Hi Juan I’m a forecast Meteorologist for NOAA here in San Francisco and I’m so excited that you decided to do this series . I also grew up in the aeea you flew over today . You have many of my colleagues following this as well and we appreciate you doing this and giving a visual along with the numbers which look really bleak . Thank you again !
@@noahwilliams8918 I wish I could hire him as my own personal pilot wherever I go . I don’t think our budget allows it or I would in a min. Been following this channel when spillway just had a crack in it
Lovely Video! Sorry for butting in, I would love your thoughts. Have you researched - Proutklarton Protecting Aqua Plan (do a google search)? It is a great exclusive guide for getting prepared for a mega drought without the hard work. Ive heard some decent things about it and my mate after many years got great results with it.
I learned to fly at Phoenix Field. This really brings back some fond memories of Folsom Lake, Lake Natoma, Phoenix Field, the American River and more. Thanks for posting this.
Yep I flew several flights out of Phoenix Field as a young man before going into Pilot Training for the US Navy. There was some guy there who had a private runway at the north east corner who owned an old SNJ Texan. All polished metal. Radial engine. Man when you heard that thing start up….it was something special!!
A few decades ago, Lake Brownwood dried up (Brownwood Tx) and they found a missing trainer from WWII(Brownwood airport was a training facility back then).
i'm all the way up here in Maple Valley, WA.. and yet I still find myself really enjoying your flying and commentary.. Keep up the good work, my friend. It's greatly appreciated.
I can’t believe how low the water is at Folsom Lake. My wife and I lived in Fair Oaks by the river and used to go to the lake all the time and I never imagined ever seeing it that low. It blows my mind.
Thanx for taking us along! Between 1982 and late 1990 I spent a fair amount of time Sierra Nvs having lived in Reno, had good friends in Pollock Pines and S Lake Tahoe, Beautiful country!
This video shows the Exact reason I have always dreamt of getting my Pilots license. To go up and just fly around “sight seeing”. Is just awesome to think about. Thanks for the Video Juan!
Go do it!! You will never regret it. Even though learning to fly has become exponentially more expensive than it used to be decades ago, there are still good options to reduce costs, if you strategically research the most efficient way to get it done!! Once you leave the bonds of the earth, life will never be the same again!!
Do it! Don't worry about having the perfect plan to every detail. Start pounding around small, local airports. Find a flight school and ask for an orientation flight. Go from there. Nobody has a headstone which reads, "he thought about doing cool stuff."
Back in 1961 thru early 1963, I was stationed at Mather AFB in Rancho Cordova. We used to have base and squadron parties out at Folsom Reservoir. I remember on one occasion, an Airman drove his really nice 1941 Chevrolet coupe into the water at one of the beaches near a picnic area. Of course, he was "drunker'n a pack of skunks". Plenty of water back then though. He drove it in up to the mid level of the doors.
Last I heard Jimmy Hoffa is in some sort of enclosed Chrome box underneath somebody's pool table and damn if that story didn't sound believable because the guy that told it was just connected and you can find that story here on the internet oh I'm trying to remember the guy's name he's he's a guy that used to be connected to the mob he supposedly slept with Marilyn Monroe when he was 16 years old he used to be a bad man way back in the day I'm trying to remember his name but I can't anyway that's where supposedly Jimmy Hoffa is
While I’ve never been to Folsom Prison I did have a short visit to Folsom City jail, I was having a cold beer with friends at the dam parking lot when a guy came up with a Polaroid camera and said how would you like me to take a picture of all of you, of course we said sure. After about ten minutes or so the picture developed an officer walked up said nice picture does everyone in it holding a beer have ID? Not only was I the only one of age I had an unpaid ticket that had festered into a warrant. Oh well that was forty plus years ago, young, dumb and set up😂
Juan going all 'Sam Elliott' again. I was born and live on an island, where I'm never more than 72 miles from a coast, no matter where I stand. Country vistas on this scale do not compute. Even the hum of that engine is relaxing. I can see why so many people love to see the world from this altitude. Everything looks beautiful from above ❤ I really hope I see the 'Old West' sometime in my life.
Juan, having never met you when I watch your many productions at times I feel like you’re an old friend I used to have coffee with. I randomly came across your early reporting on the Oroville spill way and was impressed how you managed the subject with fairness and consistency. When you took all of us following your series on the aerial I wore a kid like smile for a couple of hours. Your knowledge of the Northern California area including its history for me is icing on the cake. Recalling Phoenix Field brought back some fond memories, I earned my SEL flying out of Natomas (Q96) in 1990. I just wanted to say thank you to you, as well as your family for sharing you. The reports and over view you provide regarding aviation are some of the best. Keep up the good work and all the best!
