Nut Tree-Vacaville Airport, Vacaville, CA

Airport Location:  The Nut Tree Airport is located 2 miles north east of Vacaville, California;

Airport History:  Before it was an airport, the Nut Tree was a fruit stand.  The first permanent building was a restaurant opened in 1921.

 The Toy Shop and the Nut Tree Railroad opened in 1952. The railroad had a quarter-mile track running through the Nut Tree orchards and gardens. The Nut Tree Airport opened in 1955. A new Dining Room opened in 1958. In 1962 the U.S. Post Office designated the area Nut Tree, California. The Nut Tree Coffee Shop opened across interstate 80 in 1965. In 1970-71 a new bake shop and merchandise area opened. In 1970 the Nut Tree Airport was donated to Solano County

 
The famous black walnut tree that the Nut Tree was named after was planted in 1859 and died in 1952. "The Nut Tree is a large black walnut standing on the State Highway, near Vacaville, California.  It grew from a nut picked up on the Gila River, in Arizona, in 1859, by one of a party crossing the plains to California.  It was planted where it now stands, by Josiah Allison in 1859." 1 Back of Nut Tree souvenir plate produced by Vernon Kilns, USA.
The Nut Tree was closed from about 1996 until 2006 when the new Nut Tree opened.

Vacaville Airport Today:  Intensive flight training; Banner towing; Gyrocopters; Helicopter operations;



Airport Services & Amenities: Food and lodging within 1 mile; Taxis and Rental cars available;

Special Events and Attractions: Factory Stores; Power Plaza;

