Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
Sorted by date Results 1 - 14 of 14
By luck, I ran into a pilot friend driving near Tehachapi Airport. In talking with him he asked me if I saw the P-51 at the airport. I said no. So, he was happy to take me out to the hangar where people from Vintage V-12 were working on the ship. Vintage V-12 is a locally based engine maker for the P-51 warbird power plant. This North American P-51A Mustang with registration number "N 51Z" is a special bird. It's made of parts from a "D" model and "A" version P-51 World War II fighter, bomber...
On any given day you can see about 60 to 80 trains within a 24-hour period passing through Tehachapi. Trains march up and down the 2.5% grade, some of which reach more than a mile in length, with oil tank cars, grain cars, gravel cars and freshly cut wood – all kinds of products that are needed to build or power our country. On Oct. 16, we had an historic BNSF Office Car Special train with VIP folks on board. I saw about 11 of the most beautiful silver passenger cars from the 1940s and 1950s. BN...
Local Volkswagen clubs met at the former Kmart parking lot for their annual trek to the Stallion Springs Oktoberfest on Oct. 5. We saw a great mini car show, which included many popular years of custom VWs. There must have been over 100 VWs and other custom cars headed for the fun in Stallion....
The gates to the Kern County Fair opened at 9 a.m. on Sept. 20 for Senior Day, which invites all seniors, 62 or better, to enter for free parking and admission. Mayor Karen Goh and Chairman of the Kern County Board of Supervisors David Couch were on hand for the opening ceremonies. This was all presented by Dignity Health. The weather was perfect in the mid 80s. Others on hand for the opening ceremonies were Jeremy Oliver, director of Aging and Adult Services; Jared Britschgi, chairman of the...
With the high cost of living, I always try to save in my travel/fuel budget as I can. Yes, a day trip to Los Angeles for $5.75 is possible! I used the Metrolink train station on Sierra Highway in Lancaster to get to the Los Angles area. You just have to get yourself there and you can ride the train if you are a senior (65+) for $5.75, one way. For a regular train pass it's a bit more, but still very cost effect to get to Los Angles Union Station where there is a lot to see, like the Historic Mex...
I came to Tehachapi to learn to fly at our famous Skylark North Glider Flight School. At the time, I always used Willow Springs Road, the back road up to Tehachapi. Well, I got pulled over by a Kern County Sheriff one day. I was going a bit over the speed limit as I went by some sod field farms a few miles past Willow Springs Raceway, and that candy store that was on the Rosamond Blvd. intersection. The Kern County Sheriff got my driver's license, registration, insurance information and when he...
The car pictured above is from a car club event awhile back at the Mojave Air and Space Port. The airport crew are pushing a 1980 European 308 GTS Ferrari. It's a carburatored car and you can see the tell-tale signs it's a Euro car by the rounded marker lights. The car has no 5 MPH bumpers, which were required in the USA for cars in 1980. Maintenance has always been extremely costly on any Ferrari. A great collector car for sure, but no daily driver in my opinion. They were having issues with th...
The Southern Pacific No. 4449 Daylight is the only surviving GS-4 Class Northern Type 4-8-4 steam locomotive in the world. It was built on May 20,1941 by Lima Locomotive works in Lima, Ohio. The only other GS class locomotive that was saved from the scrap yard being a GS-6 No. 4460. It lives at the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri, and was built during World War II. The GS-6 locomotives were painted in war time black and silver, they were known as the "War Babies." This...
The place where I and many other glider pilots learned to fly has been converted to an helicopter fire-bomber base these pasted few weeks. On July 15, I witnessed lots of flying activity with fueling and servicing at Mountain Valley Glider Port. I got to see the CH-47 "Chinook" and the CH-54 "The Flying Crane" operate this day. With the White and El Rancho Fires and other fires in Kern County, Mountain Valley is a perfect location for a base of operations. In my 40 years living in Tehachapi, I...
This is a continuation of the article in the July 6 issue of The Loop newspaper. My longest flight was straight out up the Southern Sierra Nevada range to Olancha Peak near Lone Pine California. I was ultra conservative with all my sailplane flying, learning from all my great flight instructors during my 35 years of flying. Some higher mileage treks were 200 to 400 miles in an eight hour flight by the sailplane community back then. Olancha Peak is at an elevation of 12,132 feet on the...
Like most kids born in the 1950s, I wanted to learn to drive as soon as I could reach the gas and brake pedals. I also wanted to learn how to safely target, trap, shoot and receive aircraft flight instruction. I lived near El Monte airport in the San Gabriel Valley when I was 13 years old. I would ride my bike down to watch the take-offs and landings of all kinds of aircraft. My uncle Jim had pilot friends who owned a Beachcraft Bonanza. I was invited on a trip to Las Vegas in the aircraft, wher...
There was a great showing at the Walmart Car & Motorcycle Show on June 30 in Tehachapi. Local Bakersfield Hard Tops, who race at Bakersfield Speedway dirt track, were in attendance. All proceeds went towards the Children's Miracle Network....
A great crowd showed up for the 2024 Bear Valley Springs Renaissance Faire, put on by the Bear Valley Springs Cultural Arts Association. There was lots to see, including period-style live music, fencing, jousting, sword/shield competitions and more. I enjoyed the music group "The Nightingales," especially their cover version of "Da Full Rigged Ship." Terri and Kathleen from the "The Nightingales" will perform with the TPOPs Orchestra for the 4th of July celebration at 11 a.m. in Central Park....
The Tehachapi Valley Recreation & Park District honored our fallen military personnel on May 27 at Philip Marx Central Park. A large crowd gathered to remember those who have given their lives for our freedoms. Photos were displayed of fallen service members. Police Chief Richard Standridge, who had served in the United States Navy, was the guest speaker....
