Since the Wright Brothers first took flight back in 1903, pilots have probably dreamed of having an “aviation community” where fellow pilots are their neighbors, mini-hangers with light aircraft are as common as the two-car garage, and the whole neighborhood can taxi straight from their homes to an adjacent “air park” runway.

Just outside Granbury, 35 miles southwest of Fort Worth, that’s not a dream, it’s a reality. And it’s now been doubled with The Landings, a second “air park” at a long-established community called Pecan Plantation, whose first runway-centered neighborhood has long made it a haven for aviation buffs.

Developed by Naples, Florida-based Patten Properties, The Landings features “never-before offered runway & taxiway homesites from $179,900.”

Runway and taxiway home sites at The Landings at Pecan Plantation, an “aviation community” in Granbury, southwest of Fort Worth. [Photo: Patten Properties]

The convenience of ‘fly-in living’

Calling it “a spectacular setting for the aviation enthusiast who desires the convenience of fly-in living,” Patten says The Landings features a 3,100 foot paved runway, concrete taxiways, and a self-serve fuel station at the southeast end of the runway.

With the expansion, the aviation community now spans 4,200 acres, including two residential airparks, two golf courses, equestrian centers, a marina, and other “premier amenities for pilots and their families.”

“What other place can you live at where you can be out on the golf course one minute, you can go boating on the same day, fly for your $200 cheeseburger, and be back in time for dinner?” Michael Mills, a resident and “major airline” captain says in a promotional YouTube video for the development.

With “an average of 20 lots sold each month,” Patten says Pecan Plantation “has quickly established itself as one of the fastest-selling aviation properties in the United States.”

Zach Milton, a land consultant for Patten Properties, noted that “One of the things that buyers find attractive is that Pecan Plantation has more than just one airpark. We have two airparks, making it a very active community, along with EAA Chapter 983, one of the few gold-rated chapters in the world.”

First homesites went up in the 1970s—but things took off when first runway was built

Milton told Flying magazine that Patten has developed over 700 acreage communities across 36 states over the last 45 years or so, but had “never really done an airpark.”

“The Anthony family owns Pecan Plantation,” Milton noted in the Flying article. “They’ve owned it since the 1940s, when it was the largest pecan orchard in the country. Then in the 1970s they started putting in amenities and a few hundred homesites on the land. They put in a marina on the lake, and they established a golf course. Then they put in the original runway, 0TX1.”

Milton told Flying that Patten has sold “about 108 lots in the last year and a half” at The Landings.

Most of the buyers are from outside the Dallas-Fort Worth area, he added, “including a lot of airline pilots who are relocating from all over the country and are looking to live in an airpark.”

Granbury and its lake are part of the attraction

Another attraction of Pecan Plantation—which is actually an unincorporated part of the Granbury “micropolitan” area—is nearby Granbury itself. Recognized as the “No. 1 Historic Small Town” by USA Today for three consecutive years, Granbury has the Brazos River snaking through it and nearly Lake Granbury as a popular watersports destination, making for some decidedly scenic flyover opportunities.

Plus, Granbury also offers something unique: drone delivery of chicken wings from a local Chili’s along with other delivery items dropped from the sky by Israel-based Flytrex. 

You could say the town is buzzing, in more ways than one:

Flytrex delivery drone over Granbury. [Photo: Flytrex]

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