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Vintage Aircraft Company
Rating Details »
- Hours:
Mon., Wed-Sun. 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
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California Wine Tours
- 18 reviews
- Location:
- Napa, CA
"I didn't organize the limo, so I have no idea what the office staff is like. But I did spend 6 hours riding around Napa with our driver,…" read more »
7 reviews for Vintage Aircraft Company
An experience of a lifetime!
That's how I felt walking away from the plane after my wonderful flight over the Napa Wine Country. I surprised my boyfriend and myself by this amazing experience. It was much more than I ever thought it would be.
The staff is so kind and just the nicest group of people. We didn't have to wait very long for our 20 min. bi-plane ride. With our flight caps on, and a parachute strapped to our backs, we were ready to go! Our pilot was really personable and set us at ease right from the start.
The flight itself was really smooth...and we had the clearest day for flying. At one point we could see all the way to San Francisco and Oakland! What a view! The highlight came late in the flight when the aerobatics kicked in. At first I felt extreme terror, but suddenly it all went away and I was filled with peace. It was incredible! Exhilarating! I swear I felt weightless for a second or two...an experience like no other! The aerobatics is a must!
I'd thoroughly recommend this experience. I haven't stopped talking about it and I probably won't!
I drive past this place every day on my way in to work, and every time I do, I look longingly at the planes they have parked out in the yard. I have no idea why I do this, because I am scared witless to fly. Maybe I figured this would get me over my fear of flying?
So when a friend came to town - a been-there-done-that kind of guy - I suggested we see the North Bay like he's never seen it before. I made the reservations over the phone, and the lady was very friendly. (The only critique I have here is that she could have told us what to bring or how to prepare, i.e. what type of jacket we should bring, make sure your camera has a wrist strap, make sure you don't forget your sunglasses, etc.)
When we got there, I felt myself getting extremely nervous, and I'm sure it could have been read all over my face just how anxious I was about this whole thing. They asked me if I wanted to do the acrobatics, to which I replied with a very loud "HELL NO." She asked if I liked roller coasters, to which I replied that I did. She suggested I wear the parachute, just in case I change my mind. The parachute looked like it was packed in 1932, and our safety training was all of 15 seconds.
Then the pilot came in. I call him Lord Flash-Heart. He was blond, tan, had blue eyes and muscles all over. With a firm handshake and an introduction, he began to put me at ease. He said that at the end of the flight, we would ascend, and then he would waggle the wings. This would be him asking me for acrobatics. If gave a thumbs up, a-rolling we would go.
(Here I would agree that the pilot did seem a wee disinterested in the "hosting" process. It would have been fun to know a little bit more about the plane, the route we were going to take, what we should look out for, etc.)
We opted for the 40 minute ride to the city. We flew out over Marin County, and had a spectacular view of the Marin Headlands and the coast. The city was covered in fog, so there was not much to see there, but we did get an amazing view of the coast and the bay.
On the way back, we lifted a bit more, and I felt the wings waggle. At this point, I just shut my eyes and put both thumbs up before I could even really think about what I had just decided to do.
We did a 360 degree turn, then down a bit, then we went into a barrel roll. I could feel the G forces pulling me down. At this point I just let out one big, loud, long expletive.
We did another 360 degree turn (which I thought was super cool on its own, anyway), then down we went. I felt the Gs really pushing down that time. I looked up over my head to see sky, then mountains, earth, then sky again. We had just gone in a big loop. Expletive again.
Circling to land over the vineyards, I didn't want my ride to end. I had the best time, and I could easily be talked into doing it again.
How is my fear of flying now? I have no idea, really. I haven't been on a commercial jet since I took the ride on the red Snoopy Plane, but I'm sure I'll be pretty much okay, just so long as the pilot doesn't try a barrel roll without asking me first.
For my birthday, my bf kept hinting at my surprise-- all he'd tell me was that I needed to dress warmly. When Saturday morning dawned, sunny and gorgeous, I asked if it was still going to be cold, to which he replied, "yes, but I'm not giving you any more clues."
Turning into the Vintage Aircraft lot was completely unexpected. I saw the sign and my mouth dropped open.
I'm not a plane buff, so I can't tell you too much about ours except that it was a Boeing Stearman. The owner and the pilots are all friendly and helpful about answering questions. Just do your research and get out there, though-- flying in one of their planes is an incredible thrill! We headed out over Sonoma/Napa, with some breathtaking scenery, and then finished up with the aerobatic maneuvers-- so much better than any roller coaster I've ever been on!
The plane was really stable, they've got a perfect safety record, and my boyfirend even pointed out that they can be landed like gliders if the engine gets killed.
Needless to say, he succeeded in making this my most memorable birthday, with the help of Vintage Aircraft Co.
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My fiance took me here as part of a surprise trip to Sonoma. As soon as we rolled up on this place I was trilled - - a tiny little "airport", several old planes, and the anticipation of a really special experience.
This place is really laid back. There's a pilot hanging out waiting for clients, and a couple other nice, older folks waiting around to book clients and set up their flights. It's all very low key.
We chose to fly in the beautiful, red vintage bi-plane. You could choose between the 20-minute and 40-minute flight in this plane. We chose the 40-minute. Of the 40-minute flights, we could choose between 3 options: 1) Down "along the coast" to view the San Francisco skyline, 2) Out to the sea to view point Reyes, and 3) Over the surrounding wine country. We would have chosen the San Francisco trip, but, because it was Fleet Week (Blue Angels), there was a no-fly zone around SF. So we chose the "out to the sea and Point Reyes" trip.
