Additional Information
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- Category: Fab Feb 2017
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Fab Feb Information
Accommodation
There are 2 motels at the Lost Hills I-5 exit. They are Motel 6 and Days Inn. Typically these fill up during the Fab Feb times. The nearest towns with accommodation to Lost Hills are Wasco and Delano to the East and Buttonwillow to the south. The I-5 is the main highway from both the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas
People camp on the field there are toilet facilities but not washing. There are showers at the Truck stop and campground in Lost Hills.
Quite a number of local people camp at the field in Motor Hones, Trailers, Caravans, camper, 5th Wheels and all kind of RVs. Some international visitors rent RVs for the contest. Because Fab Feb is in the off-season RV rental is cheap and close to the price of rental car with a motel.
If you have not booked your accommodation you should do so.
On Field Transportation
From time to time people have asked us for help in renting a motor cycle. We have not been able to find a suitable source. If a reader has a suggestion or motor cycles to rent let us know! Some visitors borrow a bike from a local flying friend.
The safest on field transportation is renting a golf cart. They can be rented from
All Carts
1636 S Union Avenue
Bakersfield
CA 93307-4146
Phone: (661) 836-9800
All Carts do not have a web site so you must phone them. They offer a number of choices with 2 or 4 seats. One of the most popular looks like a little truck with 2 seats and a flat truck bed that is ideal for carrying our equipment. They will deliver the cart to the field. They know about our site and what we do. You could easily share with another sportsman.
Some of the more athletic have bought a low priced bicycle from a place like Wal-Mart in Wasco.
Food
Our plan is to have a food truck on the field most flying days where you can buy lunch.
You can buy food for lunch at some of the convenience stores at Lost Hills, in particular the markets in the town of Lost Hills rather than at the Freeway or a super market in Wasco.
There are a number fast and semi-fast food restaurants at the Lost Hills Freeway exit and Gabby’s Restaurant in the town of Lost Hills. There are other restaurants in Wasco, Buttonwillow, Bakersfield, Coalinga and Delano.
We are planning to have a special evening at Gabby’s on the Thursday night when they will stay open later. It is possible that we will have a guest speaker for this event.
For those looking for extra entertainment and competitive challenges you can take part in the order-your-meal-all-in-one-request-without-the waitress-having-to-come-back-to-you at Denny’s. I give you fair warning that this competition was devised by Chris Edge and Mike Fantham and Chris aka EoB will be there to explain the finer points of the rules. (For those who have not dined at Denny’s in the USA, the land of the multiple choice, you will understand once you have been there)
Weather
We will not make the mistake of predicting the weather. It is possible for the temperature to drop to freezing at night but this is quite rare. It is also possible to be very sunny to the point where you might need sun block. California is in a 5+ year drought so there is only limited vegetation on the field.
Trees
We have a good working relationship with our faming neighbors at Lost Hills and it is essential that we maintain that. We can go into the trees to retrieve our models but cannot drive between the trees or over the irrigation equipment. The contest organizer has poles to help you get a model out of the trees, you can borrow these. You will be given very detailed instructions about this when you arrive at the field. Failure to follow these instructions is an immediate RED CARD (to use a common sporting term) and exclusion from the contests.
To avoid the trees it is likely that if there is even a hint of a northerly wind the flight line will be moved to the road about 2 km north of the camping area.