Page 8 - Volume 15 Number 1

Stopover, Daytrip or Longer ...
Discover South Carolina’s Historic Treasures
So much has been written about the aviation history of North Carolina that one wonders what is left to be covered there. One of its state mottos is “First in Flight” with obvious reference to the Wright Brother’s history making flight testing and ultimate successes in the Outer Banks, Kittyhawk and Kill Devil Hills areas. Consequently, it seems like the Carolina’s southern sister is rarely spoken of in aviation circles. Yet, like most U.S. states, South Carolina has much to offer the casual tourist and nearly all of it can be accessed via general aviation.
The Capital City: Columbia
Touring the capital city and/or capitol building of any state always holds opportunities for learning, entertainment and inspiration. All such cities are teeming with history and historic sites. In addition to being the center of government, most are also central locations for finance and/or industry for their respective
6 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
by Matthew McDaniel
state. In turn, most have a well-developed aviation infrastructure that invites corporate aircraft to frequent them. Columbia, located in the geographic center of South Carolina, is no exception.
The Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) lies at the southwest edge of the city and is only 15-20 minutes driving time from the City Center and Historic Capitol Building District. It’s a Class C airport with two runways, each exceeding 8,000 feet, with instrument approaches to all runway ends (including ILS Cat. I, II, and III and RNAV/GPS approaches with LPV minimums). Two full service FBOs offer all the assistance and amenities any King Air crew would typically need. For those wishing to arrive even closer to downtown Columbia and/or wishing to avoid the higher costs often encountered at the primary Class B and C airports, Hamilton-Owens Airport (CUB) is a pilot controlled airport, lying under the CAE Class C’s eastern, outer shelf. Barely 10 minutes driving time from the capitol building, this single, 5,000-foot runway airport would be well suited for missions requiring
The Magnolia Plantation is one of the closest to the Charleston Int’l Airport (CHS) and could be toured during a few hours of downtime there.
JANUARY 2021