions at TSTC to avoid a predictable routine.
The day before W would arrive, a C5 would fly in and drop off the two Marine Ones.
When Bush would be in town for more than a few days, they would park Air Force One outside the building in which I worked. It was a little surreal to walk less than 100 feet away from the nose cone of AF1.
Back in the 80's, my "outfit" did a ton of communications work for aerospace companies that located to the Campus. IIRC, one of our AF1's would hanger there occasionally for installation/maintenance/repair of technical equipment that she carried. Yep, there were more than one AF1's in service. Tight security at all times.Coke Bear said:
I worked at L3 during the Bush administration.
The Coast Guard heli would always circle the airport about 20 mins before he arrived and took off. I always assumed that the CG had some type of inferred cameras that were looking for potential threats hiding in the areas around the runway and the immediate flight path.
Also Air Force One would take off in different directions at TSTC to avoid a predictable routine.
The day before W would arrive, a C5 would fly in and drop off the two Marine Ones.
When Bush would be in town for more than a few days, they would park Air Force One outside the building in which I worked. It was a little surreal to walk less than 100 feet away from the nose cone of AF1.
When I arrived my freshman year at BU ... it was on one of those Rio planes. A DeHavilland Dash-7 in this case (terrific short-field takeoff ability -- an impressive plane actually). Like the Twin Otter, only a curtain (usually open) between cockpit and passengersCorsicanaBear said:
Trans Texas/TI was big time compared to Rio Airways. I flew them a number of times in the late 70's early 80's. They operated a route from Waco to DFW using De Havilland Twin Otters. That could be a bumpy ride during warm weather. The pilot copilot gave the passenger safety briefing by turning around in his seat and yelling while we were in the runup area. The entrance to the cockpit only had a curtain that was usually open during flight. On one trip a ZTA pledge (knew the sorority because she was carrying one of those giant, cloth covered, lace edged pledge books), barfed all over the cabin.
I sat up front and was able to monitor many of plane's instruments all the way from DFW to ACT (beautiful day to fly). Combined with the bright orangeish/yellowish paint job, basically a school bus with wings (and four loud, but powerful turboprop engines).
Actually, it was a 757, the largest aircraft ACT can accommodate.whitetrash said:When GWB would fly in to Crawford, Air Force One 747 would land at TSTI. If Laura flew in without him, she would come on a 737 to ACT.Nguyen One Soon said:CorsicanaBear said:
Runway 1/19 has a TODA of 7107 feet and an LDA of 6605. Looks to me like a number of 737 models could operate out of ACT but it would depend on loading, wet/dry runway etc.
I believe I have seen 737 charters into and out of ACT for incoming football teams and for BU teams. I could be wrong though. Maybe what I am seeing is Embraer E Jets. But the E Jets only seat up to about 125 which seems small for a football team by the time you get team, coaches, trainers, administrators and big money donors on board.
Worked at and around the airport several years. Saw 737 charters there fairly often , including team planes and others, especially during the Bush administration.
"Smarter than the Average Bear."
I think COVID hit everyone hard.BCL79 said:
Back in the day, I thought it crazy to spend $$$ to update ACT when city fathers could have talked to TSTI about making the former AFB a really accessible Waco airport. But no. Then Killeen put in real jet service and little ACT started to choke.
Seems I heard that even with all the demand for air travel at Killeen, even they are having trouble keeping jet service?
Allegiant is no longer in Killeen, though United still flies out of Killeen-Fort Hood.
K-FH has six gates that I know of, though they only use one or two at at time.
Still, Killeen is the fastest growing city in Central Texas, already having outgrown Waco in the 2010 census. Counting Nolanville, Heights and Cove, the Killeen-Fort Hood area boasts over 300,000 residents now. The entire Killeen-Temple MSA is sitting right at half a mil.
"Smarter than the Average Bear."
Yogi said:Old300Bear said:
Waco, Temple, and Kileen-Fort Hood should go together and build a regional airport at Moody. The three combined would probably have enough boardings to warrant decent service to Dallas and Houston from more than one carrier.
Won't happen but it should.
We came close about 30 years ago and then Killeen had Killeen-Fort Hood built, which has 6 gates and a longer runway than Waco. K-FH even attracts business from Wilco and the north Austin area.
Killeen had Skylark airport for decades before they got Ft Hood airport. It still handles general aviation and is between Killeen and Harker Heights on 190
BCL79 said:
Back in the day, I thought it crazy to spend $$$ to update ACT when city fathers could have talked to TSTI about making the former AFB a really accessible Waco airport. But no. Then Killeen put in real jet service and little ACT started to choke.
Seems I heard that even with all the demand for air travel at Killeen, even they are having trouble keeping jet service?
Killeen gets e145, e175, and CRJ service which are all turbofan aircraft, not turboprop.
If F-14s were taking off from there we are in big trouble. The only country that still flys them is Iran and they are remnants of technology we shared with them prior to 1978. The US Navy retired all of their F-14s decades ago.
Pea Weevil said:
If F-14s were taking off from there we are in big trouble. The only country that still flys them is Iran and they are remnants of technology we shared with them prior to 1978. The US Navy retired all of their F-14s decades ago.
LOL, no kidding. I have to think he meant F-18s but who knows.
United just announced they're no longer providing service to Killeen-Fort Hood and College Station at the first of the year.
Would suck if we spend all that money on the airport and them don't have any airlines to service it...
"Smarter than the Average Bear."
Yogi said:
Would suck if we spend all that money on the airport and them don't have any airlines to service it...
We should keep American just because we are the closest passenger stop to DFW. As a result they divert a lot of planes to Waco when DFW has weather. And we are even closer to the southern gathering point for DFW over Lake Whitney.
when is construction supposed to start? Was there this week and things looked the same
The project is finally getting started with a fall 2023 completion date
A new competitor wont matter. It is about the number of people using it. And cost. When it is much more expensive to buy a flight from Waco than it is to drive to DFW and then the time issue for a layover people will choose the drive every time.BylrFan said:
hopefully this brings in a new airline to compete with AA
I'm guessing this is an old story of yours since the F-14 has been retired for a long time... but also what were navy planes doing at an Army base?whitetrash said:
Killeen/Fort Hood didn't build a new airport. They built a new commercial terminal on the opposite side of the runway at Gray Army Air Field. Army uses the west side; commercial uses the east side (El Paso does the same; it shares runways with Fort Bliss. Rather interesting when you are sitting on the runway in your SW 737 and a pair of F-14s are taking off right next to you).
cowboycwr said:I'm guessing this is an old story of yours since the F-14 has been retired for a long time... but also what were navy planes doing at an Army base?whitetrash said:
Killeen/Fort Hood didn't build a new airport. They built a new commercial terminal on the opposite side of the runway at Gray Army Air Field. Army uses the west side; commercial uses the east side (El Paso does the same; it shares runways with Fort Bliss. Rather interesting when you are sitting on the runway in your SW 737 and a pair of F-14s are taking off right next to you).
Assuming this is Fort Bliss, White Sands Missile range could have had some sort of test that they could have been supporting. Could also have been a cross country stop?
You can't compare the cost of the flight to Dallas without including parking at DFW. My kids use Waco a ton because many times when you take into account having to pay for parking, it's been comparable. At least that's been our experience.
True. My experience has been that the cost for parking at DFW does not equal or surpass the cost of the added flight from Waco to DFW and back.NashvilleBear said:
You can't compare the cost of the flight to Dallas without including parking at DFW. My kids use Waco a ton because many times when you take into account having to pay for parking, it's been comparable. At least that's been our experience.