Carlo continues his narration of the flight around Zambales. We explore two exquisite islands and the site of a WWII sea battle. Carlo reflects on our journey from 60 feet under the sea to 2,000 feet above it.
After Pinatubo, we fly over the jagged lahar ridges and chasms in the Bucao river valley, and nose west to the South China Sea.
It’s good to turn away from forbidding volcanic terrain towards the flat coastal plain of Zambales.
We can survive an engine failure now… .
Over the coast, we turn north and watch Iba airfield drift by below.
Someday, I will fly there and relax on the beach after flying. Hopefully with an appreciative girlfriend in tow. 😀
[Tonet’s note: Girlfriend, huh? Hopefully by then global warming will have submerged Iba… .]
We head north and go feet wet until the Hermanas (“sisters”) come into view.
I had looked forward to seeing these privately-owned islands, both of which have their own airfields!
This is the first time I am flying over water without flying parallel to the shoreline.
What’s the gliding distance of the Cessna 152 at this altitude? When did I ever become paranoid? Oh well, paranoid is good, in a pilot.
The islands are gorgeous, full of orchards and sporting one well-marked airstrip each.
[Hermana Minor, literally “little sister”, has a sod airstrip that looks long enough for a 747!]
Both islands are surrounded by beaches, with coral reefs offshore that are clearly visible from the air.
Tonet relates the story of WWII battles in Dasol Bay.
[The famous US submarine Harder was lost to a Japanese depth charge attack here in August, 1944. In November, the Japanese heavy cruiser Kumano, survivor of many vicious Pacific battles, was sunk in shallow water here by American torpedo attacks.]
I recall SCUBA diving with Tonet a few years ago. After seeing everything from inquisitive barracuda and chameleon cuttlefish to schools of jacks the size and shape of Texas tornadoes, Tonet and I figured we’d reached our peak. Little did we know.
Now, we’ve got pilot’s licenses, an airplane, we’re two thousand feet above the surface rather than sixty feet under it, and we’re still climbing.
I’m excited about what’s next.
[Meanwhile, Tonet is excited about getting an invitation to fly to this beautiful grass airstrip on Hermana Mayor, the “big sister”.]
I fly nearly perfect pylon turns as Tonet snaps photos of the islands.
Even from this altitude, the beaches look superb all around.
[Hermana Mayor and Hermana Minor are privately-owned by separate clans. Hermana Mayor is more developed, with cabanas, a golf course and a man-made lake.]
We also take shots of a lovely tree-covered island nearby, also ringed by white sand beaches and coral formations.
As we fly east and head back to Clark, ducking rain clouds, Tonet remarks that he could never have imagined all this just a few years ago.
The landing is perfect, of course. 😀
Next in this series: Pangasinan, a mythical airfield, an encounter with Presidential Security, and the re-invention of a Cessna pilot.
Posted from Guangzhou, Jan 16, 2008.
That airstrip @ Hermana Minor is owned by Jose Ch. Alvarez (the guy who owns Subic Air)
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Dear Sir Tonet/ Carlo,
HI! it’s Regina, Mike’s sister. I was reading Sergei Gonzales’ blog (who is my contact on Multiply.com), when I clicked on the link to Oshti’s blog, Hempapaweed, which led me to this blog! I never knew you had a blog, so I was quite surprised to encounter this. I usually don’t get to read a lot of travel articles, so I found this enlightening. And the pictures, of course, are gorgeous! I am so taken with their beauty that they make me want to sky dive out of Cessna, in a strange suicidal impulse, and scream “YEAH! I’M A BEAST!” LOL
Carlo – I never knew you had a pilot’s license already! Must be wonderful to share your flying passion with your dad. My brother tries to drill me on the Flight Simulator too, but we just end up trying to choke each other… (unfortunately) Are your other brothers going for a pilot’s license as well? I heard a lot about your love of literature/poems and your dream of being a great English teacher one day. I love to write poems, and it would be great to talk to someone about the rich world of the written word 😀 So let’s keep in touch – my e-mail is ventura1388@yahoo.com.
Ciao,
Regina
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Hi Regina, welcome to Flying in Crosswinds!
Carlo will be along soon. He had to concentrate on his thesis this week, but that’s done. He should be free this weekend.
I haven’t posted anything since January. I was in Zurich, Lausanne, Geneva, Bangkok, Manila, Amsterdam, then Bangkok and Manila again these past 3 weeks! Somewhere in there Carlo and I managed to work for 5 days at the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta at Clark. I’ve slept in my own bed in Bangkok only 4 nights since January, and I’m off to the US tomorrow! Grief!
We have a lot of pictures of the Fiesta, and will be posting about that soon. Lots of stories, too.
