Out of the blue of the Texas sky come pilots aplenty for Redbird fly-in brunch

Jan. 19--WIMBERLEY -- The sky over San Marcos Municipal Airport had more activity than many had seen in years Saturday as Redbird Skyport held their first "Fly-In Brunch."

Less than an hour into the four-hour event, there were already nearly 40 planes parked three rows deep on the tarmac with more landing every few minutes.

"It's been awesome," John Koenreich, general manager of the Skyport FBO, said. "We've put the air traffic controllers through quite a workout."

Pilots, as part of their flight training, are required to do a certain amount of cross-country flying, and opportunities like this give them a good excuse to drop in, according to Josh Harnagel, marketing director of Redbird Skyport.

"I flew in from Katy (near Houston) this morning and I'm quite impressed with the facilities and the airfield here," Chris Kirby said. "There are several of us who are members of Mooney Ambassadors, a club that promotes aviation and the Mooney brand of aircraft."

Other pilots in the first hour came from Dallas, Wichita Falls and San Angelo as well as nearby airports like New Braunfels and Lockhart.

"I've flown out here before, but not since this Redbird opened. This is very good and their approach to flight training, which is FAA approved, will help bring in a younger generation of pilots," Matt Wash, a Lockhart pilot, said.

Wash said he will fly to similar events at other airports about once a month and was happy to see one at San Marcos now.

Koenreich said because of the good turnout this past weekend, plans are now to hold the event every week. Besides the free brunch for pilots who purchase 10 or more gallons of fuel, Redbird offers everyone the opportunity to try out their various full-motion simulators used by the ProFlight Academy.

"We also have a patio where anyone can come, have lunch and watch planes take off and land, not only on Saturdays, but during the week too," Harnagel said.

The city of San Marcos benefits too as a percentage of all fuel sales goes to the city and judging by the number of aircraft coming in this week, that can add up quickly.

Copyright 2012 - San Marcos Daily Record, Texas