Aussie1

I enjoy watching Mythbusters on tv and many times they use an old airstrip located near San Francisco. Here is a question for the local jet crew in the Bay area. Does anybody use it for model flying? I've visited SF many times and the only unused (I think) strip that I have noticed is one with a giant hanger (airship?) on it situated next to a freeway.
Thanks guys!

gonzalom

My Feedback: (1)

Yes, we used to use that area under Alameda Hornet Squadron RC club..... until we where kick out by the city. You can still use the runway for a fee of USD 1,000 per day of rent.

Gonzalo

u2fast

My Feedback: (37)

kicked out in san fran. well you should be. we all know rc is an addiction. it allows men old and young (and ladies too) to form gangs where they learn the basics of engineering, electronics etc. they dare to replicate great military aircraft and then have the nerve to fly them and want to share them to the public via model airshows and mall shows. makes me ashamed to own a bottle of glue, much less a flying model. what happened to common sense over here. i bet that runway is rarely used, but if you could play soccer on it, bam, there would be goals everywhere. hope you guys in san fran have a good place to fly. sad to see this one most probably sitting idle. barry

drdoom

My Feedback: (9)

You know: If they at some time accepted Federal Moneyyyyyyyyyy............It mmmaaayyyy be in federal violation to keep you off. However. I have to say I really don't know anything. Period. That's what lawyers are for. They may be getting around it with the $1000.00 charge.

Aussie1

$1000/day rent?!! I guess a large organized event for jet modellers could pay that, but it seems such a waste to me. The English seem to use abandoned airstrips all over their country, so it makes you wonder how much they have to pay for the privilege!

ianober

My Feedback: (12)

I dont remember the Hornets ever flying off the runway, I just remember them flying on open concrete between buildings on the ship docks. Very tight spaces and the water was right there. There is a video floating around of Raffy flying his 15 there and coming in to land over one of the buildings. He had to drop suddenly to get down to the "runway". Never even though about flying there for a second!! But yes, the runway would be awesome!!

acw

My Feedback: (1)

I love the idea of San Francisco jet event at Alameda. That would be absolutely awesome.

Arnaud

Aussie1

Now that I know the name of this place, I did some quick research and was amazed at it's history. At the end of the movie , "Pearl Harbour", the B-25's take off from the aircraft carrier, flying the Doolittle Raid. At the time, I was amazed that such a exercise could take place during WW2. Bit off topic, I know, but how could such a famous place become a housing development!!

Naval Air Station Alameda
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from NAS Alameda)

Naval Air Station Alameda


IATA: NGZ – ICAO: KNGZ
Summary
Airport type Military: Naval Air Station
Operator United States Navy
Location Alameda, California
In use 1936 - 1997
Coordinates 37°47′10″N 122°19′07″W / 37.78611°N 122.31861°W / 37.78611; -122.31861
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
07/25 8,000 2,438 Paved
13/31 7,200 2,195 Paved

Naval Air Station Alameda (NAS Alameda) was a United States Navy Naval Air Station in Alameda, California, on San Francisco Bay.[1] Built on reclaimed land at the west end of Alameda Island, the site was acquired by the USAAC in 1930 but turned over to the Navy in 1936. During World War II, the USS Hornet (CV-8) was loaded with the 16 B-25s that would take part in the Doolittle Raid at NAS Alameda. After the base closed on April 25, 1997, the USS Hornet (CV-12) was given to the former air station to be used as a museum ship, the USS Hornet Museum. In late July 2006, the City of Alameda announced a deal with Navy that would turn the land over to the city for $108M. The preliminary development concept calls for 1700 housing units to be developed at the Naval Air Station site, now called Alameda Point. In September 2006, the developer, Alameda Point Community Partners, withdrew from development of Alameda Point. In May 2007 the City selected the SunCal Companies as the Master Developer of Alameda Point, and as of July 2007 the parties were negotiating terms for a development agreement.

NAS Alameda had two runways: 07-25 (8000×200 ft) (2438×61 m) and 13-31 (7200×200 ft) (2195×61 m). Two helicopter pads and a control tower were also part of the facilities.

Ron101

My Feedback: (22)

If you are in town, be sure to check out the hornet.
Me and my son did the overnight live aboard program on the hornet with the boy scouts.
It was really cool. We got a private tour from vet's that were on the ship in WWII.
All the meals were served in the mess hall. We slept in the bunks that were used back then; I even pulled a 2:00 am to 4:00 am fire watch.
With everyone in there bunks sleeping and me walking aroung the ship in the middle of the night ... for a second I felt like I was back in 1944

It was just an amazing trip, the veterans really made the trip for me. The stories they had of the war were heart breaking and some funny.
All I could do is thank these guys so much for there service to all of us... who knows what the world would look like now if not for them
They all said the same thing " The true heros are the ones that didn't make it home"

Although CV-8 the hornet that launched the doo little raids was lost in the battle of Santa Cruz... USS HORNET CV-12 has a remarkable record