Meanwhile, if you want to enjoy Carlo’s writing, just click on the titles below …
In Life, Two Things are Certain, a delightful little study which he actually wrote on the back of a paper napkin.
An Old Essay About Flight, one of his earliest posts here. Very good writing, very cerebral and deep.
Fate Is The Hunter, which, atypically, he wrote from the heart. I consider this one of the best pieces of writing in the blog. He wrote it after 4 pilots died in a mid-air collision at Plaridel airport. Just the day before, Carlo and I had a near miss with another airplane at the same airport.
This should keep you going while he slowly wakes up from a stressful week.
If he emails you, tell him to give me a call once in a while, will you? 🙂
.
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I think the “lovely tree-covered island nearby, also ringed by white sand beaches and coral formations” is called Patipot Island. I’ve been there twice and even windsurfed around the island. White sand beach (bit on the large grained size) and lots of fish in the water. Also have large horned (horny?) star fish along the beach.
The island is visible along the coastal highway. You’d have to hire a small banca to get across. I had a friend whose family lived there and he made all the arrangements for us.
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Hey RG,
I was wondering about that island. Arrow2 on the Forum, whose family is connected with the owners of Hermana Mayor, also said it was Patipot island.
On the ONC chart though Patipot is depicted as another island, a bit further south.
Maybe a chart error? I’ll try and find out more.
It IS a beautiful island, from the air. You drove up the Zambales coast? Pretty rugged, huh. Must not have been easy to even get to the coast… .
.
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Hi RG,
I looked Potipot island up on the internet. Lots of references to it, and Google Earth has a couple of photos.
All the references do say it’s a pretty place.
Unfortunately we are talking about different islands. Potipot is in Masinloc Bay, southeast of Hermana Minor.
The island in the photo above is directly east of Hermana Mayor, close to the town of Infanta on the Zambales coastline. North of Masinloc and Potipot island.
Still a mystery 🙂
.
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The island is called Balaki Island and yes, your right, its within the jurisdiction of Infanta. I was just there last weekend and its not a bad place to rest. Lots of fish. My host went fishing while we were resting and caught enough for all 10 of us to lunch on. Potipot island is also a nice but smaller island in Candelaria, below Hermana Menor Island. Cheers
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Atendido! You the man 🙂
Balaki island. There you go. I took several aerial pictures of it, a few weeks ago on another flight up the Zambales coastline. Really clear water all around, but mostly surrounded by coral.
On two successive flights there, I saw a couple of catamarans anchored offshore. Probably swimming platforms, away from the coral.
I’ll post pictures on a quick article here. Watch for them. Thanks for solving this mystery!
.
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Your welcome Tonet. I’m glad I could help. 🙂 I’m looking forward to seeing those other shots of Balaki Island !
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interesting airports
target dati ng mga nippons
i’m sure nasa oplans din ng mga chinese
nice shots
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interesting airports
target dati ng mga nippons
i’m sure nasa oplans din ng mga chinese
nice shots
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Like this place…Awesome view…
the view definitely rocks,,,….weeeeeh!!!
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Hi,
I enjoyed your blog thoroughly – stumbled upon it accidentally while researching Hermana mayour and menor. Interesting reading. Flying certainly sounds enjoyable. How expensive is it to pursue ass a hobby?
By the way, I do want to visit Hermana mayour and menor – and stay overnight. If someone can guide me on how to do this, that would be great.
I DID visit Potipot island (it is to the south – population 10 people – all caretakers of the island, no sari sari stores, no accommodation except for a few open cubo style houses) – among the best beaches I have been to between Hundred islands and Batangas (tracing the Luzon coastline) – white sand beaches… a la Boracay, sans the crowds, and with the no longer existing peace.
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Hi David! Thanks for your kind words Hermana Mayor is a private island, and visits are by invitation of the family that owns it. I had a chance to fly to the island with one of the family members. That article is here:
You can get a Private Pilot License for around PhP350-400,000. An airplane rental, say Cessna 152, is about PhP6,000 an hour.
Do you have pictures of Potipot? 🙂
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Sure – I’ll send you some. The rest are posted here – http://expattraveller.blogspot.com/
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I saw, I saw! Here’s a shorter route — FLY to Iba, and then take the bus 🙂 Now I’m looking at your Subic Bay cruise. LOL on the statutory warning 🙂
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Ha Ha! I definitely would like to try that out. Flying low above the Luzon coast … may be sometime…
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What are you doing on August 4-5? 🙂 August 11-12 also?
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Nothing much…. why?
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There’s a jewel of a Cessna 152 at Woodland that has been idle for far too long.
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Sure – Why not? But I hope you remember – I cannot fly an airplane (other than paper ones!)
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