BajaNomad - Baja Runways from Space-Part 1 San Felipe to L.A. Bay

Baja Runways from Space-Part 1 San Felipe to L.A. Bay

David K - 12-15-2009 at 10:15 AM

After seeing how close the satellite images of Baja's airport runways to those photographed by plane in the pilot guidebooks, I went to each of the airstrips and airports in the San Felipe to Bahia de los Angeles region alng the coast and inland to the mountain ranges.

Only a few of these runways are open or safe. The images are for general interst only in the history of flying in Baja. Some are long abandoned and only make good landmarks. Consult the Baja Bush Pilots (membership required) web site for the latest airport news.

One open airport/ landing strip was covered by clouds or fog when the satellite was taking photos, it is El Vergel... about 25 miles south of San Felipe. No image available.

So, enjoy this look at old and new runways in Baja!

NEW: Part 2 South of L.A. Bay and Punta Prieta to Guerrero Negro:
http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=44822

NEW: Part 3 Northwest Baja (Ensenada to Laguna Chapala): http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=44848

From north to south, more or less...

Playa Blanca (for a short time the principle San Felipe airport with air service. Closed now). The original downtown San Felipe airport is no longer visible due to newer construction. It was near the where the south Pemex station is today.

Rancho Fonseca (south end of Diablo Dry Lake, the runway was to the right side of that large clearied area):

Fonseca, high look:

San Felipe International:

Bahia Santa Maria (a strip in the 1970's, closed):

Sulfur Mine (strip from the 1950's and earlier when the mine was in operation. The Old Puertecitos road cuts across the runway.):

Bahia Santa Maria and the Sulfur Mine (El Vergel airstrip is under the clouds on the left):

Plan Nacional Agrario (Farm project from the 1970's near the entrance to Agua Caliente Canyon, in Valle Chico):

Rancho Parral/ Cerro Chato (near the south end of Valle Chico). This runway is in 'Air Baja!' and on the CH-22 chart, it is just a straight section of the road to Parral today. Two satellite images that are similar to the two photos in Air Baja.

Rancho Matomi (Another former strip used by bighorn sheep hunters and ? Now just a straight section of the road to Matomi ranch, near the east end of Arroyo Matomi.):

Coloradito (About 16 miles north of Puertecitos, listed in Senterfitt's book in 1987):

Puertecitos:

El Huerfanito:

Las Encantadas (just north of Punta Bufeo):

Punta Bufeo (5 miles north of Gonzaga Bay):

Gonzaga Bay overview (There were two runways at Papa Fernandez' back in the 1960's, but they are too faint to even make out today):

Alfonsina's:

Rancho Grande (2 runways):

Punta Final:

Puerto Calamajue:

Molino de Calamajue (from the gold mining days, long ago):

Desengaño (long abandoned gold mine runways 3 miles north of the L.A. Bay highway, 7 miles east of Hwy. 1):

Bahia de los Angeles:

Bahia de los Angeles-2/ Muñoz (Camp Gecko is at the bottom of the first image):

Sammi's (south-east corner of Bahia de los Angeles):

================================================

There may be a few more old runways I will add...

Remember, this is for historic review of the number of airports that once were in Baja that are mostly now closed/ abandoned... Pilots, use Baja Bush Pilots for latest data on OPEN runways. The majority of the ones shown here are CLOSED.

Stay tuned for more areas of Baja...

NEW: Part 2 South of L.A. Bay and Punta Prieta to Guerrero Negro:
http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=44822

NEW: Part 3 Northwest Baja (Ensenada to Laguna Chapala): http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=44848

[Edited on 3-19-2010 by David K]

Barry A. - 12-15-2009 at 11:17 AM

Good stuff, David.

There also was a runway that I clearly remember in downtown Ciudad BOLA with it's south end right at Casa Diaz----------now covered with campgrounds, fences, trees, etc.

Barry

capt. mike - 12-15-2009 at 04:17 PM

very cool views. brought back memories from the early - mid 80s in Piper Cherokees and a brave little Mooney.

Skeet/Loreto - 12-15-2009 at 04:39 PM

Oh! the Memories.

Yes that runway at the Bay of Los Angeles you could land and taxi right up to Papp Diaz Store, get some fuel from 55 Gal Drums through a chamois and some good food!!

David.\, Hope you come up on Punta Pulpito It was short!

Skeet

David K - 12-15-2009 at 05:58 PM

Yes Skeet... If I ever continue with this that far south... I did post the Punta Pulpito pages from Senterfitt for you a while ago...

