Catalina Airshow

VWGhiaBob

VWGhiaBob

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VWGhiaBob
:goofy:Come one come all to the 2014 Catalina Island Airshow on October 4!

For those not familliar with Catalina Island, we are "26 Miles Across the Sea" from LA. We have pristine beaches, a quaint downtown, real buffalo herds, a myriad of activities...and an airport that's on many top ten lists of the most difficult landings.

This year our air show will be better than ever! Just look at the lineup http://www.catalinaairshow.com .

Book now if you need a hotel, or just boat in or fly in for the day. Most FBO's require a sign-off to land here the first time. Consider bringing your instructor if it's the first time!

This year there will be a special appearance by Clay Lacy in his vintage United Airlines DC3!

See you on the island! :yes:
 
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Hmmm, Saga looks entertaining.
 
Think I may have to show up for that. Not sure if it would be better to take the boat or a plane though. Viewing the show from a mooring in Descanso would be the best seats around!
 
StinkBug said:
Think I may have to show up for that. Not sure if it would be better to take the boat or a plane though. Viewing the show from a mooring in Descanso would be the best seats around!
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Boat is always the best way to see Catalina, not always the most pleasant though.:lol:
 
Yea... That's one way to get pilots to come.... We have a crash prone airport, come and test you luck!
 
Unit74 said:
Yea... That's one way to get pilots to come.... We have a crash prone airport, come and test you luck!
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It's actually an easy access airport on the top of a man made plateau. It just has a near shear 1600' wall at the approach end with a crest in the middle that makes it look like you're going to run out of runway long before you will(this is what got the Lear). Then there is the speed bump about a third of the way up the runway. This culmination of factors actually collapses more nose gears than cause crashes. A typical event is with a 182. They come in high and a bit hot being scared of plowing into the cliff side so they end up touching down about the first turnoff and looking forward seeing they are about to go off the end stand on the brakes. The shifts all the weight forward onto the nose gear fully compressing it just about the time it hits the speed bump and this buckles the firewall and collapses the nose gear. In the two years I lived there this happened three times.

It's a busy airport in the summer, and considering it is uncontrolled, the accident rate per movement is likely no worse than any other airport.
 
VWGhiaBob said:
:goofy:Come one come all to the 2014 Catalina Island Airshow on October 4!

For those not familliar with Catalina Island, we are "26 Miles Across the Sea" from LA. We have pristine beaches, a quaint downtown, real buffalo herds, a myriad of activities...and an airport that's on many top ten lists of the most difficult landings.

This year our air show will be better than ever! Just look at the lineup http://www.catalinaairshow.com .

Book now if you need a hotel, or just boat in or fly in for the day. Most FBO's require a sign-off to land here the first time. Consider bringing your instructor if it's the first time!

This year there will be a special appearance by Clay Lacy in his vintage United Airlines DC3!

See you on the island! :yes:
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I boycott fields with ramp and tie down fees. No thanks.
 
Flymeariver said:
Fields with fees for any day visit, or even fields with overnight fees?
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It would be useful to find out where most of the airfields are that charge fees just to land, park, or stay overnight. Wanna bet most of them are in California and New York? Tax and spend blue states?
 
CTLSi said:
It would be useful to find out where most of the airfields are that charge fees just to land, park, or stay overnight. Wanna bet most of them are in California and New York? Tax and spend blue states?
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You mean the main market capitalist states of the union with the largest market economies who are charging what the market will bear? Those states? Besides, Catalina is a private airport owned and operated by the Catalina Conservancy (read Non Profit formed by Wrigley to get out of taxes), it does not collect or spend tax dollars, it is maintained by earnings. If you don't want to pay the landing fee, you are perfectly welcome to ride over on a boat, that's even more expensive.
 
Henning said:
You mean the main market capitalist states of the union with the largest market economies who are charging what the market will bear? Those states? Besides, Catalina is a private airport owned and operated by the Catalina Conservancy (read Non Profit formed by Wrigley to get out of taxes), it does not collect or spend tax dollars, it is maintained by earnings. If you don't want to pay the landing fee, you are perfectly welcome to ride over on a boat, that's even more expensive.
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Are you talking about the defunct California that is second to Texas now in GDP, first in taxes, and has the most state debt of them all? The state with the worst schools, and worst trajectory economically? The one with the highest gas prices, soon highest water (if you can find any) prices, and largest exodus of business from any states except Illinois?

The state that could not get one city listed among the top 100 for being considered 'all American?' The state that just invited every illegal immigrant entering the US to come and attach their mouth to the welfare teat? And already has over half the states pop in Hispanics and illegals?

You must be talking about California, the one that created a net 60k jobs last year when Texas was making 1.2 million jobs. Right?
 
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CTLSi said:
Are you talking about the defunct California that is second to Texas now in GDP, first in taxes, and has the most state debt of them all? The state with the worst schools, and worst trajectory economically? The one with the highest gas prices, soon highest water (if you can find any) prices, and largest exodus of business from any states except Illinois?

The state that could not get one city listed among the top 100 for being considered 'all American?' The state that just invited every illegal immigrant entering the US to come and attach their mouth to the welfare teat? And already has over half the states pop in Hispanics and illegals?

