Santa Monica doesn't want airport, but wants pilots

TazzyTazzy

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Mitch
So, the airport in my backyard, Mather which was used to be an AFB, but stopped being an AFB well before I moved in. Reviewing an application that plans to develop almost 10 acres of land at the property to create a flight training school for EVA airlines.

I thought it was funny that the person submitting all the paperwork to get this done...is from Santa Monica!!

http://www.planningdocuments.saccounty.net/

Under Application No., enter PLNP2013-00210 .

So, now I have a bunch of crazy pilots wanting to learn while fling over my house. Fun.

I wonder if I can somehow get them to piggy back building t-hangers for GA. There are NONE, while the nearest airport within the same system of management, has a 3+ year waiting list. Mather has TONS and TONS of acres of already paved, but unused apron.

Going rate at Mather of shared hanger is $500/month and has a short wait list.
 
So, the airport in my backyard, Mather which was used to be an AFB, but stopped being an AFB well before I moved in. Reviewing an application that plans to develop almost 10 acres of land at the property to create a flight training school for EVA airlines.

I thought it was funny that the person submitting all the paperwork to get this done...is from Santa Monica!!

http://www.planningdocuments.saccounty.net/

Under Application No., enter PLNP2013-00210 .

So, now I have a bunch of crazy pilots wanting to learn while fling over my house. Fun.

I wonder if I can somehow get them to piggy back building t-hangers for GA. There are NONE, while the nearest airport within the same system of management, has a 3+ year waiting list. Mather has TONS and TONS of acres of already paved, but unused apron.

Going rate at Mather of shared hanger is $500/month and has a short wait list.

Yeah, I kept my plane tied down at McClellan for a few months before the weather turned bad. Same story. There's even great big hangers with one end open that were empty and would have made nice cheap shelter. Lots and lots of talk but no action.
 
So, now I have a bunch of crazy pilots wanting to learn while fling over my house. Fun.

I always find it odd when Pilots make this sort of complaint, either about noise of airplanes, training activity, or other things about aviation.
 
I'd like to live closer to where I keep my plane. Running down the interstate to fly, change the oil, or just clean and wax gets old.

Count your blessings, my man.
 
I always find it odd when Pilots make this sort of complaint, either about noise of airplanes, training activity, or other things about aviation.

Naw. Not complaining. Downwind is usually on far side from me anyways.

My real rant is mis-mgmt of the airport system in Sac. Empty hangers, no t-hangars, lots of empty apron...acres of it.

I was saying, I wish we tag on approval of this pending that they build GA hangars.
 
Anecdotally, I flew in to Mather and left my plane there for the weekend during the Capitol Airshow a few years ago. I stocked it with a couple ice chests filled with beer. Did I really save any money over just buying beer at seven bucks a pop? Probably not, but I wasn't affected by closing time either.
 
Why should every Santa Monica resident be against the airport?

Santa Monica is not a single person. It's a few hundred thousand of them. With a wide variety of opinions.

Now, if the city council were opening a flight training academy across the state, you might have a point. But an individual or corporation with a Santa Monica address? Don't be silly. That sort of thing happens all the time, and there is nothing ironic or amusing or slightly surprising about it.

A flight training academy is a business and should site its facilities where it makes the most sense. A dense, complex urban environment wedged between a busy Class C and a world-class-busy Class B is a really bad place to train newbies, even if the local government is welcoming. The airspace in Sacramento is moderate; I'd expect them to place them further south, like the academy at Castle (which has no close-in airspace issues, and lots of good VFR weather).
 
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Why should every Santa Monica resident be against the airport?

Aren't they all plastic and come from the same cookie cutter? LOL J/K Seriously...I'm just joking...mostly.

My friend who works in aviation said that the Sacramento area airport system is the most mis-managed airport system he knows.

<rant>
Here's an example. They re-did the terminal and added a little tram thingy that goes about 150-200 feet. It's a waste of money. They then turn around, and raise ramp fees in the 100's of %. I heard United almost pulled out of Sacramento due to the increase fees. In the end, use passengers have to pay for it all.

<more rant>
But, back to my point. Need more T-Hangers at Mather. Actually, not more. We just need any. There's tons of acres of paved apron that goes unused.

Our other choice is McCellan Park (KMCC) which used to be an AFB as well, however, it doesn't fall under the purview of the Sacramento airpot system, and thus has hangers for cheap. However, this increases my drive from 5 minutes (7 with traffic) to Mather, or 25-30 minutes (40 with traffic) to KSAC, or about 40 minutes (50-60 with traffic) to KMCC. :mad2:
</more rant>
</rant>
 
My home airport, single runway, has 12 hangers on one side, 150 empty acres on the other side and the city refuses to develope the empty side. This has caused a few businesses, (read jobs) to go somewhere else.

I keep telling the airport manager and the city attorney and whoever the mayor will be next month that a dying airport means a dying city.
 
I think, increasingly, the job of airport manager is akin to someone who is tasked with guarding an unhousebroken dog.

Basically a city has this "asset" that piddles on the populace in the form of noise complaints and perceived nuisance (omg lead poisoning, omg crashes, omg terrorissss), and the airport manager's job is to make sure it doesn't spread any further (no expansion, no growth, kill off the businesses) and sort of just wait it out and hope it goes away on its own. As a bonus, here is some grant money to build a prison-grade fence, make the pilots jump through hoops to even get onto the airport, and make damn sure nobody who isn't a pilot can come check it out. Every airport mod around here has had a "GO AWAY" vibe to it.

I think it's a good strategy actually. These airports are drying up on their own for lack of care and feeding, lack of interest, and perceived nuisance/danger.

I don't think the "no airport, no city" threat is credible, sadly.
 
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