Hampton is a general aviation airport out towards the seacoast in southern New Hampshire. I have gone to eat there a bunch of times, but the closest I’ve come to landing there was a fly-by fifteen years ago in my friend Dan’s Christian Eagle. Hang on to your hat!
This was in 2009, and was shot on a rocking iPhone 3G. The blurring is period correct. Dan, by the way, has moved on to a Cirrus SR-22.
Hampton used to be grass, which you can see in the video. I’m a chicken and don’t run off of grass strips. The airfield used to sponsor a combined swap meet and runway rock-picking day in the spring, but that went away with paving part of the runway a couple years ago. So now it’s a side by side asphalt and grass runway. It is a nice runway, in fine condition, but it’s only 2100 feet long. My POH tells me I will make it fine. I haven’t tried it yet, but being a chicken, I probably won’t. And, yes, I know that a DC-3 used to run out of Hampton. I still won’t.
The Airfield Cafe used to be in a funky old building that had lots of old-timey charm. But it was pretty well worn out. A couple of years ago, they moved to a brand-new building that is closer to the runway. It is airy and spacious, and despite being new, it still has a lot of funky charm. There are airplane models moving on a track on the ceiling, and there is cool aviation memorabilia on the walls.
The food at the Cafe is really, really good. The menu has pretty much anything you might want, and is predictably delicious. The place can be very busy, especially on weekends in the summer, so you might want to call ahead to get on the wait list.
The Airfield Cafe has been owned and run by the Aversano family for as long as is I can remember. They run it well, hiring lots of kids from neighboring schools, so it has a fun family feel to it. I guess it feels like what an airport restaurant should be. Hampton is one of my favorite places to go, even if I have to drive there! So give it a try- you won’t be disappointed.