Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0

Central California Strip Flying

4 posts in this topic

Posted (edited)

 

A little weekend strip flying in central California.

The red and white airplane is a Kitfox Model II powered by a 65hp 2-cycle Rotax 582 greyhead engine.

Starting from KDWA (Davis Woodland Airport - also known as Yolo Airport) we follow Putah Creek west past the town of Winters and Lake Berryessa to Hammonds Airstrip

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hammonds is just south west of Berryessa atop a mountain ridge at ~2,500'.

It has a significant upslope to the north and is one way in, one way out. I was joined at Hammonds by Steve in his yellow Aerotrek and Paco in his Rans S-7 (both with Rotax 912's).

 

Kitfox: http://www.kitfoxaircraft.com

Aerotrek: http://www.aerotrek.aero

Rans: https://www.rans.com

Then back to the central California valley for a bit of fun along the delta.

Paco and I landed on a narrow raised raised access road along the Sacramento Deepwater Channel.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Warning, the road is narrow, the shoulders slope off quickly, and the road is raised ~10 feet - so its pretty important to stay centered on the road!

(Kind off scary with the Kitfox since it has no forward visibility when the tailwheel is down.)

Then off to Steamboat Landing for coffee and a snack. Steamboat Landing / Steamboat Acres is a great place to visit with a ~2800 foot grass strip, farm, restaurant, and beach.

There a nice spot to pull the planes off to the side of the strip, but bring your own tie downs.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

http://steamboatacres.com

Here's a great video from Alex with the first approach/landing coming in from the other direction (from the east) at Steamboat: https://youtu.be/BclF07PKuqI

Edited by Osprey220
to hide secret coordinates
2 people like this

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted

Coords aren’t really necessary to our once secret spots. Many of the places we used to go went away after it became public knowledge. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted

Coords aren’t really necessary to our once secret spots. Many of the places we used to go went away after it became public knowledge. 

OK Joey - Sorry.    

I'll go back and pull the coordinates.

Kind of a shame.

In New Zealand almost all the flying is strip flying and pilots crowd sourced a great collection of strip coordinates on an online map to increase everyones safety, enjoyment and grow the community.

Cheers,

Owen

1 person likes this

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted

Thanks Owen! I’m in no way wanting to hoard the strips to ourselves. I’ll gladly lead anyone around our West circuit. The issue arises when  someone we’ve never met sees this, decides to go, has a run in with the land owner or worse an incident and then the land owner cuts us all off. I’ve seen it too many times. When are we going flying? 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!


Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.


Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0