Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Ells Field


Ells Field is the municipal airstrip serving the Willits area these days. It used to be on the floor of the valley, but apparently the winter fog made it difficult to use year round, so this mountain ridge shoulder was found about three miles out of town, and has been in use for several decades. For over a month, it was a staging site for the helicopter crews fighting the Mendocino Lightning Complex fires. A blogger called Chopper Chick described her experiences of that event.

Although the gate to the runway and pilot facilities was wide open when I visited, signs on the fence indicated that I would be shot, arrested, and then shot again (by the Feds) if I dared to enter without authorization. I was too afraid to take pictures of the signs.

9 comments:

Benjamin Madison said...

You might have ventured inside - clearly they don't expect the first shooting to have much effect.

Laurie Allee said...

You're a brave blogger, Elaine!

Curly said...

Hi from South Shields, nice picture you have here today, sometimes authority needs to be challenged. Go back and try again by just standing in the centre of that gap!

I need your support, see my latest post at South Shields Daily Photo

Photographers rights in the UK and worldwide are under increasing threat and we need to make a stand now!

Unless something changes dramatically, this will be the last ever post at South Shields Daily Photo.

Meead said...

Take care more! Photography may cause us trouble some times.

Saretta said...

Well that's frightening! Aggressive £$%&/!!

Profile Not Available said...

I like the shot - and I am glad you survived making it!

Halcyon said...

I'm glad you didn't risk your life! Interesting place. Glad they've made good use of it in recent times.

USelaine said...

Well, okay. I may have exaggerated a little bit. But it would have been a Federal crime, suffice to say. But you have to think it would be a pretty stupid terrorist-wannabe who would try to have an impact on society at Ells Field, you know? Next time, I'll just call ahead.

Thanks everybody. I'm fine, really I am.

Dina said...

You're so funny, Elaine. :)
After going up in a small plane piloted by my daughter when she studied at San Jose, I think the greatest danger to you at Ells would have been a plane landing on you. It was shocking to me how unorganized those aviation procedures were then.

Have fun with your mom.