My quest for unusual airports continues...

Hi All,

 

Yesterday I was flying the P-51D from Reno, NV, to Mohave Spaceport, CA. I was at FL 250 but I looked down and remembered a field between Stockton and Bakersfield that I'd been at a long time ago. It had a huge square apron with a runway on the east side of it. I can't remember if there were other runways but it was interesting not to have that perspective when landing down the centerline of the apron. It would have been in the San Joaquin Valley but it appears it's gone now. Can anybody remember this airfield?

 

I found a short asphalt strip in [East] Port Angeles, WA, the other day. About 1000' long. Found a 500' grass strip that, unlike Lester State, WA, is flyable due to flat ground surrounding it. At 400' long, Lester State is one of those exceptions to "The Jenny can handle any airfield in flight simulator." It's only suitable for lighter-than-air or helicopters with few exceptions - I can't even land a Maul there due to the hills next to the approaches.

 

Well, if you find any short or otherwise unusual fields, please let me know. I reinstalled FS9 since I found the first one I spoke off above.

 

Thanks,

Sean

Where have you been!!? There is a site with plenty of that. Link: http://www.simtours.net/ . With pictures, no less. Been there done that. Hope this fills the bill.

Chuck B

Napamule

Edit: I have a friend (female) that lives in Sequim so I fly around there often. Neah Bay and all the way to the SW in a loop back to Makah Res by following the river. One could spend a whole year flying that area.

Where have you been!!? There is a site with plenty of that. Link: http://www.simtours.net/ . With pictures, no less. Been there done that. Hope this fills the bill.

Chuck B

Napamule

Edit: I have a friend (female) that lives in Sequim so I fly around there often. Neah Bay and all the way to the SW in a loop back to Makah Res by following the river. One could spend a whole year flying that area.

 

Where have you been!!?

 

I've had limited internet access for the last five years. The site you gave me looks interesting. I need to fire up the laptop I run FS on so I can get the callsign of a highway strip in Saudi Arabia. It's either a situation where the end of the runway turns into a road with lightpoles on one side and powerlines on the other side. It's narrow and it's good for practicing cross-wind take-offs and landings.

 

This airport in California I was asking about is of interest to me because the huge square apron gives me the experience of landing on something like the WWII AAF airfields, that were really fields, just a large grassy, flat, mowed area to land on. I guess you looked at the windsock and you could always land upwind. Also, I've been here:

 

http://www.airfields-freeman.com/FL/Airfields_FL_Pensacola_W.htm#cityfield

 

If you [Cntl]-F for "10/2/34" twice, you can see the building where I received my cryptographic training in the Air Force. It was in the mid-eighties and by then there were several wide, paved runways that had passed out of use. [Cntl]-F for "National Archives aerial view of Corry Field" and you can see the pattern. We used to use them to run on for PT. Search for "2004" and you can get an idea of what the base was like in it's modern incarnation, used for training.

 

I'm downloading AFCAD. I expect it will have a steep learning curve but I'm hoping I can re-create some of the airports from the "Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields" website.

 

Well, if anybody knows of a large square or round airport in FS9, please do tell where it is or what it's called.

 

Thanks,

Sean

Wow you are really going to burn up that laptop now, that's for sure (hehe). I have one that has cement apron that makes a circle. I use it to drive my vehicles at 120 mph. Just for fun. It's closed now but is still there in FSX but not sure if it's in FS9. It's Hamilton AFB, at Novato, CA (NE of San Francisco). And here is a link to 'Abandoned & Little Know Airports':

http://www.airfields-freeman.com/index.htm . Too much fun already.

Chuck B

Napamule

Here is pic of Hamilton AFB, listed in Freeman site under 'San Rafael' airports. The red line is what I call a 'circle' which it is not, but close?

 

Edit: I just went to it in FS9 so it's there, just like I remember it. I must of done 100's of circuits testing vehicle FDEs.

Edit: That field between Stockton and Bakersfield. Was it Lemoore NAS (KNLC)?

Wow you are really going to burn up that laptop now, that's for sure (hehe).

 

Yes - I looked in my email and found that I won the auction including FS 2002 at 4 PM, June 20th, 2013. I actually bought it because it came with Train Simulator, which was scintillating for about a half and hour. On September 2nd I bought FS 2004 and a Force Feedback joystick, which works well. I've been running these programs ever since but I like being online at home as I can participate here more.

 

Also, last night I downloaded some 120-something files, mostly from our files section here. It works out to about 6.8% of the usable area on the DVD I used, so perhaps 320 MB. I have commercial CDs with aircraft, since getting this computer I'm on now online, I've flown the P-51D, Schweizer's 2-33, and the A-T6. Some of the planes I downloaded I got because "Historic Aviation" has DVDs about them, sometimes a documentary, other times training films. One that I can get a DVD but not the aircraft for is the B-47, which seems like a nice plane to fly since the canopy is like the P-51D. It needs a potty, though, if you are going to fly all the way to Russia in it. I found a B-47 on another sight.