Nice to see my old home. Folsom Lake was the place to go in the 60's. Used to drive across the dam to go to work . Lived in Folsom in the 90's....they were going to run the bridge over the American River on Oak Avenue Parkway.....right in front of our house. Thank goodness that did not happen. Who remembers the broken spillway gate and the life guard boat that went through it?
The drought is region-wide, the entire western U.S. is under extreme drought, Arizona and New Mexico and the surrounding area is the worst hit, California is just part of that big picture.
@@daleburrell6273 It would be welcome! I had the idea that the federal government should build a pipeline that would move large amounts of water from the Mississippi to the western states whenever that river is getting ready to flood all the cities along it south as it does every year. Not to lower THAT river's levels at all but to relieve the flooding and provide some water relief to the western states. Something has to change there is no question.
@@DylansPen ...THERE ARE A FEW PROBLEMS WITH THAT IDEA: 1- THE PIPELINE WOULD BE OVER A THOUSAND MILES LONG, 2- THE PIPELINE WOULD HAVE TO BE HUGE TO BE ABLE TO CARRY ENOUGH WATER, FAST ENOUGH TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE, 3- YOU CAN BET YOUR BOTTOM DOLLAR THAT THE PEOPLE IN THE SOUTHWEST WOULD NEED THE WATER AT THE EXACT TIME WHEN THE MISSISSIPPI WAS LOWEST- AND WHEN THE MISSISSIPPI WAS THREATENING TO FLOOD- YOU COULD ALSO BET THAT THE RESERVOIR(S) IN THE SOUTHWEST WOULD BE FULL TO CAPACITY, AND 4- IF THERE WAS THE POSSIBILITY OF MORE WATER BEING AVAILABLE FROM ELSEWHERE- WE ALL KNOW DAM WELL THAT THERE WOULD BE EVEN LESS INCENTIVE FOR PEOPLE IN THE SOUTHWEST TO CONSERVE WATER!!! ...I'LL BE DOGGONED IF I HAVE THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM!!!
Hi Juan, I love these type of videos that you make. We spent a few days touring the Auburn / Folsom Lake area about 15 years ago. I remember being told about the dam that never got constructed, and that the water shortages were worrying the locals even back then. I didn't realise that the Piper Comanche they recently found in Lake Folsom is NOT the one that had the mid-air in 1965. I thought they had confirmed the aircraft registration before telling the families. Cheers, Graham, Essex, England.
Love this series Juan. I used to live in the Chico area while going to school but am now in Southern California for work. It’s nice to see these views of the lakes I know. Really looking forward to seeing Shasta! Thanks again.
Juan, did you know that you were flying over a dozen World War II aircraft that crashed along that river while en-route to Reno AAF. I wrote a book twenty years ago that documented some of those crashes. I have hiked down and visited many of them. One in particular is fascinating to see. It is a C-46 that caught fire and went down in a very remote area along the river. It is on the opposite side of the river near "Lover's Leap" a popular viewing point. I went down to see and photograph it in 1998, but I'm too old to go down there again. That hike liked to killed me!
I’ve lived in that area my entire life, the last 15 years I’ve seen the water levels rise and fall drastically at Folsom. It is pretty crazy to see how that lake transforms.
I am a Canadian, but Love your videos for your footage and informative presentation on aviation and history. This was one of the best episodes so far. The Johnny Cash and Fulsom Prision segment was the best. Keep up the awesome work Juan!!!
My parents house backed up to Douglas blvd. The entrance to the Granite Bay part of the lake was about a 2 minute walk. My friends and I had a great time growing up there. As little kids ee knee where all the topless gals would sunbathe. Good times. Good video. Its alwsys fun to see the lake from the air. I still fish there frequently. So do my buddies from my graduating class of 86. If your readin this........... howdy boys..........
another great Video Juan. brings back some memories of stay with family in Sacramento in 1982 and spending time swimming in folsom lake, and visiting the fish hatchery buy nimbus dam, and rafting down the river in chillin with a beer. great times.
I love looking at aerial photos and google maps/earth, especially areas local to Sacramento and bodies of water. This was very fascinating to me and the footage and stills are stellar. Even a Folsom Prison flyover. Thanks!
First time visitor to your channel. I have been enjoying the video, very much. Your speaking audio is nice and clearm not over modulated. the views offered are stunning. I will subscribe.
