August 2000 — More scenes from my mom’s visit to Albia, Iowa, where she got to meet and spend time with several family members for the first time. Mom took flying lessons in Washington State as a teenager and earned her private pilot’s license, so she’s always ready to check out a small plane or two! I love the photos […]
They were huge flying boats named after the great sailing ships that in the 1800’s sailed the oceans of the world. The luxurious Pan American”Clipper” planes of the 1930’s took cargo, mail and passengers around the world in what was, for its time, considered a daring and pioneering feat. Pan American’s Treasure Island terminal and lagoon became the home port […]
I previously shared these images back in January 2018. The slides are all stamped May 1971, and as I mentioned in my earlier post it still fascinates me how much Sacramento’s airport has grown and changed over the past few decades. This must have been one of my first visits to the fairly new Sacramento Metropolitan Airport (as it was […]
This week, I’m revisiting Chanute Air Force Base as it was in 1957. In December 2017 I wrote a bit about the history of Chanute and its decommissioning in 1993. Even after the base closed, the Octave Chanute Aerospace Museum continued to display a number of airplanes until its closure in November 2015. The B-50 Superfortress (above) was a redesign […]
I was lucky enough to see the Blue Angels flying over San Francisco last year during Fleet Week, and they make regular appearances at Sacramento’s annual Capitol Air Show — but until watching this episode of California’s Gold, I never realized they have winter headquarters in El Centro in Southern California. Most of us will never have the opportunity to […]
This week I’m wrapping up my series of Korean War photos; I know a lot of you have been enjoying it, and I very much appreciate all your likes and shares. I think my final group of photos really encapsulates what my dad’s experience at Johnson Air Base was like. As before, I’ve put double quotes around any explanatory notes […]
The pilots and ground crews worked very hard at keeping the planes in the air; but every once in awhile things didn’t go as planned. Two views of a B-24 Liberator after a hard landing:
Huell gets another thrill ride in this episode of California’s Gold from 2006 when he goes up in a plane to witness baby trout being planted in mountain lakes. California Fish and Game have been using airplanes to drop the trout for over 50 years, and despite Huell’s nerves, their pilots are experts at maneuvering among the high mountain peaks. […]