Located in the Sierra foothills 35 nm northeast of Modesto, Columbia is California’s best preserved Gold Rush town and is a State Historic Park. Less than a mile’s walk from the airport, you can pan for gold or ride in an old stagecoach or simply walk through the old town where most park personnel and volunteers wear period dress. On the Saturday of our event there’s also the 28th annual “Fiddle and Bango and Chili Cook-Off" contest, traditionally misspelled since the printing of their first T-shirts. The Sierra Repertory Theater also puts on a good show in the old Fallon Theater. This year it’s Red, White and Tuna. So in the unlikely event that you can’t fill a weekend with airplane talk you will have many other options.
While most everything is within walking distance, we will have a vehicle available for transportation and there is usually someone who drives in and can provide transportation to local lodging. A trail from behind the main terminal building is dirt with some small rocks to climb over but makes for an easy trek to town.
Columbia has the finest airport campground in the state, shaded by large oaks right on the field with a clubhouse meeting room and kitchen. It also has flush toilets and hot showers. The camping charge is $8 per night per aircraft. The weather in early October is usually perfect for camping with pleasant temperatures and no bugs.
Lodging
There are several hotels in and around Columbia. If they won’t pick you up upon arrival, we should be able to help you with transportation from the airport. Some of these are:
Columbia Inn Motel, (209) 533-0446
Fallon Hotel, (209) 532-1470, online reservations
City Hotel, (209) 532-1479, online reservations
Harlan House, (209) 533-4862
If you land on Runway 17, which is the calm wind runway (remember, it's Right Traffic), you should turn off to the right (west) just past the mid field windsock and before the turf runway (11/29). From your exit off of runway 17, proceed up the dirt taxiway for about 300 yards to the parking area in front of the campground. Be sure to bring your tiedowns. The ground is very hard so your corkscrew dog stakes won't work. You will need some pound in stakes and we’ll have a hammer available. If you land on the turf strip right in front of the camping area, just turn off at mid field and you're there.
Should rain close the dirt taxiway to the campground, the event will be cancelled as first happened in 2008 after having 5 years of fine weather on the same or later weekends. Columbia’s field elevation is 2118' MSL so it’s above any fog in the valley and the temps in early October should be in the 80s during the day and the 50s at night.
Driving In
Columbia airport is located about 1/2 mile southwest of the town of Columbia. When you take State Highway 49 north or south and follow the signs to "Columbia State Park" you will find yourself northbound on Parrots Ferry Road. The airport main entrance is 0.4 miles south of the old town but the airport campground and Fly-In location is on the opposite side of the airport from the main entrance/terminal building. To get to the west side of the airport, go 1/2 mile north of the old town of Columbia to North Airport Road. Turn west on North Airport Road and proceed one mile, turn left on Chile Gulch Road. After about 75 yards on Chile Gulch Road you will see Gate 11 on the left. This gate will be unlocked and open on Saturday morning. Just inside of this gate you will see an automatic electric sliding gate. Pull up to the automatic gate and it should open. About 200 yards past the automatic gate is the campground parking area.
Please RSVP!
Please contact Arlo Reeves by Tuesday 9/28 if you are coming so we can buy enough food. Include the name of each person attending and your aircraft type (GlaStar or Sportsman) and N-number. If you would like to volunteer to help with setup and/or cooking, if you have aviation-related items to donate to the raffle, or if you have any suggestions for improving the fly-in, please let us know.
Map
We’ve created a Google Map showing several points of interest including several described above. It will answer many questions, so take a moment to look at it.
I'll keep this web page up to date with any changes or announcements as the fly-in gets closer so bookmark the page and check back before you leave.
Hope to see you there!
Charlie Burton,
Margaret Burton &
Arlo Reeves
707 397-5665