Yes, the original main L.A. Bay runway is how the pilots would land for a dinner of turtle steaks prepared by Cruz Diaz... and taxi up to their rooms at Casa Diaz.

See http://www.bajadreams.com for some of Larry Hahn's old photos there.

[Edited on 12-16-2009 by David K]

David K - 12-16-2009 at 08:31 AM

If anyone knows of a runway not shown in this (or any future) region of Baja I am covering, please let me know!

Original L.A. Bay runway was here...

David K - 12-16-2009 at 08:47 AM

The flat area north from Casa Diaz (between today's paved road and the beach)... ended in the early 1980's I believe...

Stickers - 12-16-2009 at 10:45 PM

David, that runway was one of the great ones for Baja pilots, right in the middle of town. It was closed after a child was hit by a landing aircraft and killed. Very horrible

David K - 12-16-2009 at 11:29 PM

Yah, I heard that, too... sad stuff.

I posted a photo from 1957 or near that time of a plane parked in front of Casa Diaz... Larry Hahn's dad, I think.

Original L.A. Bay airport in 1969:

David K - 12-18-2009 at 08:29 AM

From my 1972 edition of Arnold Senterfitt's 'Airports of Baja California'.

David K - 12-18-2009 at 09:00 PM

How many Nomads have had turtle steak made by Señora Diaz?

I may have, but was only 9 years old when we first stayed there!?

great shots, but...

steekers - 12-18-2009 at 11:40 PM

Nothing beats actually flying in there. I would love to just take a year off and fly into those old strips.

Of course I would need to land, look around very briefly, then get the heck out of there before the military gets me!

The military might even deploy their newly acquired US drones to track me down thinking I was a cartel member...scary. :lol:

bonanza bucko - 12-19-2009 at 07:46 AM

David:
Good job!..thanks! It's too bad that so many of those dirt strips are closed. Some that were not in the pictures because they are buried under development or sand are San Felipe "downtown" where we used to land and walk to the El Cortez for lunch and Rancho Santa Ynez up on the hill...still open but not used much now that we can't buy gas there. Ditto the dry lake bed behind Punta Bufeo. The US DEA leaned on the Mexicans to prevent avgas sales on all airports not run by the gummint in the early 1980s...that closed a bunch. Then the Mexican gummint plowed some others up.

A lot of good runways in Mexico don't look like runways from the air. But, if you know them, you can land just fine. But I have had newby passengers break into tears on short final because they thought we were "crashing" on such good runways as Alfonsina's and Punta San Francisquito and etc. etc.

A good dirt runway is a thing to be loved...just like a good grass runway where the grass grows. Both save tires and make a pilot warm with the love of flying after landing there.

BTW: The photos don't show the paving of "That Road" south of Puertecitos too well...would be nice if we had an ongoing photo record of progress there......so we could morn the old road and look forward to the new one.

David K - 12-19-2009 at 11:08 AM

Yah, the satellite images look to be about 2-3 years old... at least at Puertecitos.

Steekers (or other pilots), how about some fresh aerial photos of the road south of Puertecitos?

capt. mike - 12-19-2009 at 11:33 AM

Bo Bucko flies that route more than anyone i know of.

anyone ever see Ralph from Imperial Valley area?
didn't he fly a Bo regularly to Alfi's?

JESSE - 12-19-2009 at 11:36 AM

Hope no drug lord sees this thread, he wouldn't be happy.

David K - 12-19-2009 at 11:46 AM

Why not? The airstrips above are all in books or on maps... no secret strips shown!

JESSE - 12-19-2009 at 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K
Why not? The airstrips above are all in books or on maps... no secret strips shown!

Explain that to those animals.

Skeet/Loreto - 12-19-2009 at 12:39 PM

DK: I had steaks at Pappa DSiaz several times.
On one trip I pulled up and there was a small Flatbed Truck with tall sideboards, I was running over with Turtles. Sometime after that I heard that Pappa Diaz went to jail for 3 years,=Know that sometime after that Momma Diaz was doing the Store.

On my first trip I landed a San Felipe taxi up to the back of a Motel and Restruant and Had a Tortuva Fish Dinner. The best I can remember.

Does any body remember goiong into the Strip just off the Highway near BOmbero?? It was close to the Turn off to San Nicholas,

capt. mike - 12-20-2009 at 08:58 AM

Skeet - are you ever in touch with Art willis? wonder if he retired?

Skeet/Loreto - 12-20-2009 at 10:35 AM

Mike: Have not seen or heard from Art in several years.
How about you? When was the last time you had contact??

