On a recent trip to southern California, a friend and I took biplane rides from a company called Barnstorming Adventures (see link to their website below). They fly out of Montgomery Field, which is in the northern suburbs of San Diego. The flights were in vintage biplanes that dated to the 1920's. They began life as Travel Air 2000's, fitted with inline engines. They have since been fitted with more reliable radial engines, and as such would be considered to be Travel Air 4000's. They are painted in the original factory color scheme of navy blue and orange.

I have tried to map the course of my own flight with the "map this" feature. The two planes flew close together part of the time, and separately part of the time. It was great fun, and I highly recommend this to any of you planning a visit to the area. Check the company out at:

http://www.barnstorming.com/index.html

The company offers a wide range of flights, not just in biplanes, but also in an SNJ-4 'Texan' (a WWII advanced trainer) and in Varga VG-21s (for simulated aerial combat).
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arctangent > The beginning of our adventure in concurrent flights in Travel Air 2000's.
arctangent > Preparing the passenger cockpit for passenger control in-flight.
arctangent > Checking the passenger controls.
arctangent > She's a beauty, on the ground and in the air. A Travel Air, built in the 1920's as a model 2000, and much later refitted with a radial engine, making it effectively a model 4000. It is painted in the original factory navy and orange color scheme. For more on this particular plane, and it's companion Travel Air 2000 / 4000, see the following link: http://www.barnstorming.com/documents/44.html
arctangent > Sign in the passenger cockpit of a Travel Air 2000 operated by Barnstorming Adventures, San Diego, CA. My flight was actually very smooth...no air sickness whatsoever.
arctangent > Ready to taxi for take off.
arctangent > Looking approximately southwest toward Mission Bay and the Pacific Ocean beyond, just after takeoff. The green area near the center, with the playing fields, is Mt. Acadia Park. I've chosen that as the map point for this picture.
arctangent > Heading out toward the ocean, whose horizon is lost in the haze.
arctangent > Out over the hills, on the way to the ocean.
Preparing the passenger cockpit for passenger control in-flight.
> Preparing the passenger cockpit for passenger control in-flight.
Preparing the passenger cockpit for passenger control in-flight.
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