Three runways in a town of 9,000 residents is pretty unusual. The town of Tehachapi, located in the Sierra Nevada foothills approximately 36 miles southeast of Bakersfield, has two airports and three runways. A Los Angeles sectional chart doesn't readily reveal why there are two airports in this 10-mile-long valley—or why the unpaved one, Tehachapi Mountain Valley airport, has two parallel runways. The answer to this riddle is wind. If one is familiar with the lay of the general landforms, it's obvious that the Tehachapi Valley forms an outlet for air piled up at the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley. To understand why this air needs an outlet, it's necessary to look north.
Cool marine air, which has entered through the land gap spanned by the Golden Gate Bridge, crosses the waters of San Francisco Bay and moves east, entering the Central Valley of California via the lowlands of the Sacramento River delta. As the air spreads out into the valley it splits, with part of it turning north up the Sacramento Valley and the other part turning south down the San Joaquin Valley. Moving down the valley, the air warms and expands, creating the prevailing southeasterly winds. The air is free to move in a southeasterly direction for nearly 200 nm until it fetches up against the mountains—the San Emigdio and Tehachapi mountain ranges—that rise up to form a U-shaped blockade to air flow. During late summer and early fall the south-moving air is lifted and cooled as it's pushed up the mountain slopes. This unstable rising air forms afternoon thunderstorms over the mountains near the Gorman VOR.
Southeast of Bakersfield, a cleft formed where the Sierra Nevada and Tehachapi mountain ranges meet provides an escape for some of the trapped air. Highway 58 and a single railroad track climb the same gorge as they, too, seek an eastern escape from the valley. There's a 3,500-foot climb from the valley floor—this steep climb resulted in the construction of the Tehachapi railroad loop in 1876. This engineering feat, since recognized as a National Civil Engineering Historical Landmark, gains elevation by routing the railroad tracks back over themselves via a tunnel. It can be seen from the air.
Almost immediately after the climb to the valley's western entrance, the air is allowed to spread out over the wide valley floor. The steady and brisk winds are good for sailplanes, and sailplane training. And for generating electricity with windmills. More than 4,500 windmills located at the eastern end of the valley create a kaleidoscope of circular movement as their airfoils wrest energy from the winds.
Flying in
Flying to, or through, the Tehachapi Valley requires recognition that there is a lot of special-use airspace (SUA) in this part of California. Consult your sectional chart for the Joshua Approach frequencies to determine the location and activity status of any SUA during your flight in the Tehachapi Valley or surrounding area.
Two airports serve the valley. The Tehachapi Municipal Airport (TSP) has one 4,035-by-50-foot paved runway. This airport is uncontrolled, as is the Tehachapi Mountain Valley Airport (L94), which is located approximately 2 nm southeast of the municipal airport. The municipal airport uses left-hand traffic to Runway 29, and right-hand traffic to Runway 11. Mountain Valley Airport has parallel runways, with the local fleet of sailplanes entering the pattern for 9L/27R from the north and powered airplanes entering the pattern for 9R/27L from the south. Because of the traffic patterns and close proximity of the two airports, both airports use 123.0 MHz for CTAF frequency. The runways at Mountain Valley are more than 5,000 feet long. The powered airplane runway, 9R/27L, has a 500-by-12-foot- wide asphalt strip at each end to prevent propeller erosion during initial power applications.
Pilots who want to add to their flying skills are invited to fly into Mountain Valley Airport and take a ride, or get a sailplane rating, in one of the sailplanes at Skylark North. The Raven's Nest deli, located on the airport, is known for its sandwiches and is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. A camping area located on the north side of the airport welcomes fly-in visitors.
Tehachapi attractions
It's true that a devastating earthquake nearly leveled the town in 1952, and that 40 to 50 trains move through town on a daily basis, but there is a lot more to Tehachapi than earthquakes and train wrecks. The Tehachapi Web site ( www.tehachapi.com) is chock full of things to do and see. The Mountain Festival, an annual event held in August, features a two-day rodeo, a car show, a celebrity golf tournament, 5- and 10K runs, an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast, and old-time craft demonstrations by the Heritage League, just to mention some of the fun.
A few of the other events include Wind Day, which celebrates the creation of nonpolluting power sources; Airport Appreciation day, which occurred on July 4 in 2000; and a Native American powwow.
In 2000 the powwow, which is a gathering of western Native Americans featuring crafts, dancing, and costumes, took place over the June 24 to 25 weekend. The event is held at the Indian Hills campground. All are welcome.
In the fall, the Tehachapi growers association invites all fly-in visitors to jump aboard the locally sponsored buses for a tour of the area orchards. U-pick orchards encourage you to fill up a few bushel baskets. It's a great way to stock up on fresh fruit before winter arrives.
Tomo Kahni State Park
Recently the state of California established its first park dedicated to archeology and the preservation of Native American culture. This park encompasses the winter village site of the Kawaiisu Indians and is located east of town in Sand Canyon. The site must be hiked into and is only accessible by guided tour, with reservations being required to join the tours. This park is so popular that there is no more space available in the 2000 tours. Call 661/942-0662 to reserve a position on one of next year's tours, which start again in the spring.
The Tehachapi Historical League is very involved in preserving the history of the area. Many artifacts are shown in the museum daily, except Monday, from noon to 4 p.m. Special tours can be arranged by calling 661/822-8152.
$100 hamburger
Pilots looking for a real good $100 hamburger should consider a trip to Tehachapi. The walk from the municipal airport to Tehachapi Boulevard, the main thoroughfare, takes less than five minutes. A right turn at the boulevard will quickly bring food seekers to the Apple Shed, which has an on-site bakery, restaurant, and gift shop, and features family-style barbecue dinners on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. For information about other dining establishments, see the Web site.
There is a Dial-a-Ride service in town. Telephone calls can be made from a public phone near the fuel pit. Enterprise Rent-A-Car also can arrange for pickup at the airport. Call ahead to 661/823-0180 for reservations.
Passcam
There's a video feed ( www.trainorders.com/cameras/tehachapi/) of a portion of the railroad loop that looks up the gorge toward the entrance to the Tehachapi Valley. Pilots might want to add this Web site to their Tehachapi preflight planning.
The Tehachapi Valley is a good destination for fly-in visitors. Spending a weekend camping at the sailplane airport while getting in some "nonpowered" time, taking part in a powwow, or the annual family-style Mountain Festival celebration, or wandering through the museum looking at artifacts of early California history are a few of the interesting activities available to Tehachapi-bound pilots.
Links to additional information about the Tehachapi airports may be found on AOPA Online ( www.aopa.org/pilot/links/links0012.shtml). E-mail the author at [email protected].
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