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Old 08-11-2016, 11:17 AM   #36
FlyWright
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City: California Delta
Vessel Name: FlyWright
Vessel Model: 1977 Marshall Californian 34 LRC
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 13,728
Years ago when the wind farm near Rio Vista was expanding rapidly, the Air Traffic Controllers at Travis AFB were concerned about the effect on their radar, so we were called in to do a series of low altitude checks to verify, among other things, that their Minimum Safe Altitude Warning (MSAW) system was functioning properly. This involved establishing radar contact at a normal altitude, then descending rapidly to below their safe altitude in an attempt to trigger their warning system. We did this throughout the SE quadrant where the wind turbines were located.

While we were doing this over Montezuma Slough and the Salinity Gate, I passed my cellphone camera to the Electronics Technician standing near the cockpit and he recorded this video. You can't hear the conversation with ATC but you can hear the airplane's Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) sounding at low altitudes.

In this video, the salinity gates are closed requiring boats to lock through at the left (north) end of the gate system.





Mothball Fleet:





Rio Vista/Decker Island:

On this one, I saw my friend and Pro Striper Guide Mark Wilson fishing on the river near Decker Island so I gave him a wing wave.

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