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I took a day off this Friday to take care of chores and some flying since it's just one nice CAVU (ceiling and visibility unlimited) day. Corning and Haigh Field airports are between Red Bluff and Willows along Highway 5. I've already landed in Red Bluff and Willows. So, in a effort to land some place new, I decided to do a cross country flight to Corning. But Corning doesn't have fuel, so the plan was to refuel in Haigh Field on the return flight. For flight following, Travis App at 126.6 was contacted upon take off from Napa, then passed to Oakland Center at 127.8 above Lake Berryessa, then to another Oakland Center sector at 132.2. It's interesting to see how the terrain changes along this flight. From the rugged terrain south of the Mayacmas Mountain over Lake Berryessa, to the flatness of the Sacramento Valley, and the more green land towards north of Willows. I've never been in Corning, or knew anything about the town. And since the airport is near the town, I planned to explore the town with my folding bike. The airport is a bit hard to spot from the air since it blended well with it's sorrounding area; thank goodness for GPS. Wind was calm at arrival so I took RT Runway 35. The runways, taxiways and the ramp areas are in good shape. The transient area has some ropes tie downs that I was able to use. There's a yellow Cherokee without a propeller tied down in the transient parking --- not sure what's the story there. The place was isolated today; nobody's around. But it looks like an active airport. There looks like there's a flight school or racing outfit, and a maintenance shop in the airport. There are also some picnic tables around. After securing the plane, I explored the town by biking south of the airport along Marguerite, then turned right along Solano towards Highway 5. Along the way, I passed several Mexican restaurants, the old downtown, and the newer developments near Highway 5. Olives must be a major agricultural product with several olive themed establishments. Before heading back to Napa, I landed at Haigh Fields in Orland for fuel. The wind was also calm and I decided to land LT Runway 33. The runways and ramp are in good shape and well maintained. Except for a plane refueling and about to take off, and another in the pattern doing touch and goes, no one's around. The fuel is one of the cheapest in the area. The airport is a bit far the the town so I decided to not explore and headed back after refueling,. |
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The archer with my folding bike about to explore the town of Corning. |
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Some tie downs have more than one options to secure the plane. |
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Not sure what's the story with this Cherokee; it has no propeller and the tail is touching the ground. |
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Corning airport sign. |
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Nobody's around but there aree businesses in the airport --- this looked like a flight school, and there's maintenance shop at the back. |
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Ramp picinic tables. |
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Pedestrian gate towards the outside gravel parking lot. |
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The outside gravel parking lot. |
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Airport entrance gate is at the corner of Neva and Marguerite. |
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To explore the town, head south of Marguerite. |
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Corning tourist info, Chamber of Commerce, and a small museum along Solano Avenue in downtown. I didn't get a chance to check them out. |
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Corning City Hall. |
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A theater hall in downtown. Not sure if it's showing current movies; looks like it's turned into a performance facility. |
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It's very hot during my visit. Good excuse to taste local gelatos to cool off. |
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And I can confirm that this ice cream store just don't sell ice cream. |
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From what I've seen so far, olives must be a major agricultural product in the area. There are several olive themed establishments that I've seen --- olive repair shop, olive realty, etc. This one --- Olive Pit --- looks popular and busy with customers. |
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Inside the Olive Pit; it sells several olive related products, including different flavors of balsamic vinegars. There are tasting stations for olive products and local wines, and a cafeteria. |
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An old locomotive tractor displayed along Solano Avenue. |
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A sign telling the story of this old tractor. |
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The area near Highway 5 have the newer establishments such as the common franchise grocery store and fast food eateries. |
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On my return flight, landed at Haigh Field in Orland to refuel. |
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Haigh Field has the cheapest Avgas in the area. |
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The place is empty; no one's around. |
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A view of Sutter Butte on my return flight. |
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Overflying the town of Winters. |
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Over Lake Berryessa showing the effect of drought with low shoreline. |
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