Under air attack 59 times, she was never hit.
Her aircraft destroyed 1,410 Japanese aircraft, only ESSEX exceeded this record.
Her air groups destroyed or damaged 1,269,710 tons of enemy shipping.
72 enemy aircraft shot down in one day during the famous “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot.�
10 HORNET pilots attained "Ace in a Day" status.
255 aircraft shot down in a month.
30 of 42 VF-2 Hellcat pilots were aces.
Supported nearly every Pacific amphibious landing after March 1944.
Scored the critical first hits in sinking the super battleship YAMATO.
Launched the first carrier aircraft strikes in support of the liberation of the Philippine Islands.
In 1945 launched the first strikes against Tokyo since the 1942 Doolittle Raid.
Earned 9 battle stars for her service in WWII
Awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for her WWII operations (only nine carriers so cited).
Flawlessly recovered the Apollo 11 space capsule and the first men to walk on the moon. A few months later, she also recovered the Apollo 12 capsule and its all-Navy crew; 1969
USS HORNET (CVS-12) is designated a National Historic Landmark; 1991
HORNET opens to the public as an aircraft carrier museum in Alameda, California; 1998
USS HORNET is designated a State Historic Landmark; 1999.
The F/A-18 strike fighter carries on the name of HORNET in today's NAVY.

It's a must see if you’re in the area
I'll never forget the experience


Ron

Eddie P

My Feedback: (4)

Pretty cool Ron!

BaldEagel

West Malling aerodrome is now a housing estate so are most of the other abandoned airstrips, the only airstrips we can use are usually operational and only if the CO allows and at usually no charge, trouble is there are none in South East England, unless you count Gatwich and Heathrow. LOL

Mike

Aussie1

Thanks Mike, I thought that might be the case. Sadly, the same thing has happened here in Australia, but I guess airstips generally sit on very large bits of prime real estate. Take Hong Kong's old international airport!

TommyWatson

My Feedback: (1)

They were flying jets from Kai Tak a few years ago. I think it is now being developed for housing.

Aussie1

Tom, great pics! It's interesting how these threads bring up really interesting experiences, such as Ron101 staying on board the Hornet. Now I wonder if any of our Victorian friends have pics of flying off Laverton air base before that was turned over to real estate!

TommyWatson

My Feedback: (1)

G'Day Mate,
I was there in May 2002. I went to Radar (the hobby store) and asked them if they knew where I could see some RC flying. The guy gave me the name and number of one of the jet flyers (Alex). I called him and he said to call him from a cab and he would tell the cab driver where to go. It was great, I spent nearly all day there. They had a little tent set up and the guy that ran the club got us all food at lunchtime. I saw my first turbine flight there. That trip has cost me a lot of money (buying Jets) over the years!!!. The runway was huge. Lots of weeds in the cracks and some of the landing lights were broken.

Aussie1

Tom, runway lights are very bad for model jets if you happen to hit one. Don't ask!! Some years ago we had a jet meet at Mangalore and someone made up fibreglass cones that fitted over the lights. They ended up saving some models that weekend.

alasdair

Tommy,
Your shots of Kai Tak certainly bring back memories. I used to fly in there once a month, for a couple of years in a B747 for BA. I'm surprised they were able to fly model jets there after it closed.
Then I'd spend a couple of days eating and shopping. I bought a lot of model stuff from Kevin Lee's Tact Cheong shop in Canton Road. I wonder if he's still there.
It is hard to find a piece of good tarmac from which to fly jets in the UK. Most of the abandoned wartime strips are gone, built upon or torn up and back to farm land.

Aussie1

Looking at the latest Google Earth images of Kai Tak, the only remaining part of the runway seems to be this section in the image. Probaly about 4-500 metres long. I don't know how old the image is, though.

Eddie P

My Feedback: (4)

They still fly RC at Kai Tak these days. There is still plenty of room but I do not know what the immediate future of it is. When the new SLK is landing runway 25's you can get a nice view of the area still.

Johng

My Feedback: (4)

Do a google search on the old Glenview NAS outside Chicago. It's probably a foreshadowing of what will happen with Alameda.

It was a model aircraft mecca as the old nationals (I think) were hosted there for years. Plus all the training that went on there for WW2 thru the end of the century. I saw my first airshow there in the mid-'70's. I was still small enough to be carried by Dad. Probably one of the first showings of the F-14, but I remember it clearly. The show consisted of a flightline of pretty much every frontline jet in the navy taking turns zooming around the pattern, doing speed runs and touch & go's. All through my childhood I remember the hum of C-130's and P-3s as we lived about 10 miles from there.

Now the place is McMall/McMansion development. One of those fakey "town-center" things. They saved the base ops center as a historic building and sits at the end of the mall's cul-de-sac. At least there's some nod given to the history there.

BIGDANO

We flew off of Taxiway H, a sectioned off piece of taxiway that was next to the Bladium sports complex (aircraft hangar) and the Alameda Naval Museum, which had an aircraft hangar behind it. I watched Raphael fly his jet there. Yes, there was a lagoon, but you really only had one building to contend with on final and as long as you came in over that properly, you had well over 500 feet of length to land it. From flight line to the water was like 400 feet. BIGGEST.RC.RUNWAY.EVER

We charged a flat fee of $50 to join and capped membership at 100. Filled that in like 2 months and had to open another 50 membership slots, so we were definitely not hurting for members. Had at least one member from overseas...France, I believe. We kept the membership fee low because we just kinda knew it wasn't gonna last...especially when your president is an extreme hot head. I loved Mike anyway. I was VP and Mike and I worked hard to make that club happen. The dummies that managed the property just couldn't see the massive events we could have and would have had.




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