Thanks for the tour. I lived in Folsom as a kid from 1972-1991. I used to swim and fish at Folsom Lake. I have been stuck in the mud in my truck at Folsom lake when it was low. Have toured the dam with the power turbines. Have toured the old power plant also. It was the first Power plant to send three phase power long distance. It’s supplied power to Sacramento 22 miles away. I used to ride mountain bikes where the old railroad was behind the prison. One time my friend and I climbed the tall fence with “V” shaped barbed wire at the top and ran our bikes across the prison grounds and climbed out the other side. We could see the guards walking on top of the wall. My kids asked why I broke into the prison I told them I was trying to break Johnny Cash out 🤪 I have walked the handrail on the Forest Hill bridge and hung from the beams under it. I have driven my truck across that cable bridge on the dirt road leading out of Colfax to Forest Hill. The bridge would swing towards the opposite bank and my truck tires would drop down in the gap between the bridge and the wall. Are used to swim at Negro Bar also. And jump off the Bluffs across the river. I have flown out of Phoenix Field. We would take the back way from Folsom and I remember this one turn my dad called “dead man’s curve” The section I believe you were calling Mormon Island is actually Dyke eight. Mormon Island is a town that is under the lake. It appeared up out of the water a number of years ago during a drought. Thanks for sharing this video it was a lot of fun to and it brought back a lot of memories.
Back in my helicopter days I flew HH-53s out of McCellan AFB. We used Folsom for PJ water drops and low and slow deployments. Never saw the lake look so low. Lots of fond memories there.
@@bombsaway6340 Spent 25 years in Navy Reserves. Three deployments including a year as DEVGRU6 Medical Officer in 2011 when we did Bye-Bye-Bin Laden a year before I retired as a Captain. So, tell me. If the PJs were so tough, why were PJ’s chopped to SEAL Platoons for additional "training". Hmmmm.
@@PfizerRN_NavyReserveCaptain maybe we met. I was a dedicated JSOC helo pilot for a couple years. I’ve worked closely with the Tier 1 guys, and PJs are on par. Stay safe, have a great weekend.
@@bombsaway6340 Possibly. We spent 17 weeks in the Nevada desert with a whole bunch of JSOC pilots right before the Bin Laden raid in May 2011, and had a whole bunch in on both training and TacOps before that. Thankx for your service. Bravo Zulu. Fly safe.
Over flying an area while doing commentary about something is a very cool way to convey information, Im surprised that lots of news channels haven't picked up on it.
We need to build that canal from British Columbia to Lake Shasta. Most of their water goes into the Pacific. Spent a few hours out of Phoenix Field practicing stalls over the lake back in the 70's. Great tour,Thanks much.
Can't wait till you visit Shasta; it will bring back a lot of memories of riding to it, boating on it and flying over it when I lived near Redding. Last time I flew over it I was getting front seat instruction in a T-6... that video is on my channel.
This channel fell out of my algorithm for a while. these recent videos have been wonderful to watch thank you Juan, also revisiting more of the Oroville damn series.
Hi Juan...back when I went to American River College, I was a Tour Guide for Folsom Dam. It was a wonderful opportunity. My fellow student & I painted murals in the powerplant and first level of the dam...the latter being huge showing the water preservation cycle in 1978. Spent many days eating lunch in the tower in the dam road...no longer accessible. So many stories & memories. Diane S.
Nancy Pelosi‘s house at 4:10? Or is that Gavin Newsom‘s? 🙄 Amazing how far the water has gone down there! That’s crazy. As always we appreciate the stunning views and mountains of GOOD information, so unlike we get from the corporate media machine. Thanks, Juan!
Colfax, I-80, Folsom, Roseville/Rockville..my old stomping grounds. Seeing the aerial footage of those areas makes me nostalgic for home. But I will NEVER live in that state again. I'm so glad I'm gone. I do miss some things about it though.
I actually lived with my friend's parents right inside the grounds of folsom prison. they had housing there, were employees. it was rather surreal ;) Folsom was my stomping grounds as a kid :) Know it like the back of my hand :)
Hey Mr Juan- Been an avid watcher since I came across your channel! As a 6 year old, my family moved from Salinas to Boise. So, a near native to Idaho. I recognize the names of all the areas you take me to on your flights. Love your production work, it is awesome! Keep it up! And "Weightless" caps each vid! Realy great song! Then, your at home vid has a Zeppelin reference! One more reason for a connection to your channel. Did I mention my oldest brother was an instructor pilot for USAF. Flew T-38s, later flew Dash 8 with Horizon. Your professionalism is Topshelf, Juan Thanks much!
