Photos

This is taken from the eastern end of one of the two runways at the old Alameda Naval Air Station (decommissioned in 1997), looking to the west towards SF. The runways are normally off-bounds behind cyclone fences (they are being allowed to fall into ruin and be returned to nature as a wildlife refuge), but occasionally a special event is held and at least part of the area is opened to the public. We were lucky to run across one such event and took the opportunity to get behind those fences and check things out.

This is the view a pilot would have (well, OK, the pilot would be a lot higher up) as he prepared to take off over SF Bay and the Bay Bridge (directly ahead, with Yerba Buena Island to its right), with the SF skyline to the left in the distance and the Oakland Estuary portion of the Port of Oakland running parallel to the runway along the right. The hotshot pilots were notorious for daredevil flying under the Bay Bridge, a big no-no, but you can see what a direct shot it would be from this runway. Quite a temptation!

Technical: Rotated to straighten; cropped to center; contrast, saturation and sharpening applied.