Aviation View | Volume 1, Issue 2

74 AVIATION VIEW VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2 certifications and he is actually one of the very few around the world that does them now,” Stuth explains. “Oh, and it’s fun to watch it. Sometimes, the way those airplanes fly, it’s a lot different, and how you land them is a lot different. And so when you watch it, there are times when he’s doing certain maneuvers and techniques to train these pilots and you look at it and you think, ‘oh, the airplane shouldn’t be in that orientation that close to the ground. How is this working?’ And everyone gets nervous and then after watching them do it like 1,000 times you go, ‘oh, OK well, that’s just how it works.’” Guests can take in those amazing displays of aerial acrobatics from the Columbia Airport Campground. While the COVID-19 pandemic forced the campground to close during much of the last year, the site has been a popular destination for aircraft organizations for annual fly-ins. Visitors can pitch a tent at one of 20 campsites that feature picnic tables and barbecues. Some guests even sleep right under the wings of their aircraft. The campground pavilion has a full kitchen and dining hall. There is also a volleyball court, horseshoe pits, fire rings, flush toilets, and hot showers on site. “One of my favorite features of this airport actually is our campground,” Stuth acknowledges. “And again, we are one of the very few public airports out there that actually have a fly-in campground that’s maintained by us. Especially out here on the West Coast. The fly-in campgrounds are almost a dime a dozen in the Midwest and on the East Coast, but over here they’re few and far between and they usually tend to be all private.” While the airport itself has a number of attractions, there are plenty of other reasons people fly into Tuolumne County. One of the biggest draws is Yosemite National Park. Within the park’s nearly 1,200 square miles is a vast wilderness that contains giant Sequoia trees, deep valleys, grand meadows, majestic waterfalls