Fuel Run & Visit to Hunter-Gatherer Brewery @ KCUB

Hey All,

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Just wanted to share a short trip that Jon and I went on today. I hadn’t been flying in forever, and Jon had been grounded with a big work project for the last few weeks that is now finished, so we both wanted to get airborne for a while.

The trip route: 0A7-35A-KEOE-KCUB-0A7

It started with a suggestion to go get fuel, and then I added a destination I’ve wanted to check out for a while, since we would already be halfway there.

After announcing and taking off on 33 from 0A7 (Hendersonville), Jon spotted traffic ahead that was coming towards us at low altitude. It was a helicopter headed S-SW at about 600ft.  Jon had to veer right soon after clearing the trees, as we were otherwise quickly headed to the same place at the same time off the departure end of the runway.  I believe Jon’s somewhat surprised radio call went something like “Hello there, helicopter”, to which they responded (in the typical helicopter, guy-in-a-paintcan-shaker choppy tone, but with a low voice) “Well, hello there.” Which at least made it entertaining. 🙂

35A (Union County, SC) was just a stop for a couple patterns and to see if anyone else was there. There never seems to be any traffic there when we’ve visited (usually for the cheap fuel), and today was no different.

KEOE (Newberry, SC) was a new stop for both of us. Goal here was the cheap fuel. We did a few circuits here. In the middle of one of our patterns we saw a Quad City Challenger taxi out to midfield and turn into the wind. Jon asked “is he going to just takeoff from midfield?”…the answer was yes, as he rolled only about 100ft until getting airborne and climbing. Soon after, we departed the area to the SE.

Then it was off to KCUB (L.B. Owens Airport) in Columbia, SC. We landed on Rwy 31 and noted that the runway has a slope on both ends, with the low point in the center. A/FD says 3deg slope on 31 (20ft height diff), and 4deg on 13 (30ft height diff) for the 5011’ Runway, which both sound insignificant while reading it (to a low time pilot like me) but it does make it feel like the runway drops away slightly on touchdown. In any case, we landed safely and taxi’d over to the ramp.

The goal here at KCUB was to visit the Hunter-Gatherer Brewery that is located on the field and occupies an old hangar that was built in 1929. I had first read about this in an article in the AOPA magazine, and have wanted to check it out since:

AOPA Sept 2018 – Restored SC Curtiss-Wright Hangar Draws Crowds

From the ramp, you have to exit the airfield thru the FBO and walk along the road to get to the brewery, which is a bit of a walk but not bad. (We got to walk it twice, since the first time we didn’t realize that it was outside of the airport fence…)

Once arriving, we went inside and browsed the old photos on the walls of the hangar and airfield. For example:

Yesterday vs. Today
At one point, the Curtiss-Wright hangar was the only building on the airfield.
(Note the train tracks that are visible on the top right hand side of both images, there definitely appear to be sections that are still the same.)

At the bar, we ordered up some food. Both of us wanted to indulge in the brews, but obviously couldn’t because, airplanes. We’ll have to do a chapter fly out here sometime with an overnight stay, so that we can enjoy them! Instead, a Margherita pizza, taco pizza, and pretzel with mustard and beer cheese would have to suffice. And that they did! The food was great and the environment really cool. The only thing I wish they had inside was more aviation stuffs…I was honestly surprised by the lack of it, considering the history of the place. Perhaps its still in the plans for one day, but it’s just begging for model aircraft to be hung from the ceiling or put on display.

Perusing the Hunter-Gatherer Brewery Facebook page, you can find photos of the hangar before they restored it, which is absolutely fascinating. There are also many of the restoration process on their page as well.

Hunter-Gatherer Brewery at Owens Field – Facebook Album

After our meal we checked out the rooftop patio and walked around a bit before heading back to the plane.

The ride back home went smoothly and without incident. Once we landed back at Hendersonville, Jon did a number of patterns to get in some practice (I think procrastination may have been a factor here as well…) before we went back to normal life duties for the remainder of the weekend.

All in all, a great Sunday of flying and a fun place to visit!
Who wants to join us for a second visit as a group? 🙂

Till next time,
-Mike