Skeet

capt. mike - 12-20-2009 at 10:37 AM

last i heard he was helping with that king air super 200 that ran out of gas at San Francisquito last year, and plowed up the hill off RW 03.

mtgoat666 - 3-17-2010 at 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K
Bump!

why the bump :?:

capt. mike - 3-17-2010 at 06:20 PM

ditto. sumthin new??
are there green runways now with patty's day happening?? :lol:

i have my "green" card from last week flying to baja....does that count??? :yes:

David K - 3-17-2010 at 06:53 PM

Yes Mike, I started Part 2, find it in this forum... here: http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=44822

MtGoat666:

I strated adding more as this was a popular cotribution to Nomad I made... so the 'bump' was to bring up Part 1 while I was adding Part 2.

You may not realize, there are NEW Nomads all the time... and even old ones who missed the thread when it was previously active.

This is in the Private Pilot and Flying forum, this is for those of you who are interested in seeing the runways/ airstrips as they look from Google earth satellite images...

[Edited on 3-18-2010 by David K]

rts551 - 3-17-2010 at 07:03 PM

David

Number of posts don't seem to indicate "popular". Maybe you are going through withdrawals.

Now maybe I can just bump real popular posts like
http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=44663

Now that was popular

You see, sometimes your bumps make it seem like there is something new, when in reality its just the same old stuff. Clutter.....

I f you had to pay by the post... would you bump?

think about it.,... People can still go back and look at yout post with out you shoving it in front all the time.

Quote:

Originally posted by David K
Yes Mike, I started Part 2, find it in this forum... here: http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=44822

MtGoat666:

I strated adding more as this was a popular cotribution to Nomad I made... so the 'bump' was to bring up Part 1 while I was adding Part 2.

You may not realize, there are NEW Nomads all the time... and even old ones who missed the thread when it was previously active.

This is in the Private Pilot and Flying forum, this is for those of you who are interested in seeing the runways/ airstrips as they look from Google earth satellite images...

[Edited on 3-18-2010 by David K]

David K - 3-17-2010 at 07:06 PM

Yes... what is new is Part 2... look and you will see it. Now where there's a Part 2, there is usually a part 1... following me so far?

Okay, now no matter if I bump or reply (which bumps), it DOES NOT TAKE AWAY from your ability to post here... You see it is like blue sky, not a piece of the pie!

Ken Bondy - 3-17-2010 at 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K
How many Nomads have had turtle steak made by Señora Diaz?

I have and it still haunts me.

Skipjack Joe - 3-17-2010 at 07:33 PM

Could just be indigestion, Ken. :spingrin:

rts551 - 3-17-2010 at 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K
Yes... what is new is Part 2... look and you will see it. Now where there's a Part 2, there is usually a part 1... following me so far?

Okay, now no matter if I bump or reply (which bumps), it DOES NOT TAKE AWAY from your ability to post here... You see it is like blue sky, not a piece of the pie!

Don't quite follow but if every poster did the same this for their posts. wouldn't it get a little messy?

rts551 - 3-17-2010 at 07:59 PM

Quote:

David HELP. They are getting separated already. Get the massage yet?

capt. mike - 3-18-2010 at 07:03 AM

i would love to try turtle.
we were talking about the old days and eating turtle in baja in the 60s and 70s with some old timers last weekend in mulege.
they said hands down it is the most delicious meat they ever ate.

wonder if i can catch some garden turtles here and steam them? or slow roast.
in KS growing up we used to catch alligator snapping turtles in lakes and rivers. meanest animals i ever saw!! we never ate one though.
a large one can REMOVE your arm!! one bite.

thx for part 2 DK. i like that you did it.

bonanza bucko - 3-18-2010 at 07:24 AM

David et al:
Guess I'm an antique because I know some old stuff about those runways that has been lost:

The best strip at Punta Bufeo was that dry lakebed to the north in your picture. The "main" strip on the beach was very soft at the west end and everybody tended to use the lake bed and hike over the dunes to the cantina where they would go down the beach to get the eggs from under the chickens for huevos rancheros...mui bueno!
The Mexican government plowed up the lake bed when the US DEA prevailed upon them to stop all landings at strips that were not supervised and also stopped the selling of avgas at any aeropuerto that wasn't government operated in about 1982.

The "downtown" Bay of LA strip was a good place to land....all the downtown strips were including San Felipe where we used to land and walk to the El Cortez for lunch. They closed the dirt strip at Bay of La in about 1982 when a Mexican kid on a bike played chicken with a Mooney taking off and lost. The poor Mooney driver...he was out of El Monte East of LA....quit flying for about three years because he was so broken up.