The negatives: 1) For the $400+ that my fiance was spending on this very exciting trip, the staff and pilot were fairly non-interested. In fact, as we were first loading into the plane, the pilot barely acknowledged us as he got in. 2) the flight didn't actually even take us out to the ocean. We were flown within a couple miles of the coast, then the pilot turned around and headed back to Sonoma. Based on the description of the flight, I thought we would actually get out *over* the ocean, fly out to Point Reyes itself, and maybe fly down somewhat low over point Reyes and the coast. Not at all.
In actuality, we never got lower than several hundred feet and as I mentioned, were still a couple miles from the coast. Redeeming feature: after we got back over the Sonoma area, the pilot did spend a while flying over some vineyards in the area which was really enjoyable and he banked a few step turns, which was fun.
Advice #1) It's an expensive 40 minutes, no doubt. I really think if you clearly tell the sign-up lady and pilot exactly what you want out of your 40 minutes, you'll get it. For example, I think if we had made it clear we wanted to go out to the tip of Pt. Reyes and descend close to the beach and coastline, he would have done it, and skipped giving us the vineyards time instead, for example. You can't communicate with the pilot while you are flying, so make clear what you want ahead of time.
Advice #2) If 40-minutes is barely enough time to get just short of the coast straight West (Pt. Reyes) and back (plus a few minutes of wine country), I find it very had to see how they could "fly along the coast down to the San Francisco skyline and back". Therefore, I strongly suggest you ask very specific questions about your flight path, whether you will actually be flying along the coast (or just within distant eye shot of it) and if the San Francisco skyline means "Gee, I can see SF 15 miles away" or "Holy crap we are flying over the Golden Gate bridge!!".
Again, I think if you clarify very specifically what you want or will be getting ahead of time, you wont be disappointed. Its very informal, too, so I imagine if you said, "I really want to fly *along the coast* and actually get near SF for a fairly close view of the City", they could do that for you, even if it mean extending the trip to 60 minutes for a slightly higher price.
That said, it's a neat experience. Its open air cockpits and is windy and cold, so dress appropriately. It is a neat little business of just a few people restoring old planes and taking people for rides in them.
Also, as the SF trip was not available when we were there, they strongly suggested the wine country flight. Based upon the kind of mini-wine country tour that the pilot threw in, I think that actually might be a quite fun choice, as its really beautiful flying over the vineyards and foothills. Enjoy!
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Comment from Sheryl C. of
Vintage Aircraft Company
6/6/2009
We fly by FAA rules which allows 500 feet over sparsely…
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Vintage Aircraft Co. provides open cockpit biplane and warbird rides out of the Schellville airport in Sonoma. There are several types of flights you can take from 20 minute scenic flights around the Sonoma valley, further ranging flights over Napa, west to the Pacific and around San Francisco to rides incorporating loops, barrel rolls, 'Hammer Heads" and a the "Cuban Eight". This is not a cheap thrill - prices start at $150.00 and go up over $600.00 for an hour in the SNJ-4. All of the pilots are highly qualified and it's obvious that they love to fly -- I highly recommend it.
The last time my parents came to visit, they ended their winter trip to Arizona with a visit to see me as they did about once every two years. It was always a challenge to find new things to do because they both had such a long history of trips to Northern California dating back to my Dad's Navy years in the 40's. I was conceived, according to my Mother, at the St. Francis at the end of a family trip to California. It was the first time my parents had their own room -- my older brother and sister were along -- on that multi-week car trip.
Also, Dad's birthday was in March and I wanted to find something special to do. My Dad was a flight instructor in the Navy, training pilots in WWII and when I found the Vintage Aircraft site I was both excited and scared. Excited because two of the planes are the North American AT-6 - in the Navy it was the the SNJ-4 (the one in which he taught) and the plane in which he learned to fly - the Boeing PT-17 Stearman. Scared that his mobility issues (one bad hip, one replaced hip and arthritis every place you could possibly have it) would make it difficult for him to get in the plane. The whole thing was a surprise and I don't think I've ever been so nervous. Chris Prevost, the founder of Vintage Aircraft was great -- and when Dad couldn't get into the SNJ-4 he quickly switched to the Stearman. The smile on my Dad's face after the flight was priceless.
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we rode in the beautiful red biplane over the vineyards as they recommended. the view was great and we LOVED doing the aerobatics! (k... it's probably just me being in a red bi-plane and all but I had happy thoughts of snoopy ok i digress...)
in hindsight, we'd probably just do a 20 min ride with aerobatics because it's a bit pricey.
the negatives: it was in the 60s but my husband was still pretty cold. i told him it's his fault for having a bday in december. :) because it's in the open air (and the air beats your nose and ears...even w/ earplugs they gave us)... our heads later felt all weirdly pressurized for a long time after.
i'd say do it though...it's a great event to do once in a lifetime. :D
i stumbled across this company online and thought it'd be a cool idea for my boyfriend's surprise birthday, so i booked a 40 min. flight + aerobatics on the biplane.
when we got there and i saw the big red, open cockpit, biplane... i was soooo excited! even better, my boyfriend had a huge grin across his face in excitement as well!
take off was fast, smooth, almost barely noticeable... flight path across marin and down to see the sf skyline was gorgeous! we went on the perfect day with 85 degree weather, i wore shorts and a tank and felt comfortable up there (they usually recommend bundling up, but i called right before we went there to check on conditions).
the entire flight was nice and enjoyable... then came the aerobatics! the best part! we went around in loops and tumbles, gave the pilot the thumbs up (signaling that we were a-ok) and he kept going. the flight is smooth enough to where i brought my camera up there and took tons of pics and videos... just make sure you have your camera strap around your wrist! also be sure to tell the pilot you want aerobatics before you get in the plane... you have to wear a parachute. it felt very safe the entire way through.
landing was super smooth! we later found out that our pilot was the owner of the place... don't think that will make too much difference though... the website gives an intro to each of their pilots.
DO IT!!!!!!