Tag Archives: valley

Mt Diablo Summit

Having trekked along the trails on one side of Mt Diablo, we decided to finish the day off by heading to the summit. This time we took a more motorized form of transportation and drove up there. We passed many cyclists heading the same way how all made me feel a bit guilty. I had just finished a hike, though, so didn’t feel quite so bad about my lazy route to the top.

The summit has a tower and lookout station which we took a look around. The views were very good, even if the haze was a bit of a problem further away. We aren’t terribly familiar with all of the area yet so we spent some time trying to work out exactly where we were in relation to the places we do know. It is a long drive to the top but worth doing. Soon the Amgen Tour of California will be making the climb too. I suspect they will head up there at a fair old pace!

Ryan Flyby

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I had not been up to Sonoma Skypark for quite a while. Lots of things had been going on that had either kept me at home or taken me further afield but, with a nice Saturday forecast, I figured it was time to get back up there and say hello to some folks. The weather held to the forecast and it was a great day to be up there. During my first visit to Schellville, I had met Dave Masters and photographed his ST-A. Dave also pays a visit to Skypark each week. I had seen him there before but had not shot him from the good light side of the field.

This time I was determined to do so. When he appeared downwind, I scampered across the field to get into position. I was just in time as he came down the approach and I grabbed a sequence of shots. Here they are.

Curtiss Jenny

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When talking about vintage aircraft, I am frequently discussing aircraft that are from the Second World War era or later. However, one of the residents of Schellville is a Curtiss Jenny. This is a First World War aircraft and the example here is an original. It doesn’t get to fly very often but I was lucky to be there on a day when it was planned to take it up for a couple of sorties. We moved it out to fuel up and then took it onto the field to launch. (It should be noted that pushing an aircraft around the field quickly makes you appreciate where the gradients are. What looks like nothing when you are walking suddenly becomes conspicuous when pushing an aircraft – even a relatively light older one!)

We crewed up the Jenny and got her ready for start. Unfortunately, fortune was not on our side. She fired up willingly enough but a quick check of the engine compartment after start revealed a fuel leak and we shut her down. A trip back to the hangar to troubleshoot meant that there would be no flying that day. Once back inside, a hose was found to be split and this was the source of the fuel. Not the sort of thing you want to find out about while flying so the sound approach of everyone was justified. Fixing the hose was easy so, hopefully the Jenny will be flying again soon. Now to get some good weather and availability for everyone concerned!

I also had a little video of the start up which you can see below.

Decaying PV-2 and DC-3

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While Schellville has a great collection of vintage aircraft in operation, it also has a couple of large airframes that do not look like they are going anywhere in a hurry. Parked near the runway are a DC-3 and the PV-2 Harpoon. The DC-3 is a rare sub-type….

The PV-2 has apparently spent some time as a spraying aircraft and it has some Arizona logos on it from a previous existence. It doesn’t have any doors on the bomb bay so I am assuming that these were removed as part of whatever conversion was done for the spraying role although that is just a guess. Both of them are sitting out on the earth and, with the low sun angles you get at this time of year, they look particularly interesting.

We grabbed some shots of them both while keeping an eye out for any other interesting movements that the field would bring.

Ryan ST-A

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Our Schellville expedition brought me into contact with a type I have never seen before. The Ryan ST-A is not a plane I was familiar with and, when one taxied out for departure, I was quite curious as to what it was. A quick departure was followed by some passes over the field before the pilot headed off to the local area where we could see him carrying out some aeros in the distance.

A while later, while we were sitting eating some food, a guy came across with his lunch and joined us. His name was Dave Masters and it had been him flying the Ryan earlier on. We had a great chat about the history of the aircraft and how he had come to own it. He also told us about a similar aircraft in one of the hangars which we made time to see in due course.

A great looking aircraft design and two of them kept in wonderful condition. This place is already looking like a great spot!

Stearman Central

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Schellville also seemed to have quite a few Stearmans around on the day I was there. I think they were generally doing rides for people. A nice day for some open cockpit flying so I hope the passengers enjoyed themselves. Here are some of the shots I got of the Stearman.

P-40 Tomahawk

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Arriving in a new part of the world means a lot of new aeronautical experiences are waiting to be had. Those who have lived here a while know where the good things are to be seen but I don’t. Therefore, it is best to take advantage of the knowledge that is already there. Fortunately, I already know a few people out this way but also, courtesy of friends back in the Midwest, I have been introduced to some new people who are very familiar with the local aviation scene.

My friend Paul was in the area for work and we wanted to take a trip out. I dropped a line to Roger, one person that I had been put in contact with, to see what he could suggest. He said Sonoma would be the place to go. There are two airfields very close to each other and we shall hear more of one of them another day. On this day, we spent our time at Sonoma Valley or, as it seems to be more familiarly known, Schellville. They hold an open day once a month and this was one of those days.

We arrived and things looked pretty quiet but it was early in the day. We weren’t sure whether we had come to the right spot at first so made a quick recce down the street. Finding nothing (at least nothing that made us feel like we were in the right place!), we came back to where we had started and there on the ramp where, only a few minutes previously, nothing had been now sat a P-40 Tomahawk. This came as quite a surprise.

As we were looking over the fence at it, out comes a P-51 Mustang and parks next to it. Towing them around was a guy called Chris who willingly told us about the day, what he was planning to fly and a good spot for us to go and put our stuff which would provide a good view of proceedings and some shade and seating! Result. We had a wander around before getting ourselves in position for the planned flight of the P-40.

A guy from Silicon Valley was having the flight as a birthday treat. We watched them taxi out and depart before running in across the field. Then they headed off to fly around the local area. Not a bad start to the day!

Iao Valley

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If you head inland from the airport on Maui, you can travel up a narrow route called the Iao Valley. It is a pretty valley to travel up but the main attraction is at the head of the valley where there is a visitor center. Here is a place that has much historical significance for the people who populated the islands in years gone by. Battles were fought here and the interesting shapes of the hills have significance as well.

The variation in climate was noticeable. Looking up into the hills, you could see a lot fo cloud moving through and the foliage was green and dense. Look the other way and you could see the warmer drier areas appearing in quite a short distance. There was a river running through the valley which was feeding a lot of cultivated garden areas. A lot of people visited although not many seemed to stay too long. If you took your time, it was actually a very nice place to be.