The new strip at BOLA is ten miles out of town, across the wind (naturally) and unmanned and very dark at night.....most of us would not leave our birds out there all alone.

Super job with this post, David!

BB :light:

mtgoat666 - 3-18-2010 at 07:27 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K

I strated adding more as this was a popular cotribution to Nomad I made... so the 'bump' was to bring up Part 1 while I was adding Part 2.

if thread was truly popular "cotribution" it would generate a 10+ page flame war and end in it being locked :lol:

i like google earth because it has taken a great public resource (govt photographs) and made a great "free" product. free stuff from industry and government -- i love it, ain't "socialism" grand!!??

k-rico - 3-18-2010 at 07:41 AM

It ain't free goat, you're supposed to be seeing these images via the Google website and viewing thier ads. These images are violating the Google copyrights.

-----------------------------------------

2. Restrictions on Use. Unless you have received prior written authorization from Google (or, as applicable, from the provider of particular Content), you must not:

(a) access or use the Products or any Content through any technology or means other than those provided in the Products, or through other explicitly authorized means Google may designate (such as through the Google Maps/Google Earth APIs);

(b) copy, translate, modify, or make derivative works of the Content or any part thereof;

(c) redistribute, sublicense, rent, publish, sell, assign, lease, market, transfer, or otherwise make the Products or Content available to third parties;

(d) reverse engineer, decompile or otherwise attempt to extract the source code of the Service or any part thereof, unless this is expressly permitted or required by applicable law;

(e) use the Products in a manner that gives you or any other person access to mass downloads or bulk feeds of any Content, including but not limited to numerical latitude or longitude coordinates, imagery, and visible map data;

(f) delete, obscure, or in any manner alter any warning, notice (including but not limited to any copyright or other proprietary rights notice), or link that appears in the Products or the Content; or

(g) use the Service or Content with any products, systems, or applications for or in connection with (i) real time navigation or route guidance, including but not limited to turn-by-turn route guidance that is synchronized to the position of a user's sensor-enabled device; or (ii) any systems or functions for automatic or autonomous control of vehicle behavior.
---------------------------------------------------------

http://www.google.com/intl/en_ALL/help/terms_maps.html

mtgoat666 - 3-18-2010 at 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by k-rico
It ain't free goat, you're supposed to be seeing these images via the Google website and viewing thier ads. These images are violating the Google copyrights.

-----------------------------------------

2. Restrictions on Use. Unless you have received prior written authorization from Google (or, as applicable, from the provider of particular Content), you must not:

(a) access or use the Products or any Content through any technology or means other than those provided in the Products, or through other explicitly authorized means Google may designate (such as through the Google Maps/Google Earth APIs);

(b) copy, translate, modify, or make derivative works of the Content or any part thereof;

(c) redistribute, sublicense, rent, publish, sell, assign, lease, market, transfer, or otherwise make the Products or Content available to third parties;

(d) reverse engineer, decompile or otherwise attempt to extract the source code of the Service or any part thereof, unless this is expressly permitted or required by applicable law;

(e) use the Products in a manner that gives you or any other person access to mass downloads or bulk feeds of any Content, including but not limited to numerical latitude or longitude coordinates, imagery, and visible map data;

(f) delete, obscure, or in any manner alter any warning, notice (including but not limited to any copyright or other proprietary rights notice), or link that appears in the Products or the Content; or

(g) use the Service or Content with any products, systems, or applications for or in connection with (i) real time navigation or route guidance, including but not limited to turn-by-turn route guidance that is synchronized to the position of a user's sensor-enabled device; or (ii) any systems or functions for automatic or autonomous control of vehicle behavior.
---------------------------------------------------------

http://www.google.com/intl/en_ALL/help/terms_maps.html

OMG! DK is violating copyright law! And repeatedly bumping it to remind us of his lawlessness!! :lol:

DK, you are quite the rebel! :lol:

capt. mike - 3-18-2010 at 08:01 AM

Bucko....i love Amerika (obama ref...)
but i HATE our current guv'mint!!!
did you see O'Reilly eat Nappy Janet for supper last nite??

the DEA has NO biz in mexican affairs and they have RUINED private GA for recreational pilots in baja who OBEY and respect mex law!!!!!!
am i peeed.....hell yeah!!!!!!!!!!!

mtgoat666 - 3-18-2010 at 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by capt. mike
the DEA has NO biz in mexican affairs and they have RUINED private GA for recreational pilots in baja who OBEY and respect mex law!!!!!!
am i peeed.....hell yeah!!!!!!!!!!!

capitano:
your statement is a bit extreme. there are plenty of air strips left in mexico,... and don't be POd at US DEA. It is the mex govt that is at war with drug cartels, and their plowing of remote air strips does hinder the drug imports to US. if you want to be mad, get mad at the gringos on your street that use central and south american coke and pot. tell your neighbors to buy homegrown pot and boycott central american weed.

don't buy mexican weed!!

yes we can!!

p.s. bump!

