If you find yourself Angeles City in the Philippines, you may wake up one day with a massive hangover, and an empty wallet, and a tattoo of a woman’s name you don’t recognize on your ass. I’m not joking – it all happens more than you think, as Angeles City (or just AC) is the party hotspot in the Philippines, with plenty of bars and clubs that go all night, every night. However, Angeles City is growing up and becoming more mature, as I’ve documented before, and becoming a more attractive option for tourists, expats, travelers, and even a few families who visit.
So, when you wake up with that hangover and wallet as empty as her cold heart, you may start asking if there’s something more to life. There is – and it’s called the Angeles City Flying Club.
The ACFC is located only 24 km (about 15+ miles) from the grit and grime of the city, but it might as well be a world away. It’s located in what we call “the province,” which means the green, lush, and super chill bucolic countryside, in this case. It is a little hard to find if you don’t know the roads out there, so I suggest calling the Club to send a taxi or a driver for you (for a charge).
Once you get there, the relaxing and fun experiences starts, with something for every aviation fan, whether they are experienced pilots, training for their license, trying it for the first time, or just spectators.
The complex is home to a private club, which promotes light sport aircraft training and flying. The grounds are very nice and garden-like, which makes it enjoyable just to walk around. There are a couple of offices and training rooms downstairs in their building, then a restaurant upstairs.
The fun part of the restaurant is a long gallery that’s covered with a roof (for shade and ceiling fans) but open air and looking down over the green grass runway right outside. So, it’s the perfect place to get a meal (the food is surprisingly good – not like a snack bar) and watch the planes take off and land.
Speaking of which, the best part of the Flying Club is the aircraft, and they definitely have some great ones. Within three large hangers, there are scores of ultra-lights, gliders, two and four-seat small sporting aircraft, and more. They even have a restored WWII fighter plane, which is quite a sight!
Many people in the club are foreigners and locals from Angeles City or Manila training to get their pilot’s license, or already have it and house their aircraft there so they can fly on the weekends. So, you’ll see a lot of fathers bringing their families and teaching their sons and daughters about these planes and taking them up for rides.
But, you can also go just as a visitor – like I did – and arrange a flight. I chose to go up in an ultra-light, and it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for only about $55, which was well worth it. Of course, once I was done flying there was no rush, as I got breakfast, walked through the hangers looking at the various aircraft and taking photos, talking to pilots and members, and they even have a really nice swimming pool so you can chill and make a day of it!
Give them a visit the next time you’re in Angeles City or Manila and wake up wondering what to do!
About Norm Schriever
Norm Schriever is a blogger, Amazon best-sellling author, cultural mad scientist, and enemy of the comfort zone. His work appears in the Huffington Post, Business.com, Good Morning America, The Anderson Cooper Show on CNN, NBC, MSN, Yahoo, Hotels.com, and media all around the world.
Norm grew up in Connecticut and graduated from the University of Connecticut, where he was never accused of overstudying. After expatriating to Costa Rica in 2011, he started traveling the world and documenting what he saw. He now lives in Southeast Asia, writing his heart out and working with local charities.
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