It Doesn't Get Any Better
I had a super flying experience today and I would like to share it with you.
I fly out of Lodi, Ca, located right in the middle of the Central Valley
alongside Hwy 99. A month ago, I was invited to fly up and visit with Dick
McCarty in Copperopolis, CA, in Calaveras county, home of the famous frog
jumping contest. Dick contacted me via E-mail and said that he owned a
country store and gas station right in the middle of town and had a short
strip out back. Short is not exactly the right word! Minuscule would be
more appropriate. It's really just a flat area out behind his store that's
about 400 ft long, with a drop off at the end. I had attempted to make the
trip a couple of weeks ago, but visibility was only about 1 mile. The cheapo
compass glued to the top of my stick came off my watch band and is useless for
navigating! When using my sectional I need to see some landmarks, but I
couldn't see any! After about 10 minutes of flight I gave up, turned back
and dreamed about getting a GPS someday. The trip
would have to wait for another day. Today the weather was much better,
so after a hour or so of visiting with the folks out at Lodi, I jumped in
my trusty Challenger and headed off on the 50 mile trip to Copporopolis.
The visibility today wasn't that good either, so by the time I got to the
half way point I realized I was way off course. A 90 degree turn to the
east for about 10 minutes got me back on track. The temp today was about 48
sultry (that's for you folks in the northern climes)degrees and my gov't
issue Nomex thermal underwear did a pretty good job of keeping me warm. If
only I had put on some warm shoes, the trip would have been quite comfortable.
Copperopolis lies in a valley just east of the first small range of hills
on the eastern border of the Central Valley, about 50 miles east of
Stockton. A pass leads into the Salt Spring Valley and just on the other
side lies the Salt Spring Valley lake. The valley is beautiful, consisting
of mostly wide open grazing land, a few stands of trees and
an occasional house scattered about. I flew south along the valley,
studying the sectional and trying to figure out where the small town of
Copporopilos was. The town is not much more than a few houses and buildings
at the junction of two roads. About 2 miles North of town I spotted an
airfield with several ultralights and some folks waving down below. I
decided to land and see if they could direct me to Dick's place. I cut
power, circled down
and landed into a 6 MPH headwind and stopped in about 200 ft. Two gentleman
walked over and directed me to a parking spot. My two marshalers were,
Arnold and Anrnie who gave me a very warm welcome. I was invited into the
hanger where Arnold offered to make a fresh pot of coffee and Arnie offered
me a choice of apple or pumpkin pie! Arnie, tell your wife that the pumpkin
pie was delicious! Arnold had a gorgeous MX sport 2 seater and Arnie flew a
Sabre trike. I got the rundown on UL operations in the valley and before
long, a flight of 3 ultralights came up on the base station radio and said
they would be landing shortly. Soon after a Flightstar, a Hiperlight
biplane and old MX with spoilerons landed and I met 3 new friends. After
visiting for awhile and enjoying the friendly conversation, I told them I was
going to fly over to Dick's place and needed instructions. They told me
Dicks place was about 2 miles to the south and warned me that his strip was
very short. They emphasized short! They also told
me not to fly on the East side of the town, as they had an understanding
with one of the residents there. The Eastside resident had lent them a
construction roller to help with the construction of their airfield, but in
return he asked them to stay away from his house when flying! I launched and
quickly flew the two miles to town and started searching for an airstrip.
Couldn't see anything that looked like a strip, so I looked for the store
and gas station instead. I spotted the store and yes, there was a flat spot
out back, but it looked more like an abandoned construction site. I
circled and spotted a building covered with bright corrugated metal that
had a door shaped like a hanger. That must be the hanger I reasoned, but I
couldn't believe that the flat area was a runway. I made a pass to check
out the situation and decided I would have to come right over the fire
station on approach and plant the wheels right on the
numbers (imaginary numbers). I came in high to avoid the fire station, and
slippe
d it down to get into position. The wind was about 6 MPH right down the
runway and I touched down with an airspeed of about 30 MPH. I slammed on the
brakes right on touchdown and came to a stop in about 150 ft. Wow! The
pucker factor was moderately high, but I had full faith in my Challenger
that I could land on that tiny spit of runway. A couple of guys were
standing there with their mouths open as I taxied up. I don't think they
had any idea
that they were standing next to McCarty's Field. I walked inside the
store and introduced myself to Dick who was behind the counter. "Did you
drive up", he asked? I told him I had flown up and was parked out back.
I had a nice visit with Dick and learned that his great grandfather had
opened the store back in 1860 to cater to the copper miners. It was getting
late, so after having a bite to eat, I decided to start heading back to
Lodi. With a full tank of gas, I took off and had a leisurely trip back
home flying along the gently rolling hills and enjoying myself. I had a
nice tailwind going home and made it back in no time at all. If any of
you get out this way, be sure and visit the folks down in the Salt Spring
Valley. Arnold gives instruction in his Sport, and I guarantee you that
if you go up with him, you'll go home with some beautiful memories of
flying in the Salt Spring Valley.
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