David K - 3-18-2010 at 08:48 AM

Quote:

The images are reproduced here for educational purposes.. no income is generated from them. The same images are also on other web providers such as Wikimapia, Bing Maps, etc. Google didn't put the satellites up... Google naturally wants you to see their banner and pop up ads, as does Baja Nomad... The point is I am not taking an image from Google and calling it my own... I freely tell the source of the images as being from Google Earth... and if you can't see the Baja educational value in this, please find something that does have value to you... and share it.

bonanza bucko - 3-18-2010 at 08:54 AM

It's too danged bad that such strips as the dry lake at Punta Bufeo got closed...also way too bad that other strips that remain open don't sell gas because of the DEA leaning on the Mexicans. At Rancho Santa Ynez we used to always buy gas from Francisco y Ysenia, his little sister, out of a barrel on the old truck. We needed the gas because of 1957 C-182 was short legged and we couldn't make it from MMTJ to Alfonsina's and back to MMTJ and divert to MMML if the WX was down with the gas on board. So, since we never knew the WX in San Diego we either had to get gas from Francisco up there or go to Mexicali or San Felipe and the home.

As everyone knows the drug smugglers don't give a rats exremo posterior whether country strips sell gas or not. Only some mierda muda in WASHDC would think that would slow them down.

Then, of course, we could solve the whole problema by offing the people who sell that mierda in the USA with a rope on TV.

capt. mike - 3-18-2010 at 04:47 PM

"and don't be POd at US DEA. It is the mex govt that is at war with drug cartels, and their plowing of remote air strips does hinder the drug imports to US. if you want to be mad, get mad at the gringos on your street that use central and south american coke and pot. tell your neighbors to buy homegrown pot and boycott central american weed."

i get that - but i am saying that the mex guvmint can do the interdiction on their own IF they wanted to.
the ditching started because USA told the mex. guvmint to do it, and they said, ok - we will.
obviously it is with their own forces - but the whole licensing thing started in the mid 80s ditto the stop fuel sales because the US told the Mexicans to do that.
USA should mind its own damn biz and quit trying to police the world.

we had to give up a clinic in San Juanico 1986 because the village could not afford to pay the $3500 fee which until then they NEVER had to deal with.
result? free medical care to 500 people once a month went away.

mtgoat666 - 3-18-2010 at 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by capt. mike
we had to give up a clinic in San Juanico 1986 because the village could not afford to pay the $3500 fee which until then they NEVER had to deal with.
result? free medical care to 500 people once a month went away.

there are lots of uninsured poor people in san diego that need medical care, and plenty of air strips for you to land and set up clinic.

David K - 3-19-2010 at 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by mtgoat666

Quote:

there are lots of uninsured poor people in san diego that need medical care, and plenty of air strips for you to land and set up clinic.

In America, anyone can go to a hospital and get treated. Nobody is turned away if they are not able to pay at the time of service. You seem to also fallen for the lie... anyway, let's focus on airport comments in this forum 'Baja Private Aircraft Travel'. :light:

mtgoat666 - 3-19-2010 at 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K

Quote:

Originally posted by mtgoat666

Quote:

there are lots of uninsured poor people in san diego that need medical care, and plenty of air strips for you to land and set up clinic.

In America, anyone can go to a hospital and get treated. Nobody is turned away if they are not able to pay at the time of service.

incorrect, dk, as usual. you can get "free" emergency care in US, but they will then bill you and force you into bankruptcy to settle debt. getting "free" preventative care, checkups or vaccinations in US is another matter

PaulW - 7-4-2016 at 07:27 AM

On the way to Arroyo Arrajal from Hwy 3
Probably a Smugglers landing strip? The military furrows are just faint these days due to the proximity of the huge silt bed which fills the furrows when the wind blows. The strip is near the high point of the area. Remains of a camp can still be found at the east end of the strip.

David K - 4-28-2017 at 10:18 PM

Bump for steekers, Bahia Santa Maria runway location. I will add the page from the airport book that lists it. Stay tuned...

From the 1974 'Baja Traveler' by Airguide Publications, Long Beach CA

Here was my Google Earth capture...

[Edited on 4-29-2017 by David K]