January 20, 2022 - Spruce Creek Aviation Community
We're snowbirds heading south down I-95.  Destination:  Florida.  Duration:  five weeks.  Warm weather?  Hope so.
   
First stop, a week at the Spruce Creek Fly-In Community, the biggest airport community there is.
 
We stayed at an AirBnB apartment that was part of one of the hangar homes, off taxiway foxtrot.  Our apartment is at the left of the picture.  This particular house had two hangars: a small one to the left and a larger one to the right.  The house's owner had a Bonanza but he admitted he was more of a race car guy than a pilot.
 
   
Another look at the back of the house.  The large hangar is to the right and our apartment is clearly visible at left.
   
The front of the house.
   

A good map of Spruce Creek.  The black lines are roads and the gray lines are taxiways.   Lynnette and I walked most of the taxiways during our week here.

Spruce Creek also has a golf course on the southwest quandrant.

Spruce Creek averages 68 aircraft operations of day.  (By comparison, I'm guessing Essex Skypark averages one per day, maybe.)  There are 438 aircraft based at Spruce Creek.  I was told there are more RVs here than any other airport.  Around 50.

Spruce Creek was originally constructed during World War II as an outlying field to nearby Naval Air Station DeLand and NAS Daytona Beach. OLF Spruce Creek originally had four paved 4,000 foot runways.  It was abandoned by the U.S. Navy in 1946.
   
The Big Tree is a gathering spot on Saturday mornings.
   
A closer look at the big oak.
   
Looking southwest down the runway which is 4,000 feet long and 176 feet wide.
   
Now looking northeast.
   
Near the Big Tree is the visitors parking area.  An RV is parked there, of course.
   

Walking down the "Lindy Loop" which is one of the few taxiways both cars and airplanes can use.  Most taxiways at Spruce Creek are airplanes only.

Notice this hangar home has its own tower!

The homes on this -- the northwest -- side of the runway are on the lower end of the price spectrum at Spruce Creek.
   
It's unusual to see an airplane tied down outside the hangar-homes.
   
The majority of the hangar-homes were on the southeast side of the runway.  Many of them had massive hangars, like this one.  Some houses had two hangars.  Some hangars had two doors (I'm guessing so an airplane could come in one door and out the other without having to be rotated.  Doors are expensive so this gives you an idea about the wealth at this place).
   
Near the runway, on the southeast side, was the Tailwind restaurant, pictured here on the corner just below the flag.  We ate here a couple of times -- once dinner and once breakfast.  The food and service were excellent.
   
Looking down the runway from the northeast end.
   
Someone's gigantic hangar going up.
   
A pretty sky at dusk.
   
We ran into some people we knew from the old Jan Scott Flying Cow glider days:  Lee and Linn.  This is the front of their beautiful home.
   
Lee is now flying this good-looking Epsilon, a former French military trainer.
   
Lee has a model airplane of every aircraft he has flown, which is over 300!  This is a little diorama of Jan Scott's Flying Cow farm and the gliders and powered aircraft that were there.
   
Looking down the runway from the Southwest end.
   
Now this hangar-home looks like it might be more in my price range.
   
Ah, you hate to see this.  A hangar filled with cars and non-airplane toys.
   
Not all the residences were hangar-homes.   Here are some T-hangar homes.
   
A little Pitts fits nicely on the side.
   
This might have been the largest home at Spruce Creek.  It is so large I could only get the dual hangars in the picture; the housing area is off to the right.  This hangar-home is just off the northeast end of the runway.
 
I enjoyed our visit at Spruce Creek.  I don't know if I'll ever live here;  maybe if I hit the lottery.
   
 
   
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