thebajarunner - 3-5-2005 at 03:13 PM
Anyone here ever take off on the old scheduled DC-3 out of the Hotel Cabo San Lucas?
We flew out of there to La Paz after the 1972 Mexican 1000 (I would remind you all that we finished second in pickups, but have told you that many
times before)
Before we left we were told to watch for a couple things.... first, halfway down the strip (dirt of course) there is a big dip, hang on.... and
second, if you are pretty loaded then when you clear the end of the strip (conveniently located at the edge of the sea cliff) then expect a very
serious drop down toward the sea while you build airspeed.
Sure enough, half way down the strip, a real big whoop-de-doo and off the end and straight down toward the surf.
Needless to say we built up enough airspeed to climb out and continue on to La Paz.
Great memories....
Baja Arriba!!
I flew a few DC-3's around Baja years ago..
Pompano - 3-5-2005 at 04:38 PM
In and out of Serinadad, Loreto, La Paz, Cedros Island, Ensenada, ..to name but a few. All 'gooneys' were fun, except a couple overseas. Once flew
one with my black lab, Gypsy, from Mexico City to a ranch south of Acapulco to go duck hunting. Same place Johnny Weismueler made his 'Tarzan' river
scene movies..clear river...large sloughs full of ducks. The plane was not pressured, of course, so we flew some canyons and encountered lots of
turbulence. There was about 20 people on board with me and the dog, who I had bought a seated ticket for rather than kennel her in baggage where she
woud be bounced around.
Across the aisle from me and Gypsy was an irate US lady who was objecting loudly that she should not have to share the cabin with my hunting dog. I
told her the dog paid its way and was entitled to the same comforts as us. She gave me the evil eye. I tried to be polite and ignored her.
Now the stressed out stewardess of this little airline come staggering down the aisle with a Playmate cooler in her hands. Not very cool Cokes and
plain cheese sandwiches were the menu. I grabbed two of each..remember, Gypsy was a paying passenger, too. The stew smiled at me and offered the
same to a young fellow seated just ahead of us. He was not a good flier and had been having a little discomfort with the bucking up and down of the
DC-3. Poor kid. He was a little green when the stew offered him a coke and sandwich. 'NO! Thanks, anyway'., he says.
The battleax across the aisle is still muttering about the dog and mashing her sandwich. More evil eye towards me.
I finish my coke and sandwich, give a small piece of another to Gypsy and then leaned forward to see if the kid was okay. 'Sure you don't want a bite
or a drink?', I said and showed him the cheese sandwich. Whoa... That was WRONG! The kid starts gulping, turns REALLY green and throws up all
over the place. Yuck. Now Gypsy jumps off her seat and starts licking up the puke on the seat and floor. The evil eye gal looks over, sees the dog
licking puke and starts gagging, then throws up herself.
Jesus, now I am laughing so hard my sides hurt. I get a few grins from my other hunting buddies and we all manage to help clean things up with the
stew...who is laughing herself.
I got out of that plane well ahead of that puker gal. I think she became a little unbalanced at that point.
Dog and plane
thebajarunner - 3-5-2005 at 06:29 PM
Pomp,
Your story reminds me of that same dirt strip at the Hotel CSL.
There was an older (wealthy) gentleman who used to regularly fly his Cessna Citation (that's a jet, folks) onto that dirt strip. Just amazing to see
a shiny jet kicking up that dirt.
Anyway, he always flew it single pilot, because his big old hunting dog sat in the right seat.
What a great scene that was, jet on the dirt strip, big old pooch as first officer...
only in Baja.
Baja Arriba!!
Dog co-pilot....
Pompano - 3-5-2005 at 11:24 PM
Bajarunner..was the pilot Thane Hawkins?
asking a lot
thebajarunner - 3-6-2005 at 12:55 PM
...to remember that guy's name after only 33 years.
I only met him once, although he did show me the plane and we talked at length.
Seems to me like he was from up North, maybe Montana or Idaho or???
Shoot, I can't even remember the name of the dog.
Sorry.
Baja Arriba!!
Pompano - 3-6-2005 at 01:20 PM
It's just a thought...might have been an old friend who used to do the same thing with his lab in that time period. We hunted a lot in Canada,
Montana, & ND. Recent plane is a Conquest for shorter landings/takeoffs in out-of-the-way places....or as Thane says, 'places we shouldn't oughta
be...' Sometime I might relate a few 'experiences' we had up north and down here with our Baja taildragger buddy, Dusty.
Baja......Salute!
elder statesman
thebajarunner - 3-6-2005 at 04:12 PM
I am thinking that my guy was about 65 or 70, some 32 years ago.
That would make him right at 100 today,
probably not a great candidate for the FAA to recertify...
just a thought.
We probably both could fill many pages with "flying tales"
Baja Arriba!!
DC3.....
Debra - 3-6-2005 at 06:23 PM
I had to fly one of those out from Anchorage to Sand Point in (island just before the official start) the Aleutian Chain 30 some years
ago.....freezing cold ,(no heat), and no flight attendent...I think I might have put up with a pucking passenger for a hot brandy and something over
40 below!
Good story, thanks!
Another
thebajarunner - 3-6-2005 at 10:04 PM
Pompano,
You need to enter that foto in one of David K's 'where in Baja' contests....
Bet at least two folks will swear that they were there last month.
Baja Arriba!!
bajalou - 3-6-2005 at 10:49 PM
Looks like Laguna Hansen to me
elgatoloco - 3-6-2005 at 11:14 PM
I am certain the location is the salt flats out near the whale lagoon. The one where you can pet a whale. I took a photo of that very plane last time
we were there petting whales. I will look for the photo and post it. They have cut all the trees down since then, of course.
Speaking of DC-3's. We rode in the first one ever built a few years back. It was owned by Orville Redenbacher's company and flew out of Oakland
airport. We flew over the Golden Gate bridge and the city. The crew was in period dress and we were served champagne and appetizers. We had 19 family
members and the seats included some nice leather couches along the sides, after we were airborne we moved around from window to window, got some great
aerial views of the bay and city and up the coast and over to the wine country. Got to go up and check out the c-ckpit area while it was flying. The
plane was the first one built and was the flying headquarters of the supreme allied commander or something or other. It was great fun.
Pompano - 3-7-2005 at 12:04 PM
Up north when flying over a lot of wilderness landscape, we would now and then hear a ELT signal on our radio..somebody's plane was down..maybe
recently or maybe a month ago...you had to report it whatever the case. ELT stands for emergency locator transmission and helps to find a downed
aircraft by it's automatic transmissions when a crash occurs. The range can be up to one hundred miles..although sometimes various conditions affect
that range...like being under water. That happens a lot up north. It's sometimes the safest way to crash land!
I flew most everything that could fly while in the salmon business in Bristol Bay. One thing about flying salmon in planes...you can always tell for
many years afterward what business that plane had been in...pee-yew! We spent a lot of time at King Airport in Naknek on Bristo Bay. So did the
bears...a couple of salmon Cessna 180's were chewed up by the fish-loving grizzlies. You slept at night with some firepower and you hung your grub
in the trees, not in your tent!
cristobal - 3-7-2005 at 08:08 PM
looks like someone was trying to give that CESSNA a scuba lesson .....!!!!
Skeet/Loreto - 11-11-2005 at 04:39 PM
Back in 1954 I was a Plane Capt. on DC-3{R4D} flying out of North Island. The Capt. Would always tell me to pull the Gear at 65 Kts Indicated {If I
remember Correctly} it was my job as Plane Capt.. The old Bird would sink a couple of feet then go rigth on up. no Prop Dings.
That Bird was the Best .
Skeet