The Big Texas Send 2025
When a Podcast Community Actually Lands Where They Planned (Mostly)
May 2-4, 2025 | T82 Gillespie County Airport, Fredericksburg, Texas
"This is not going as planned, and it's awesome." - Pretty much the unofficial motto of any general aviation adventure worth having.
The Setup: How to Pick the Perfect Storm of Fun
When Ben, Brian, and Ted announced their first major community fly-in, they managed to stumble into aviation event planning gold. T82 Gillespie County Airport in Fredericksburg, Texas turned out to be the kind of place that makes you wonder why every fly-in isn't held there. Located in the heart of Texas Hill Country, surrounded by German heritage, world-class BBQ, and enough wineries to make your spouse forgive you for talking about mixture settings all weekend.
The Hangar Hotel served as base camp – a WWII-themed boutique hotel that looks like someone took a 1940s hangar and decided it needed thread counts and room service. Three miles from downtown Fredericksburg but right on the airport ramp, it's the kind of place where you can watch aircraft operations from your room while wondering if you remembered to put the fuel caps back on.
Episode 127: "Between Two Wheelpants" Goes Live
The weekend's centerpiece was recording Episode 127 live from the gorgeous TAC Aero hangar. The hosts "landed with a thud (but 'didn't dent the runway')" and proceeded to capture everything that makes the Midlife Pilot community special – which is to say, a delightful mix of aviation competence and the kind of storytelling that happens when pilots gather anywhere.
Brian's "measured scud running" became an instant classic, while Ted's mysterious ascent to 15,000 feet in a light sport aircraft led to the memorable observation: "Try a German-engineered plane built in Ukraine!" Because nothing says international aviation cooperation quite like Eastern European engineering meeting German precision in the hands of an Oregon pilot.
But the weekend's most legendary tale involved Ted's wheel pants versus what the group dubbed a "suicidal sparrow" (Brian noting it "would be a good band name"). The bird managed to damage Ted's wheel pants, creating both a legitimate maintenance issue and the kind of story that will be retold at fly-ins for the next decade. Hope from the Hangar Hotel, described as an "adrenaline junkie," survived flying with Ted during this avian encounter, presumably earning herself some serious bragging rights.
The TAC Aero Experience: Where Tailwheel Dreams Come True
TAC Aero, which the hosts accurately described as "This is heaven, this is Tail Wheel Academy," served as both the physical and spiritual center of the weekend's aviation activities. For those keeping score, TAC Aero is what happens when you take the best tailwheel instruction in the country and park it at an airport that actually encourages having fun.
The grass runway operations at T82 provided plenty of learning opportunities. As ZacM-N84ZM helpfully noted: "Besides grass ops... It's 'Gillespie County' on CTAF, 122.7 is a busy frequency, shared by Kerrville 20 miles away... Runway 14 seems to be preferred." Translation: bring your radio game and expect to hear some interesting position reports.
Many attendees took advantage of the chance to experience proper tailwheel aircraft, because nothing says "midlife pilot" quite like voluntarily making flying more challenging just for the fun of it.
The Smart Ones: Celebrating No-Go Decisions
In a move that perfectly captures what makes this community special, the live podcast made sure to specifically thank those who made the tough decisions:
Richard (Yankee 88) for his safe no-go decision ("congratulations on not flying here")
Mike (Alpha Golf) for his safe no-go decision
Louis for his safe aircraft choice (opting for A/C over his shiny new Carbon Cub)
Because in a community that actually understands aviation, good decision-making gets celebrated as much as stick-and-rudder skills. Keith C. dealt with parts delays that would have grounded his Tecnam, while ScottPWard faced avionics upgrade delays and chose patience over pressure – decisions that earned community support instead of second-guessing.
As Brian perfectly captured the fly-in pressure: "We never actually have to fly anywhere, ever...except for this Sunday because we don't have hotels anymore." Which pretty much sums up how most aviation adventures actually work.
Weather, Planning, and "Advanced VFR Flying"
For weeks leading up to the event, the community Discord buzzed with the kind of pre-flight planning that would make a military operation look casual. Erica Gilbert, CFII and weather guru, provided comprehensive briefings that helped pilots make informed decisions – because nothing says "community support" like having a professional meteorologist break down the forecast for your weekend adventure.