Yeah Thank You Juan. Just can't say enough about your informative videos. Your coverage of the Oroville Dam failure, and these of California's resources are brilliant. Huge supporter of Aviation. You are a Fantastic Role Model for youth. Great update.
👍 Beautiful AWESOME tour with you. Wonderful narration and reminisce of OLD DAYS ! 🤙 Can't wait til you head North, to Shasta country. Born 1945 and lived in Klamath Falls until 1959. 🙏 Pray for rain, AND no WILDFIRES !!!🔥 I remember well as a boy trout fishing Upper Klamath Lake, Klamath River, Diamond Lake, AND (OLD GROWTH LOGGING ) 😏 THANKS FOR THE PERSONALIZED TOUR . GOD BLESS 😍😍😍😍😍
I don't think aircraft will be the only interesting things putting in an appearance in Folsom Lake during the drought... It sounds like there's going to be a very tough season coming up for the aerial tanker pilots and the fire fighters...
@@DieselRamcharger An awful lot of people live there. That might be a risk they would be prepared to take in a substantially unpopulated area, but even then they'd need to be extremely sure on their calculations and the weather forecast for the foreseeable future to do that, and that's not something that's easy to do with wildfires as they can change almost in a heartbeat...
Great video, What you called Mormon Island dam I believe is Dyke 8. In the early 80's I was a Park aide for California State Parks & Rec at Peninsula camp ground for 3 summers. It's the only campground right on Folsom lake. I had a 18ft Sol-cat catamaran that I sailed on Folsom lake when I was was off duty.
Wow! Great tour, many memories! We lived in Auburn in the Summer of 1962 and swam in the area where the North and Middle forks of the American River join. What shocked me was that there is a new tall bridge there. The old one looked tall to me! I recall coming from Coloma and crossing the old bridge, then winding our way back up the canyon to Auburn. Our neighbor Gus was an engineer who spoke of a future new bridge, the Auburn Dam, and a new dam that was to be built in Oroville. He took us to Lake Clementine for a tour, too. A few summers later, he was building the Oroville Dam. I think his job was to spread grass seed on an area on the face of the dam to confuse future generations into thinking the dam was leaking.
I hope the fire season isn't like last year. I'd like to my yearly camping trip to the North fork near Colfax but don't want the sky blocked by smoke and dry lightning causing havoc.
I loved the aerial sightseeing tour combined with your impromptu anecdotes of forgotten history. Hearing you prompt yourself for "fuel check" and "check for traffic" made me feel like I was right in the cockpit with you.
In fact. The more I think about it... The Husky is basically what would result if an Islander and a Citabria were left in a hangar overnight with a bunch of lit candles, some champagne, and Barry White music playing. Hahaha
I spent many a day sitting under the Foresthill bridge, but never did make it far enough upstream to see that Clementine dam. Seeing it like this makes me regret that! Love taking these flights with you, thanks for the series. It's really interesting, if a bit depressing to see how things are progressing there in California.
Fascinating on many levels - and a reminder of happier times learning to fly further south around Long Beach (Compton was my first landing away!) In our more chastened days, your insights are greatly valued, thank you...
It would seem when the dams are low and with the growing water needs the state or those in charge would scrape away more dirt to have more volume. It would be a relatively inexpensive way to increase capacity.
Our incredible morons under the dome can't think that far ahead. Standard comment that comes from the state is "Common sense will not be tolerated in state construction."
Thanks - grew up in Orangevale, Fair Oaks, Folsom. Used to live literally down the street from Phoenix Field. We'd sometimes walk down and watch the planes take off and land.The lake is lower than I ever remember.
Thanks for the tour. This is all somewhat familiar territory. I learned to fly in Redding north of you there but flew around the foothills into and out of Auburn, Paradise and all points in between. Redding used to have a number of active airports like Enterprise Sky Park and Redding Sky Ranch now all gone. They used to be fun airports to gather and hang out. North Star Aviation at Redding Muni was also a busy place and also long gone where I learned to fly. Looking forward to your Shasta Lake run. The last time I flew out in my airplane I flew my son out over the lake and there was plenty of water many years ago. Appreciate your work, I live in Texas now and do miss flying in that area.
@@martharetallick204 I flew co pilot on DC-6/7s back in the 90's Airtankers. Usually Winslow, Prescott, Phoenix, Pinal co. If you start getting SE/E wind and the humidity is up they're on the way.