 

I have one that has cement apron that makes a circle. I use it to drive my vehicles at 120 mph. Just for fun. It's closed now but is still there in FSX but not sure if it's in FS9. It's Hamilton AFB, at Novato, CA (NE of San Francisco).

 

I think I found it. What I found in FS 2004 is called Hamilton (no 'AFB') and the name of the city is different, but it is north of the San Francisco Bay. I have MegaScenery USA for the San Francisco area. The airport in question has one (or maybe it's two) large aprons. I was able to use the bigger one to take off and land. But in the scenery, it appears that they took the pavement away from part of the apron. That is dated 2005, so it's a mystery.

 

Back when I was six and my Dad was learning to fly gliders out in the desert, there was a woman named Lee who's boyfriend managed El Mirage. I was all about Lee when we camped for a couple of weeks so Dad could accelerate his learning. She let me 'drive' the towplane and took me into Victorville in her 911. She was driving fast and I loved it. I found a 911 in the files section, and I have "U.S.A. Roads" for FS9. I can't wait to try it. A lot of what I do in FS reflects experiences I've had in the past. I never learned to fly in real life because when I became a disabled vet and could afford it, first I never got around to it and then I decided my thinking was too slow to fly and live. I wouldn't say that my life wasn't full before FS, but it's been a great ride since I got it in my life.

 

Oh, I found a documentary showing actress Susan Oliver learning to fly the 2-33. We were there one of the days when she was filming that, although I don't remember it for some reason. Anyway, it was interesting to see Lee in all her glory as an adult. I can tell I had excellent taste back then. I can't find the show on YouTube. I did get this in an email from Sporty's:

 

http://airfactsjournal.com/2017/03/south-africa-england-bonanza/?utm_source=MarketingEmail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=A17034C&email=xraydeltaone@hotmail.com&utm_content=2.%20South%20Africa%20to%20England%20in%20a%20Bonanza.&trk_msg=RH52KULLO85K9DA5CAS8GSOQFS&trk_contact=8L1BJF7QFQ90K0H1RO0UU8PK1K&trk_sid=TV8RNG0H3A97TNUO36JCIP74B8&utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=http%3a%2f%2fairfactsjournal.com%2f2017%2f03%2fsouth-africa-england-bonanza%2f%3futm_source%3dMarketingEmail%26utm_medium%3demail%26utm_campaign%3dA17034C%26email%3d%3f%3fuserEmail%3f%3f%26utm_content%3d2.+South+Africa+to+England+in+a+Bonanza.&utm_campaign=A17034C&utm_content=Fast+5+-+April+1st

 

Wow! That's a long link!

 

And here is a link to 'Abandoned & Little Know Airports':

http://www.airfields-freeman.com/index.htm . Too much fun already.

Chuck B

Napamule

Here is pic of Hamilton AFB, listed in Freeman site under 'San Rafael' airports. The red line is what I call a 'circle' which it is not, but close?

 

The link didn't work for me but I did find that airport. I'm hoping that Congress can pass a budget on time before the end of the month. I promised the owner of the site I was going to set up automatic payments to donate. Oops! I heard the government might shut down because they might not pass the budget. I don't know if they have enough to pay us this time.

 

 

 

Edit: I just went to it in FS9 so it's there, just like I remember it. I must of done 100's of circuits testing vehicle FDEs.

Edit: That field between Stockton and Bakersfield. Was it Lemoore NAS (KNLC)?

 

The apron is a different color but it's as big (or I think I remember it as being as big) as the one I saw before. I'm looking forward to giving it a try. Oh, I found a 2640X660' wide runway near Blythe, CA. It's 44CA:

 

http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/Airfields_CA_Riverside_E.htm#gary

 

Mr. Freeman sure knows how to tell a story. The story of this field, I think, is the best ghost town-type story I've read.

 

Sean

EGDP, Portland Navy, England, has a 750' runway. After I saw simtours.net I tried it in the 172, got a great freeze of the plane just past the end of the runway, wheels inches above the sod and the tail possibly touching it. Today I tried it in the J-3C at maximum weight and was able to take off and land fine with the weather set to "Clear". Probably couldn't do it at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. It was a blast, though.

 

Sean

The French Alps Altiports set is interesting.

"Inclined-surface scenery of six airports in the French Alps. Detailed depictions of Alpes d'Huez, Courchevel, Rosiere, Megeve, Meribel and Valloire. Custom mesh and AFCAD2 files provided."

The French Alps Altiports set is interesting.

"Inclined-surface scenery of six airports in the French Alps. Detailed depictions of Alpes d'Huez, Courchevel, Rosiere, Megeve, Meribel and Valloire. Custom mesh and AFCAD2 files provided."

 

Pilots learn how to land at these airports with no snow before they carry passengers, right? They look like a real challenge.

 

Thanks,

Sean

Also take a look at Norwegian airfields - quite a few that have ILS approaches, have them at near right-angles to the runways because you can only descend down the nearest fjord before turning at the last minute into the mouth of a narrow side-ravine which is level enough for a runway. It takes a lot of practice to combine the IFR and visual approach techniques required for these airfields, especially at night (which lasts for 6 months in Norway!) I wouldn't attempt them in anything bigger than a Dash-8 personally.