First Base Traditional Cache

The airfield is at the North end of Lake Pillsbury. Gravelly Valley airfield is a dirt/gravel strip owned by the US Forest Service, but open to the public. Recently there was an attempt by the Forest Service to close it, but the outcry from pilots and others gave them pause.

The Gravelly Valley airstrip is historically significant for 2 reasons. First, it was used as a Navy airstrip, during the early 1940‘s. In fact, one of the campgrounds near the airstrip is named “Navy Camp”. When is was being used by the Navy, the airstrip (and Lake Pillsbury, for the amphibious planes) was used as an alternative landing area, to the Bay Area flights, when the Bay Area was fogged in.

The Navy also used the area for survival training. The men would be dropped off, on the top of Hull Mountain (to the North), and expected to find their way back down to the Base, at the airstrip.

Second, it was the site of the first Wildland Firefighting Forward Air Attack Base, using modified crop-duster airplanes. In 1955, on the Mendocino National Forest, Forest Service's Fire Control Officer Joe Ely tested modified crop dusters to carry and cascade up to 120 gallons of water. These trials became part of California firefighting force.

The first airdrop on an actual wildfire was made during the Mendenhall Fire, August 13, 1955, in the Mendocino National Forest. Vance Nolta flew this historic mission in the Stearman, dropping 6 loads of water in support of firefighters on the ground trying to contain the blaze. To reduce turnaround time between drops, a water tender truck was deployed at a dirt airstrip in Gravelly Valley, next to Lake Pillsbury. This operation was considered so successful, America’s first “fire pilot” Vance Nolta worked another fire the very next day.

During 1956, these planes were used in 1,000 separate drops to fight 25 different fires from the Oregon border to the Mexican border. Each plane dropped between 100 and 150 gallon loads of water mixed with fire retardant chemicals.

These planes were piloted by local aviators and operated out of the Willows (CA) Airport. The planes would fly from Willows, into the Gravelly Valley Airstrip.
A plaque, "Birth of the AirTanker Program", honoring the aviators is located near the North end of the Willows Airport at: N 39° 31.361 W 122° 13.126

See the sister cache "HOME BASE" Geocache (Waypoint GCQ2C5)

Initial aircraft of choices were World War II vintage Stearman PT-17s and N3N biplanes. Then and now, the air tanker fleet is comprised mainly of surplus military aircraft converted for firefighting purposes.

In September of 1987 Gravelly Valley Air Strip and the surrounding camp grounds were turned in to a very active air base and fire camp to fight the fires of the Mendonhall Complex. This time rows of helicopters lined the sides of the airstrip and water tenders drove day and night watering the roads and airstrip for dust control. At one point the smoke from the fires became so extreme none of the helicopters were allowed to fly. State and Federal fire fighters in the camp nearby were taking turns breathing oxygen from large tanks that were strapped to trees because the oxygen levels in the air were so low.

•Zdravko's Flying Pages - Gravelly Valley
•AIRNAV.COM - Gravelly Valley Airport