Warbird Information Exchange

I've just been asked by my employer today at short notice to spend some time working near San Francisco, starting on Thursday.

Are there any interesting museums or warbird airfields nearby? As I'm there over the 4th July weekend, are there any airshows nearby?

I'll be staying in Emeryville, and will be using public transport to get around, at least initially.

Oh, and one of the stipulations that I made before accepting was that they fly me back the following weekend for a 'very important personal prior engagement', so yes, I will still be at Legends! I look forward to meeting some of you there

A neat place to visit is the former Pan Am terminal on Treasure Island. No aircraft to look at, but a great museum of the China Clipper flights. Treasure Island is the island in the middle of the San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge. A well preserved building from the 30's and a lot of photos and artifacts from the China Clipper era.

Walt

Is the USS Hornet is open? That is worth a trip. You can get there form the BART (SF subway). Oakland Airport has the Western Museum of Flight which is pretty cool. Not sure how easy it is to get there without a car.

If you get a car and have 1 day to kill, Castle AFB Museum in Atwater is a must. Nothing flying there but a great collection of Bombers, B-17, b-18, b-23,B-24, b-36, B-45, B-52 and more.

All those are static museums, FYI

_________________
www.tailhookstudio.com

Oakland airport and Livermore airport

pretty good Wine and some food at Livermore also.

Too bad I missed out on the A/c when I was there.

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www.tailhookstudio.com

Hiller Museum at San Carlos (KSQL) airport

Santa Rosa Airport has a museum and warbird restoration facility.

http://pacificcoastairmuseum.org/

http://www.aerocrafters.com/

Is Travis back open to the public (non-military)?

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www.tailhookstudio.com

Not aviation related but WWII, the Liberty ship Jerehmiah O'Brien is open. She is a D-Day veteran and in fact was the only ship there at the 50th Anniv. that was there in 1944. Also check out the USS Pampanito, a WWII sub that still runs and has not been updated. Both are located at the SF waterfront. Don't miss the Hornt as stated in the earlier post, they can use all the revenue they can get to keep it alive. National Seaport Museum is there too.

Mike,

I was on the USS Hornet this past weekend. It is open and a great tour, also it's your closest venue to Emeryville. You will most likely need to take a taxi to get out there. I wouldn't want to use the bus system. This is based at the closed Nimitz Field in Alameda, and there is also a small museum at the old arrivals terminal.
http://www.uss-hornet.org/

Further down the road is the WAM at the Oakland Airport, North Field.
http://www.westernaerospacemuseum.org/

If you take BART across the SF bay to Millbrae, you can catch a taxi from there to the Hiller Aviation Museum.
http://www.hiller.org/

Travis AFB is hard to get on due to security, you must have a sponsor, I think your citizenship might make that even harder now.

Sacramento may be out of your way, but if not, visit the McClellan Aviation Museum
http://www.mcclellanaviationmuseum.org/

other links:

Wings of History - San Martin
http://www.wingsofhistory.org/

Moffett Field Museum - Mountain View/Sunnyvale
http://www.moffettfieldmuseum.com/

Stockton Field Museum - Stockton
http://www.twinbeech.com/

Crissy Field Aviation Museum - San Francisco
http://www.crissyfieldaviation.org/

USS Pampanito (WWII Submarine) - San Francisco
http://www.maritime.org/pamphome.htm

SS Jeremiah O'Brien - San Francisco
http://www.ssjeremiahobrien.org/

And nope, I'm not aware of any air shows going on this weekend in the area.

_________________
Roger Cain
www.sfahistory.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Stearman/


We must limit politicians to two terms:
one in office and one in jail.

another great place, if you get the chance, is Nut Tree Airport. If you're there on the weekend, Duncan Miller is usually around and will open the hangars and give you the grand tour. It's not an official museum, but he's got a great collection.

Many thanks for the info folks, all duly noted. Much appreciated.

As regards Travis, a work colleague of mine in the UK told me yesterday that he was able to visit there very easily a few weeks back, just a phone call in advance and some ID and they were happy to admit him. Having seen his photos, that ones's definitely on my list.

The Nut Tree is still around? I thought it was long gone..

Anyway, rent a car. America is all about having your own wheels. Public transit isn't all that wonderful. (IMHO)

For a sneak peek at some warbirds, head south to Hollister airport. They have a few Mustangs there, even an "A" model. For a price you can get a ride (At least that's what I've been told I've not tried it.) From what I hear the flyable warbirds hang out there 'cause there's less rules to deal with. Hollister is farming kinda' area south of the SF Bay area.

If your into sailing the SF Bay area is GREAT for sailing.

Have fun!

-jim lee

Jim,

Called the Nut Tree by the locals, the actual name of the airport is the Solano County Airport. The Nut Tree restaurant and gift shops have long since been torn down.

Hollister is one of the places to go for a P-51 ride, and most Saturdays have at least one or two of them flying.

I wasn't aware that it was now easier to get into Travis AFB. Thanks for the info. We gave up trying a couple years ago, without a sponsor.

If you like Antiques and want to go north of the Golden Gate Bridge, there's an airport called Schellville that is home to dozens of antique and rare aircraft, including a Ryan SCW and Curtiss Wright 19R (see the Merced post in the Antiques section) You can also catch a ride in one of three Stearmans or an SNJ for soft aerobatics or sightseeing. Check out the Airplanes at te airport on their link at:
http://www.napanet.net/~arbeau/usaah/

_________________
Roger Cain
www.sfahistory.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Stearman/


We must limit politicians to two terms:
one in office and one in jail.

Well, I made it out to the USS Hornet today, by a combination of bus, BART and bus again (plus a bit of walking too!) Public transport is really a pain here, for future trips across here I'll certainly get a rental car organised.

The Hornet was well worth the visit, I spent a very happy 3 or 4 hours there. Some of the aircraft could do with a bit of work, but several of them are very nicely presented.

Unfortunately I left my cabling at home, so downloading photos will have to wait until I get back to the UK at the end of the week. I'll post some up then.

Thanks for all your advice everyone - it looks like I've got a pretty good list of places to keep me amused on future visits over here.