Charles M. Schulz - Sonoma County Airport
Encyclopedia
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
located 6 nautical miles (11 km) northwest of downtown Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa, California
Santa Rosa is the county seat of Sonoma County, California, United States. The 2010 census reported a population of 167,815. Santa Rosa is the largest city in California's Wine Country and fifth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont and 26th...
, a city in Sonoma County, California
Sonoma County, California
Sonoma County, located on the northern coast of the U.S. state of California, is the largest and northernmost of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. Its population at the 2010 census was 483,878. Its largest city and county seat is Santa Rosa....
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It serves the county and surrounding areas of Wine Country in California.
The airport is named after Charles M. Schulz
Charles M. Schulz
Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz was an American cartoonist, whose comic strip Peanuts proved one of the most popular and influential in the history of the medium, and is still widely reprinted on a daily basis.-Early life and education:Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Schulz grew up in Saint Paul...
, the famed cartoonist of the Peanuts comic strip, who lived and worked in Santa Rosa for more than 30 years. The airport's logo features Snoopy
Snoopy
Snoopy is an fictional character in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. He is Charlie Brown's pet beagle. Snoopy began his life in the strip as a fairly conventional dog, but eventually evolved into perhaps the strip's most dynamic character—and among the most recognizable...
in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
flying ace
Flying ace
A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...
attire, taking to the skies atop his imaginary Sopwith Camel
Sopwith Camel
The Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company, it had a short-coupled fuselage, heavy, powerful rotary engine, and concentrated fire from twin synchronized machine guns. Though difficult...
, that is to say, his doghouse.
History
Southwest AirwaysPacific Air Lines
Pacific Air Lines was a regional airline serving the West Coast of the United States that began operations in the 1940s under the name Southwest Airways...
and its successors stopped at Santa Rosa from the late 1940s until about 1974, and various commuter airlines flew to San Francisco or San Jose until 2001. About 1985 Westates flew nonstop CV580s to LAX for a few months; in 1989 Westair (United's commuter affiliate) started BAe 146
BAe 146
The British Aerospace 146 is a medium-sized commercial airliner formerly manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2002. Manufacture of an improved version known as the Avro RJ began in 1992...
nonstops to LAX, four flights each weekday, later replaced by EMB-120s before being dropped in 1991.
In March 2007 Horizon Air
Horizon Air
Horizon Air Industries, Inc. is a regional low-cost airline based in SeaTac, Washington, United States. It is the eighth largest regional airline in the USA, serving 52 cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico....
returned commercial aviation service to Santa Rosa with flights to Seattle/Tacoma
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
The Seattle–Tacoma International Airport , also known as Sea–Tac Airport or Sea–Tac , is an American airport located in SeaTac, Washington, at the intersections of State Routes 99 and 509 and 518, about west of Interstate 5...
and Los Angeles
Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving the Greater Los Angeles Area, the second-most populated metropolitan area in the United States. It is most often referred to by its IATA airport code LAX, with the letters pronounced individually...
. Horizon added service to Portland, Oregon
Portland International Airport
Portland International Airport is a joint civil-military airport and the largest airport in the U.S. state of Oregon, accounting for 90% of passenger travel and more than 95% of air cargo of the state. It is located within Portland's city limits just south of the Columbia River in Multnomah...
, in the fall of 2007, and to Las Vegas
McCarran International Airport
McCarran International Airport is the principal commercial airport serving Las Vegas and Clark County, Nevada, United States. The airport is located five miles south of the central business district of Las Vegas, in the unincorporated area of Paradise in Clark County. It covers an area of and...
in spring 2008. The additional routes brought new hope that other airlines will start flying into Sonoma County.
Pacific Coast Air Museum
The Pacific Coast Air MuseumPacific Coast Air Museum
The Pacific Coast Air Museum, in Santa Rosa, California, is dedicated to promoting and preserving aviation history through the acquisition, restoration, and display of historic aircraft. Founded in 1989, the museum is a non-profit organization, located about 8.5 miles northwest of downtown Santa...
is located on the southeast corner of the airport, next to the airplane hangar used in the 1963 Hollywood all-star comedy movie, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is a 1963 American comedy film produced and directed by Stanley Kramer about the madcap pursuit of $350,000 in stolen cash by a diverse and colorful group of strangers...
. Known as the Butler Building, the hangar was built during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and is still in use today.
Facilities and aircraft
Charles M. Schulz – Sonoma County Airport covers an area of 1014 acres (410.4 ha) at an elevationElevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....
of 125 feet (38 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt
Asphalt
Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...
paved runway
Runway
According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...
s: 1/19 is 5,002 by 100 feet (1,525 x 30 m) and 14/32 measures 5,115 by 150 feet (1,559 x 46 m).
For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2007, the airport had 128,875 aircraft operations, an average of 353 per day: 95% general aviation
General aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
, 4% air taxi
Air taxi
An air taxi is an air charter passenger or cargo aircraft which operates on an on-demand basis.-Regulation:In the United States, air taxi and air charter operations are governed by Part 135 of the Federal Aviation Regulations , unlike the larger scheduled air carriers which are governed by more...
, 1% scheduled commercial
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
and <1% military
Military aviation
Military aviation is the use of aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling warfare, including national airlift capacity to provide logistical supply to forces stationed in a theater or along a front. Air power includes the national means of conducting such...
. At that time there were 350 aircraft based at this airport: 86% single-engine
Aircraft engine
An aircraft engine is the component of the propulsion system for an aircraft that generates mechanical power. Aircraft engines are almost always either lightweight piston engines or gas turbines...
, 11% multi-engine, 2% jet
Jet aircraft
A jet aircraft is an aircraft propelled by jet engines. Jet aircraft generally fly much faster than propeller-powered aircraft and at higher altitudes – as high as . At these altitudes, jet engines achieve maximum efficiency over long distances. The engines in propeller-powered aircraft...
, 1% glider
Glider aircraft
Glider aircraft are heavier-than-air craft that are supported in flight by the dynamic reaction of the air against their lifting surfaces, and whose free flight does not depend on an engine. Mostly these types of aircraft are intended for routine operation without engines, though engine failure can...
and <1% helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
.
CAL FIRE Sonoma Air Attack base
The Sonoma Air Attack Base was established in 1964 and is located at the northeast corner of the Sonoma County Airport. Sonoma responds to an average of 300 calls per year. Staff at the base consists of one battalion chief and one fire captain (Air Tactics Group Supervisors), one fire apparatus engineer (Base Manager), and six firefighters. The complement of aircraft located at Sonoma includes one OV-10 BroncoOV-10 Bronco
The North American Aviation Rockwell OV-10 Bronco is a turboprop light attack and observation aircraft. It was developed in the 1960s as a special aircraft for counter-insurgency combat, and one of its primary missions was as a forward air control aircraft...
(Air Attack 140) and two Grumman S-2 Tracker air tankers (classified as S-2T's, Tankers 85 and 86.)
On average, the base pumps about 300000 gallons (1,135.6 m³) of retardant a year. With the base’s pumps, four loading pits and equipment, Sonoma has a possible peak output of 120000 gallons (454.2 m³) of retardant each day. The base’s immediate response area covers 4000 square miles (10,360 km²) and includes Marin County and portions of the CDF Sonoma-Lake-Napa, Santa Clara, San Mateo-Santa Cruz, and Mendocino Units.
Airlines and destinations
World War II
Opened in June 1942 and known as Santa Rosa Army Air Field, the airfield was assigned to Fourth Air ForceFourth Air Force
The Fourth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Reserve . It is headquartered at March Air Reserve Base, California....
as a group and replacement training airfield. Known units assigned to Santa Rosa were:
- 354th Fighter Group, March–June 1943
- 357th Fighter Group357th Fighter GroupThe 357th Fighter Group was an air combat unit of the United States Army Air Forces during the Second World War. The 357th operated P-51 Mustang aircraft as part of the U.S. Eighth Air Force and its members were known unofficially as "The Yoxford Boys" after a village near their base...
, June–August 1943 - 363d Fighter Group, August–October 1943
- 367th Fighter Group367th Fighter GroupThe 367th Fighter Group is an inactive United States Army Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with XII Tactical Air Command stationed at Seymour Johnson Field , North Carolina...
, October–December 1943
The 478th Fighter Group was permanently assigned to Santa Rosa in December 1943 and began training replacement pilots, who were sent to combat units overseas after graduation.
The airfield was inactivated on 31 January 1946 and turned over to the War Assets Administration for eventual conversion to a civil airport.
See also
- California World War II Army AirfieldsCalifornia World War II Army AirfieldsDuring World War II, the United States Army Air Forces established numerous airfields in California for training pilots and aircrews of USAAF fighters and bombers.-Overview:...