Here's our intrepid bush pilot getting ready to take to the skies! Actually all these pictures were taken before I earned my "bush pilot" wings. But that is another story.
Just a quick flip of the prop and we're on our way!
There I was...over the Oakdale bush. This picture was taken by Bob Dupree from inside Brian Cleveland's PA-11. This was the golden age of the Oakdale Bush Pilots...back when we all had the time and inclination to go flying. We are flying over the hills just below Tuolumne Table Rock Mountain.
It's really hard for those poor Cubs to keep up with the Champs...
This picture was taken directly over Table Rock.
We're getting closer to our destination: the Red Hills Strip. If you look closely at the photo just below my Champ you can see why they are called the Red Hills.
Moving apart so we can begin our approach.
Come in low over the movie set. However, don't bother to look for it anymore, it burnt down in the Summer of 1996.
Circling the field waiting for Brian to back-taxi down the runway. This is probably one of the most quaint and beautiful strips I have ever flown in to. It's owned by two of the nicest people in the world, Jack and Myrna Moyle. Jack loves airplanes and he loves for people to use his strip...as long as they are capable. This strip can be fairly tricky; fly a dogleg final to avoid the Bull Pine trees, the first 1/4 of the strip is about a 13% down grade, land just past the stream.
Jack's granddaughter returns from admiring our airplanes (awwww, how cute)!
This is Jack and Myrna's house, secluded in the trees. He still has gas lighting. This is frontier living, folks. On this particular occaision, Jack and Myrna had family visiting. We apologized for just dropping in like that and then tried to leave. They wouldn't hear of it. They forced us to sit at the table (against our will) and then made us eat until we were ready to pop. That's just the kind of people they are.
Jack and Myrna have an Easter Fly-in every year. It's on the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter. It's a pretty big deal with lots of friends and family. Usually about 100 - 200 people show up. Everyone is welcom.
If you would like to visit Jack (tell him Scooter sent you) don't look for his strip on any chart. Instead, fly from Columbia (O22) direct to a private strip marked on the SFO sectional as Kistler. Keep looking to your left and just prior to Kistler you should spot a red dirt runway just on the other side of Hwy 120. That's it.