You must be talking about California, the one that created a net 60k jobs last year when Texas was making 1.2 million jobs. Right?
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You bet, it got that way as a Capitalist Paradise with a huge base of Military Industrial Contractors suckling off DOD and the taxpayer. Everything in CA goes to the growth of the capitalist Ponzi Scheme. Answer this, "Where does all that tax money end up?"
 
StinkBug said:
It's the only way I've ever gone to Catalina. I find boats quite pleasant though.
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One Thanksgiving I was working Avalon Inside Harbor Shore Boat, the harbor was full, all the outside moorings were full, hundreds more boats anchored, and the Santana's kicked up hitting 70kts blowing straight into Avalon Harbor. The waves at the back of the harbor were breaking in at 7-10', and I am driving around in the harbor getting everyone off their boats in these conditions with breaking waves running through the moorings and them dragging all over.

I came to this 65'Burger with an ancient couple on it, no way I was going to transfer them. He said he had to get his wife off the boat. I told him I would bring a couple of guys out who would take them around to Goat Harbor until the wind switched.

That was not a pleasant day to be on a boat at Catalina.:no::lol:
 
When I was at KCRQ renting, there was an expressed prohibition of flying to Catalina. A local helo being flown by the best pilot on the west coast when down the are well.

It wouldn't stop me from flying in, but you better be on your game!
 
It's funny, I hear things like that, but just flew there for the first time last week. Yeah the visuals throw you off, but other than that it's not bad. I'm sure a strong wind would make it harder, but we had a few knots of wind and it wasn't any harder than anywhere else. Just gotta fly the altimeter and not the optical illusions. I fly out of CRQ and there's definitely no prohibition where I get the plane from, they even keep a bunch of life jackets in a locker for people going. They do recommend bringing a CFI the first time though.


Henning, that does sound like a....fun day. My first trip to Catalina ended up kinda like that. We woke up, hungover, to 8' rollers coming through the harbor. The shore boat wasn't even running. Ended up hitching a ride from Harbor patrol. Funny part is once on land, and a block inland it was a beautiful sunny day!
 
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StinkBug said:
It's funny, I hear things like that, but just flew there for the first time last week. Yeah the visuals throw you off, but other than that it's not bad. I'm sure a strong wind would make it harder, but we had a few knots of wind and it wasn't any harder than anywhere else. Just gotta fly the altimeter and not the optical illusions. I fly out of CRQ and there's definitely no prohibition where I get the plane from, they even keep a bunch of life jackets in a locker for people going. They do recommend bringing a CFI the first time though.


Henning, that does sound like a....fun day. My first trip to Catalina ended up kinda like that. We woke up, hungover, to 8' rollers coming through the harbor. The shore boat wasn't even running. Ended up hitching a ride from Harbor patrol. Funny part is once on land, and a block inland it was a beautiful sunny day!
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It's always a beautiful sunny day when Avalon Harbor gets nailed, comes with the winds off the desert.
 
Catalina is a horrible tourist trap. It may have been something when Wrigley owned it, but then, it was private and a paradise back then...
 
CTLSi said:
Catalina is a horrible tourist trap. It may have been something when Wrigley owned it, but then, it was private and a paradise back then...
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Wrigley still owns it, and it's been a tourist trap for a very, very, long time. The bison are there because they drew tourists after they filmed Vanishing Americans so the production company got to leave them there which was a good thing as they couldn't get them rounded up. Thing is, it's the only thing SoCal boaters really have for a local fun destination. It's actually not to bad if you have access to a car, luckily I did. Lots of cool places around the island.
 
Back in the 70s we (in laws) had a moring at Avalon, and a 42' sport fisher. The fishing and diving were pretty good back then. It was the best of times.
 
I try to get out to Catalina two or three times per year. There's a lot more to the island than just Avalon, which I agree is touristy.
 
Henning said:
Wrigley still owns it, and it's been a tourist trap for a very, very, long time. The bison are there because they drew tourists after they filmed Vanishing Americans so the production company got to leave them there which was a good thing as they couldn't get them rounded up. Thing is, it's the only thing SoCal boaters really have for a local fun destination. It's actually not to bad if you have access to a car, luckily I did. Lots of cool places around the island.
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On February 15, 1975, Philip Wrigley deeded 42,135 acres of the island from the Santa Catalina Island Company to the Catalina Island Conservancy that he had helped to establish in 1972. This gave the Conservancy control of nearly 90 percent of the island.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Catalina_Island,_California#cite_note-21 The balance of the Santa Catalina Island Company that was not deeded to the Conservancy maintains control of much of its resort properties and operations on the island.

I was more referring to the 30s when the island was still like a private ranch, Hollywood hung out there, and you didn't bump into pasty white tourists looking for chotskies.
 
kayoh190 said:
I try to get out to Catalina two or three times per year. There's a lot more to the island than just Avalon, which I agree is touristy.
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Highest concentration of liquor licenses in the state of CA.:cheerswine: When Iived there in the beginning of the 90s there were 27 in 1 square mile.;) even during tourist season though, at night after all the day boats and cruise ships leave, it's a pretty decent place. A car or moped gives you access to the interior and the airport as well as the Isthmus. There are a lot of camps along the north shore.
 
CTLSi said:
It would be useful to find out where most of the airfields are that charge fees just to land, park, or stay overnight. Wanna bet most of them are in California and New York? Tax and spend blue states?
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Been to both sides of the country and every state in between charges landing and parking fees. Price to pay for nice facilities.
 
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