What happened on this day in History?
Click Here "Don't Drink & Drive" - Warning, this is very graphic
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What happened on this day in History? Click Here "Don't Drink & Drive" - Warning, this is very graphic |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Recollections of Aviation in Solano County Marvin H. Riehl I was born in 1917 two miles east of Vacaville, which would be within the city limits today. When I was two years old, my parents bought the Mortenson Ranch, a half section, or 320 acres, immediately south of the present Travis AFB. I started school when I was five and used to walk to the Scandia Grade School, which was located on land now occupied by the base. We had one teacher for all eight grades and I don’t think there were ever more than 15 students. Later, when the base was built, the school was torn down. I lived on the ranch for 13 years. We did a bit of everything on the ranch. We had a small herd of cattle, sheep, and hogs. We had a neighbor, Loui, who would rustle sheep, or anything he could get away with. He eventually did seven years in Solano County Jail. Anyway, we farmed with horses and mules. I fed the chickens, geese, and ducks. We also tried to raise winter wheat. The first aircraft that I remember was a German military Fokker tri-plane. Our ranch was close to the flight path between San Francisco and Sacramento. In the early 20s this plane, which had been brought over from Europe after WW I, flew over the ranch. Struck dumb with amazement, I glued my eyes to it until it disappeared over the horizon. From that moment, airplanes fascinated me. My ears quickly became attuned to the sound of their engines. I could hear one before I could see it. On those rare occasions when one flew over our land, I would drop whatever I was doing to watch it. If I heard an airplane during dinner, I would run outside to see it. In the late 20s, Lockheed Orions carrying passengers would fly over, and then Boeing twin-engine passenger aircraft did the same. They were a sight to behold. A north-south line of beacons was built in the Sacramento Valley to guide them. Lindbergh cut the ribbon to formally complete that project. Mt. Diablo was a major danger and claimed a number of victims. I entered Armejo High School in 1929. One day on the way home from school, my brother and I came across a barnstormer who had landed on the other side of the railroad tracks from the school. He promised us a ride if we would take him into town. We did so eagerly, but he later "forgot" his promise. One morning at the breakfast table, my father asked if I had watered the setting hens. I said no. He then sent me out to take care of them. No sooner had I gone outside than I heard an airplane. As it flew by its engine quit. It glided down and then disappeared near Walter’s hill in a cloud of dust. I told my father that a plane had crashed, but he didn’t believe me. But later on his way to work my father passed the pilot and his passenger, who was injured, on the road and took them to town. The aircraft had flipped oven on landing. Shortly thereafter, the owner of the plane came by. He stayed with us a few days while he dismantled the plane and shipped it to San Francisco. He gave us its broken prop for a souvenir. Not long after that another barnstormer landed near Dixon and he gave me my first ride. One day while I was bringing the cows in from the fields, I looked to the southwest and saw, above the hills, a huge circular shape in the sky coming silently straight toward me. I didn’t know it then, but it was the airship Akron. As it approached our land, I hopped on my pony and rode home to tell my folks, leaving the cows behind. The airship had departed its hanger at Sunneyvale (Moffet Field) and was on its way east via Sacramento. I had never seen anything like it. Later the airship Macon flew over at about 1000 feet. I waved to it with a white flag on a stick. Also in the late 20s I once heard a large number of aircraft in the distance. Soon several waves of military aircraft swooped over on maneuvers. It was all very exciting. We left the ranch in December 1932, the coldest winter on record in California. My father had put in a large crop of winter wheat. But then the price collapsed and we went bankrupt. The owner of the note foreclosed. Using horses and wagons, we moved to the area now near I-80 and Leisure Town Road where we rented 15 acres. After high school, I worked on several local farms. In the late 30s I saw an Army aircraft make an emergency landing. It was probably carrying the mail. It was after dark. I was living near Elmira at the time. When I heard it, I jumped in my Model A and drove in its direction. I saw it drop a flare at the emergency field where Travis now stands and then the pilot put it down. He had sprung an oil leak and couldn’t see. At that time there were a number of emergency airfields between San Francisco and points east. There was just a dirt strip with a beacon on a tower. Every year a carnival would come to town. I liked to ride the "loop-a-plane" and used it to gain "proficiency" for flight. By then I was completely hooked on flying and decided to take lessons. One afternoon in 1938 my cousin and I rode his motorcycle to Sacramento Airport. I met the owner of a 40 hp Taylor-Cub who offered lessons for $6/hour with instructor. It took 8 hours to solo. For the whole package the cost was $40, which was then exactly my monthly wage. On Sundays, my only day off, I started taking lessons. Initially, until a certain number of hours, I was restricted to flying a short distance from the airport. Nevertheless, I flew a bit out of area to show off to friends. Finally, after making three landings for the CAA man in Sacramento, I received my certificate. I did a lot of reading about the dynamics of flight. Consequently, one day, I decided to try doing some loops. I went up to 3000 ft, where the winds were stable, and did three of them by the book. I used a newer Cub with 50 hp. I did a few spins too and had a ball. From time to time I would land in a field near Vacaville, such as the area near the extension of Vanden and Leisure Town Road. I did my best not to frighten the horses mowing hay. I even picked up a friend working on a farm and took him for a ride. We then tried to race a train but couldn’t gain on it. One afternoon I almost stalled over a chicken ranch on the edge of Vacaville. When I finally pulled out it seemed like I was only about 100 feet above the ground. I drove the leghorns crazy and the farmer was ready to take a shot at me. He later told me the chickens couldn’t lay a proper egg for three months! In 1939 my cousin and I decided to join the Army Air Corps. We were transferred to Angel Island where we took our screening test and physical exam. Afterwards we were assigned to the 7th Bomb Group at Hamilton Field in Marin County. I left a farm job paying $60 per month for Army wages of $21 per month. At first I worked as a mechanic on trucks, sometimes breaking them in with long drives around the Bay Area. World War II would change that, taking me half way around the world. When Pearl Harbor was attacked, I was seven days west of that location on a troop transport on the way to an assignment in the Philippines. We immediately detoured to Australia. Then two and a half months later I was sent to India where I requested combat duty. Subsequently our crew from the 493rd Bomb Squadron was the first to rotate back to the US in August 1943. On the way to California on leave, I looked up my sweetheart in Salt Lake City. We were married in Elko, Nevada and continued to Vacaville to visit family and friends. When my leave was up, we took up life in Orland, Florida. After the war, we began civilian life in Salt Lake City. When the Berlin Airlift began, I reenlisted. After 21 years of service I retired in 1962. Our family of five then moved back to my hometown of Vacaville. Travis AFB became a reality while I was in the service. It was built at this location to get away from the fog belt and because the land was mostly sheep pasture. Several ranches were obliterated to build the facility. The Scandia country school that our family attended was also demolished. There was a large Scandinavian meeting hall across the large creek to the west side of the school. During the rainy season many of us students would slip through the board wall fence to do some rafting. We received numerous scoldings and sometimes detention. The emergency landing field with the rotating beacon light that was established on the Marcus Petersen Ranch a mile or so east of the Scandia School was also discontinued. I remember exploring a couple of abandoned deep well sites and their decaying wood structures. I believe one was near the bottom of the hill on which the first David Grant Hospital was constructed. These wells were sealed on the surface and rumors circulated that the prospectors hit oil or gas and one day they would be opened for use.
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