Airplane Rental California to Baja

Brown Field

TLBaja79, I wish you great luck in your quest. Getting to Loreto from San Diego by plane is not a problem, but small plane travel in Baja is becoming a problem.

I agree with the complaints and true reports about the decline of private flights. We used to contribute so much to the economy of some far-flung places in Baja. Year after year for a long, long time we used to fly into those pistas that were sometimes only flat places we had graded with an old rusted truck frame pulled by a pickup and chain. That was good enough.

Like the old strip by Posada that so many pilots helped to maintain...long ago dug up by the government. So sad...and So Long. Baja, she's changed so fast....that old strip is only a faint memory now, a place where folks walk their dogs or jog.

The old photo below is one of many on my old surfboard photo board hanging on the veranda.



1987. Shows when we flew 22 planes from a Baja pilots rally happening at Pta. Chivato on a day trip over to the Posada strip. Then I ferried everyone in my motorhome for the grand opening of the original Bony's Café at Rcho. Coyote.




Hah...as usual in those Baja days, the café was not quite prepared for the event. Not enough food, not enough tables, or dinnerware? Hah, you just laughed and said..No problem. I stopped a fish truck heading south on the highway and bought enough fish. (Remember those?..You knew it was a fish truck when you saw the melting ice water coming out the rear doors) Then we loaded tables, chairs, and eating equipment from mi casa and hauled to Bony's. Everyone paid Bony a per person fee anyway. We all got fed and had a ball...as you could only have in Baja back in the day.

And it's a damn shame to say goodbye to that part of Baja travel.

weebray, that 180 taildragger was and is my old flying buddy, Dusty's, plane. At one time he equipped it with tundra tires and landed just about anywhere he wanted to in some very remote places (beaches) in Baja. He had/has very good skills as a pilot, still flying water bombers wherever needed. Was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam with 2 tours...slicks. Yesterday was his day.

Good Baja story about the short snout dog.



[Edited on 11-12-2014 by Pompano]

Thanks, Wayne!

Quote:

Originally posted by Pompano Quote: Originally posted by weebray Pompano, That looks like my old 180 in the top of the photo? (N7816A) I too logged many hours in Baja but every trip a new layer of regulation added too much burden to bother anymore. I remember a "short snout" perro at Ceralvo. We used to stop there to pick up lobster on the way home. According to the locals the dog lost part of his snout to a prop. when he was a pup. The owner told me he stuck it in the fire to seal it up and the pup survived. It was weird looking, pretty much all you could see was a mangled set of teeth. He came out to greet us but gave us a wide berth. weebray, that 180 taildragger was and is my old flying buddy, Dusty's, plane. At one time he equipped it with tundra tires and landed just about anywhere he wanted to in some very remote places (beaches) in Baja. He had/has very good skills as a pilot, still flying water bombers wherever needed. Was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam with 2 tours...slicks. Yesterday was his day. Good Baja story about the short snout dog. [Edited on 11-12-2014 by Pompano]

Some planes belong in the Baja dirt.....



This is Bahia Asuncion...

[Edited on 11-18-2014 by dtbushpilot]

where is "here"

Just now noticed your request about that beach and it brought back lots of memories. I'd give you the exact co-ordinates if I had them, Ateo...but I do not. About all I can tell you is that photo was taken on the Baja Pacific coast somewhere north of Mag Bay. Many great surf breaks, beaches, and camping areas. We flew so many trips around Baja from Mulege I can't recall each one. We'd land here and there and camp...first buzzing to scare off the seagulls and check for bikinis. I made a collage of some of our flying Baja adventures. We cruised in the taildragger 180 at about 150mph and in the twin 310 at about 185 mph, so we covered some ground fast.




One interesting day on the Pacific was when we saw several whales broaching below..many coming straight up and crashing over in a spray of water. Very awesome sights...especially from the plane. I suggested to Dusty I wanted a photo close-up of a jumping whale from the c-ckpit..as it would claim a nice spot on my casa's surfboard collage. We went low for a bit, then he abruptly pulled up as one broached directly in front of us...and appeared to be at about our height. He grinned and said..."Maybe we don't want to be the first to have a mid-air with a whale?!"

Never had many dull moments in Baja.