LOST & ABANDONED AIR FIELDS

[Cloudchaser427]

This is a fun site to browse. Click on the state, then city and it will show airfields from the past that in most cases no longer exist along with pictures from past to present. Aviation history.

http://www.airfields-freeman.com/index.htm

Cloudchaser

[Red]

Re: LOST & ABANDONED AIR FIELDS

Neat site

Thanks!

[FuryFan]

Re: LOST & ABANDONED AIR FIELDS

Sorry, same link as above.

[f1-69]

Re: LOST & ABANDONED AIR FIELDS

when i still lived in alaska, my route every day took me all the way down the aleutian islands as far as adak, there is so much neat stuff down that way old bases,airplanes,jeeps,guns.just about any kind of ww2 plane u can think of is just laying around.

[Coyote Chris]

Re: LOST & ABANDONED AIR FIELDS

Thanks! Lots of great pics and interesting history on that site.....
chris

[Leo]

Re: LOST & ABANDONED AIR FIELDS

Neat site. I looked up the Vacaville Glider port. Made me want to cry. I flew many an hour out of there before it shut down. Some of the best soaring terrain anywhere.

[RAD2LTR]

Re: LOST & ABANDONED AIR FIELDS

Neat site. I looked up the Vacaville Glider port. Made me want to cry. I flew many an hour out of there before it shut down. Some of the best soaring terrain anywhere.

I remember that place. Did you know there was a race track (cars) in the same valley? It was plowed under back in the late 60s I think. I remember seeing the glider port as a kid when my family would visit relatives down here. I was kinda sad to find out it was gone when I moved to Napa in 2005.

Will

[Leo]

Re: LOST & ABANDONED AIR FIELDS

There were actually 3 airports in the Vacaville area. There was the Glider port in Lagoon Valley south of Vacaville, the Nut Tree and Vaca Dixon Airport which was north on 80 near the PG&E substation. The race track and dragstrip are at Vaca-Dixon and still show up on photo's tho as you said were plowed under years ago. When I was in college the architect I worked for got a contract to build a western theme park (!) on that site using the old raceway as a railroad bed! It never went past prelim design.
When Lagoon Valley Soaring closed the gliderport (They closed one day and the next the dozers were there pushing down the buildings and ripping up the runway) due to pending development (a developer took advantage of the need for jobs and got huge investments, then skipped) the operation moved to the Vaca-Dixon strip and reopened it. The situation there was not good as neighbors complained of noise and safety. Also the Nut Tree group wanted no gliders in the area as they wanted Nut Tree to grow and a glider area nearby hindered it (this from the mayor). It really wasn't a great site being too far from the hills and surrounded by high tension wires! I certainly was nervous flying out of there. They moved to Williams which I hear is a great site.
When I was a teen Steve Seghetti (of Sparky fame) used to keep his beautiful T-6 at Vaca-Dixon, along with another. I can imagine operating out of that little runway must have been a handful. I still see a Stearman outside the hangar at Vaca-Dixon now and then.

[BillSnead]

Re: LOST & ABANDONED AIR FIELDS

Leo,
I was based at Travis back then, and was working on my PVT license when the glider operation started up. The small FBO/CFI back then was also doing some ag work. He owned a Beech 18, an old Cessna 150 (with a good engine) and an ag plane. I think the crop duster's name was John. He had to take a break from flying late that Summer, due to a bit of testicle surgery. I recall there was an N2 (Navy version of the Stearman) that was kept hangared there. The runway was mostly gravel and old asphalt. a bit short with wires displaced at one end. Also there was a horse-farm that you crossed over on final, and the owners were always upset at the pilots for spooking the horses. I got my PVT ticket that summer as well as a glider rating. One of the best and poorest summers of my life. If you were there, you might even remember the skinny tall kid with the blue Gremlin. Wish I had that funny car today. GREAT flying... a lot of aviation learning took place out there. . Very sad to see what's left of the place now.

[Leo]

Re: LOST & ABANDONED AIR FIELDS

I hung there in the mid 70's and again in the late 80's-early 90's. In the 80's it was owned by the May's. Their father was killed when his Travel Air crashed on Cement Hill.
It was a great little airport. You could just sit and watch all day, take a ride, rent a sailplane, lessons, etc. Very laid back. Spent many a morning in the office with coffee and the little wood stove listening and learning while we waited for the fog to clear. Many afternoons under the Euc trees waiting for a rental to return so I could go play.
When I was flying they had the Ag Cat and a Super Cub (we called it the Super Slug) for towing. You crossed your fingers you got the Cat as towing behind that Cub took forever and he had to turn back through the valley to keep you at a safe altitude to return in case of a line break. It took that long to gain altitude on a hot day! Used to tap the guages just to make sure you WERE climbing. Nice part of the operation was the ability to drop you right into the local thermals and the ridge lift off the Vaca Mountains. I had a lot of fun and met some great people there over the years. I understand Nut Tree's issues with a glider area just to the south of their runway. It could be a little upsetting to see a Bonanza pass through our area, a little below us and knowing he probably was unaware of our presence. If you were high, the occasional C-5 could also give you a thrill. Always monitored Travis. Good times!

[AirDOGGe]

Re: LOST & ABANDONED AIR FIELDS

Good stuff.

I barely remember a no-longer-existing small airfield positioned between Fremont and Milpitas, Calif. from my childhood in the 60's, basically a number of G.A. aircraft sitting out in the open on the bay side of Highway 17 (called 880 now). No hangars I can recall...

Until now, I never knew anything about "King Skylanes Airport", but now I do. Thank you.

The portion about the former Fremont glider port/Fremont International Raceway was entertaining too...I visited both during their time, the former in the 80's and the dragstrip in the 60's and 70's.

But, Santa Clara Airport? I had NO idea that one ever existed. I have a friend who's apartment now sits about where one of the hangars once was, near 101 and Lawrence Expressway. Who would have known?

I repeat, Good stuff indeed.

[Airracer75]

Re: LOST & ABANDONED AIR FIELDS

Anybody remember the old Gilroy Airport, I use to fly in there in the early 70's.

[Lockheed Bob]

Re: LOST & ABANDONED AIR FIELDS

One more for you Bay area folks. Remember the old Morgan Hill airport. I went out of there in a Piper Tri-pacer in the 60's.

[Airracer75]

Re: LOST & ABANDONED AIR FIELDS

Bob thats the airport I was thinking of, another senior monment Thx