The group's collective approach to weather planning introduced the concept of "advanced VFR flying" (which apparently means "leave the day before") – a strategy that combines optimism with enough contingency planning to actually work. Richard Y88 documented his multi-day journey from Michigan, providing real-time updates as he navigated weather systems and proved that sometimes the journey really is half the fun.
The BBQ Pilgrimage: Where Aviation Meets Gastronomy
The community made proper pilgrimages to Texas BBQ royalty, including Cooper's Barbecue in Llano and Lockhart BBQ – establishments that represent everything good about Texas food culture. These weren't just fuel stops; they became integral parts of the aviation adventure, proving that the best cross-country flights include strategic planning for legendary meal stops.
The Airport Diner provided the perfect aviation-themed dining experience – classic 1940s atmosphere with active runway views, where you can watch aircraft operations while working through pancakes and wondering if that Bonanza pilot really needed to use all 5,000 feet of runway.
The Fredericksburg Brewery served as another key meetup spot, offering the perfect blend of local flavor and community gathering space that made non-flying hours just as memorable as the time in the air.
Texas Hill Country: More Than Just a Destination
Fredericksburg proved to be the perfect host, offering the kind of attractions that keep non-pilot spouses happy while pilots geek out over aircraft. With over 50 wineries scattered throughout the Hill Country, German heritage sites along historic Main Street, and enough shopping to require serious baggage weight calculations, the town handled the dual mission of aviation enthusiasm and relationship maintenance.
Several attendees discovered that wine tastings provide excellent opportunities to decompress after discussing the finer points of mixture control for three hours straight. The German heritage aspect added genuine cultural depth to the weekend, because sometimes it's nice to remember that aviation is just one way to explore the world.
Community Resources and Real Support
The weekend showcased practical aviation resources that go beyond hangar talk. Barry from Checkmate Aviation offered custom checklists (including the legendary upside-down emergency checklist), while the podcast's support of the Freedom Aviation Network – an anti-human trafficking organization – demonstrated how the community uses aviation for positive impact beyond just having fun.
Banjopilot's custom MyAeroGlass LED weather displays became instant legends – devices that pulled METAR data every five minutes from home airports and displayed it via color-coded illuminated glass. It's the kind of aviation geekery that makes perfect sense to pilots and absolutely no sense to anyone else. Each beautifully custom in this case for the MPP with logo and each home airport etched into the lighted square on a solid wood base.
What Actually Mattered: The People
The live recording captured something that's hard to fake: genuine friendship built around shared aviation experiences. When the hosts observed that aviation friendships are "like meeting family for the first time, except you like them," they weren't being clever – they were describing something real.
This community has figured out how to balance aviation enthusiasm with actual wisdom. When someone shares a story about "measured scud running" or wheel pants versus wildlife, it becomes both entertainment and education. When pilots choose not to fly due to weather or mechanical concerns, they get congratulated instead of questioned.
The weekend featured everything from zip-tie engineering solutions to tales of birds battling aircraft components, proving that sometimes the best aviation experiences come from the moments that definitely weren't in the original flight plan.
The Bigger Picture: Why This Worked
The Big Texas Send succeeded because it understood something fundamental about aviation community: it's not really about the flying. It's about the people who choose to make flying part of their lives, and what happens when you put those people together in a place that celebrates both aviation culture and everything else that makes life interesting.
Between the live podcast recording from TAC Aero hangar, the tailwheel instruction, the BBQ pilgrimages, and the inevitable mechanical adventures, the weekend proved that the Midlife Pilot community has created something genuinely special – a group that's figured out how to combine aviation competence with the kind of friendship that makes the whole adventure worthwhile.
The Community Continues: The Midlife Pilot Podcast keeps building this remarkable community through weekly episodes (live on YouTube Mondays at 8PM Eastern, or "sometimes in Texas at weird times"), Discord hangar talk, and Patreon support (Friends with Benefits program starting at $1/month or $12/year). Connect at midlifepilotpodcast.com or midlifepilotpodcast@gmail.com.
As the community discovered in Fredericksburg: "Real pilots use the rudder. Tail wheel pilots worship it." – wisdom that applies to a lot more than just aircraft control.
