2016 Year End Flight with FlyDave in Northern CA

[Joe Zuffoletto]

The day after Christmas I had the good fortune to go up in FlyDave's Bravo on an absolutely perfect Bay Area day. We did a short Bay Tour from Petaluma and for the first time I got to play photographer instead of pilot. So now I finally have some great aerial photos of SF and the surrounding area.

Here's Dave's Bravo on the ramp before departure.

Lots of rain lately, so everything is green and lush.

The Petaluma River snaking its way towards the San Francisco Bay. You can see San Francisco in the distance.

San Quentin Prison, home of California's (nominal) death row.

View showing San Quentin's proximity to San Francisco and a lot of very pricey real estate.

Beautiful Marin County.

Hillside homes in Sausalito. My house is circled in red.

Next we headed towards the Golden Gate and the Pacific beyond.

The Marin Headlands, looking northwest.

Turned around to get some shots of the City. Here we are approaching it from the northwest. Ocean Beach, Golden Gate Park and the western neighborhoods are in view.

Approaching San Francisco.

Even closer. You can see Salesforce Tower under construction, the first building in SF that will be taller than the Pyramid.

Another prison: Alcatraz. It's shrouded in white tarps while extensive renovations proceed beneath.

The new section of the Oakland Bay Bridge, with downtown Oakland as a backdrop.

UC Berkeley in the foreground with Mount Diablo in the distance.

Heading back to the airport over pastoral Sonoma County.

Short final, runway 11 at O69.

Dave, thanks for the amazing flight! It was a perfect way to close out another year of flying Mooneys.

[FlyDave]

You're welcome Joe! Nice flying with you and looking forward to the Acclaim showing up at o69!

[carusoam]

Nice work, gents!  

Thanks for sharing.

Best regards,

-a-

[kelty]

Great pictures.  I love flying into Petaluma.  Great Breakfast

[kerry]

I went to school in San Francisco.  Your pictures brought back good memories.