Airport Area Accident History: Accident occurred Saturday, January 19, 2008 in Vacaville, CA  Probable Cause Approval Date: 2/28/2008
Aircraft: Waltermire-Glastar, registration: N248DW
Injuries: 1 Minor, 1 Uninjured. The pilot took off with the intent of flying around the traffic pattern. The pilot's first two attempted landings terminated in go-arounds after the airplane experienced a series of bounces on the runway. On the third attempted landing, the pilot lost directional control. The airplane swerved off the runway and went into a ditch. The pilot's experience flying tail-wheel airplanes was 3 hours and he had not received a flight instructor's endorsement to act as pilot-in-command of tail-wheel equipped airplanes. The pilot said there were no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures. The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows: The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing and a lack of experience in conventional gear airplanes. ===
Accident occurred Wednesday, June 28, 2006 in Vacaville, CA  Probable Cause Approval Date: 10/3/2006
Aircraft: Cessna 170B, registration: N2924D
Injuries: 1 Minor, 3 Uninjured. The airplane veered off the side of the runway and ground looped. The pilot flew 2.7 hours from Watsonville to Little River for fuel, and then to Ukiah where he and his family ate dinner and spent the night. They departed Ukiah at 0800, and flew to Brookings, Oregon, for fuel. They then flew to North Bend where they refueled and added oil to the airplane, ate lunch, and shopped. At 1400, they departed North Bend, flew up the mouth of the Columbia River Gorge, and landed at Astoria, Oregon, for fuel and coffee. They departed Astoria and flew to Myrtle Creek, arriving there about 2015. The pilot's family exited the airplane, and he performed three full-stop solo landings for night currency. The family boarded and they proceeded to Crescent City, California, where the airplane was refueled. They departed Crescent City airport with full fuel and flew to the Nut Tree Airport, Vacaville, California. The Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) for Vacaville reported the winds to be calm, and the pilot landed on runway 20 without incident. The pilot refueled the airplane at idle power because he had experienced difficulty in starting the engine in Crescent City. He then taxied to runway 2 for takeoff. He raised the tail of the airplane at a lower airspeed than normal. The airplane yawed to the left and the pilot applied full right rudder. The airplane veered off the left side of the runway and bounced hard on a dirt berm. It spun around 180 degrees before coming to rest beside the runway. After exiting the airplane, the pilot noticed a steady 1- to 2-knot wind from 200 degrees. The pilot stated that the airplane and engine had no mechanical failures or malfunctions during the flight. The wind conditions at Vacaville, at 0353, were reported to be from 200 degrees at 5 knots. The pilot flew a total of 17.4 hours in 2 days with little sleep. On the day of the accident, the pilot had been awake about 21 hours and had flown 15 hours. The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:  the pilot's failure to maintain directional control. A contributing factor was pilot fatigue. ===
Accident occurred Friday, October 29, 2004 in Vacaville, CA  Probable Cause Approval Date: 1/24/2005
Aircraft: Piper PA-22-160, registration: N8158D
Injuries: 1 Uninjured.  The airplane veered off the runway during landing rollout and nosed over. The pilot reported that after touchdown he lost control and the airplane began to veer to the right. The airplane continued off the runway surface and encountered soft, muddy terrain. As the main landing gear entered the soft terrain, the airplane nosed over.  The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows: the pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the landing rollout. ===
Accident occurred Sunday, January 11, 2004 in Vacaville, CA  Probable Cause Approval Date: 7/7/2005
Aircraft: Cessna 140, registration: N77S
Injuries: 2 Serious. The airplane experienced a loss of power and collided with a tree during a forced landing. Earlier in the day the pilot had flown from Vacaville to Napa, and the accident flight leg was to return to Vacaville. Prior to departure, the pilot calculated that he had about 1 hour's worth of fuel on board the airplane to complete the short 15-minute trip and leave a 45-minute reserve. As the airplane approached the vicinity of the destination airport in dark night conditions, the pilot obtained the automated weather observation station (AWOS) report and discovered that the weather conditions were deteriorating at the destination airport. When he arrived over the airport he noted that a fog layer had engulfed the airport and surrounding terrain. While maneuvering, the pilot exhausted both fuel tanks and the engine subsequently quit. He established a gliding configuration, and the airplane descended into the fog about 700 feet above ground level (agl). The airplane collided with a small tree and then encountered a berm. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the airplane at the accident site and reported finding the left fuel tank empty; he drained 3 quarts of fuel from the right tank. The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows: the pilot's failure to either obtain a preflight weather report and forecast for the destination or to add additional fuel, which ultimately resulted in fuel exhaustion and collision with trees. ===
Accident occurred Friday, December 26, 2003 in Vacaville, CA  Probable Cause Approval Date: 4/28/2005
Aircraft: Cessna 172L, registration: N7668G
Injuries: 1 Fatal. The propeller contacted and fatally injured the pilot while he was attempting to start the engine by hand propping. The airplane was found tied down, and the left main wheel was chocked. The left door was open and the magneto switch was in the "Both" position.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows: the pilot's inadequate hand prop starting procedure. ===
Accident occurred Sunday, November 03, 2002 in Vacaville, CA  Probable Cause Approval Date: 10/28/2004
Aircraft: Lewis Barnett J4B, registration: N23152
Injuries: 1 Minor. The pilot experienced an in-flight loss of control during approach for landing, and the gyroplane impacted the ground during the uncontrolled descent. The pilot, who had built the experimental gyroplane, had been flying for 36 minutes when he entered the traffic pattern for landing. At 80 miles per hour, the gyroplane suddenly pitched upward. For remedial action, the pilot reduced engine power and the gyroplane started rotating in a clockwise direction. The pilot then reduced cyclic and applied engine power to lower the nose and arrest the spin. This technique did not work. The nose would not drop, and the added engine power increased the spin rate. As the gyroplane neared ground level the pilot applied full engine power to decrease the descent rate and to obtain forward motion; however, the gyroplane touched down hard. The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:  An in-flight loss of control for undetermined reasons. ===
Accident occurred Saturday, March 30, 2002 in Vacaville, CA  Probable Cause Approval Date: 11/25/2003
Aircraft: Piper PA-22-160, registration: N8158D
Injuries: 1 Uninjured.  The airplane nosed over after veering off the runway during landing. The pilot said the airplane is a conversion to the PA-22/20 conventional landing gear arrangement. He had just picked up the airplane after having it in the shop for the last couple of months for repair. He was landing on runway 20 with winds he described as from 100 degrees at 6 knots. After touchdown, he experienced directional control problems with the airplane first veering left and then right, and finally departing off the right side of the runway. The airplane was traveling at a slow speed and he applied both brakes to stop. The airplane then nosed over very slowly, damaging the vertical stabilizer. He stated there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane. The pilot reported that his total time was 140 hours, with about 60 in the accident aircraft. Prior to departing from Medford, he obtained some dual instruction to review landing techniques in conventional gear airplanes. The official Vacaville aviation METAR at both 1453 and 1553 was reporting variable wind conditions at 3 to 4 knots. The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows: The pilot's failure to maintain directional control. ===
Accident occurred Sunday, March 12, 2000 in VACAVILLE, CA  Probable Cause Approval Date: 7/17/2001  Aircraft: Bell 47G, registration: N9763Z
Injuries: 1 Minor.  The pilot was flying low while applying chemicals to a field. He completed spraying approximately half of the field, when he collided with wires that he did not see. He extricated himself from the helicopter, which subsequently caught fire.  The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:  Failure of the pilot to see wires and maintain clearance while flying at a low altitude.

Airport Approach / Landing: