![FlabobExpress](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/FlabobExpress.jpg)
Flabob Airport is a small public-use
airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
located in
Jurupa Valley
Jurupa Valley (Serrano people, Serrano: ''Hurumpa'') is a city in the northwest corner of Riverside County, California, Riverside County, California. It was the location of one of the earliest non-native settlements in the county, Rancho Jurupa. ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, in
Riverside County
Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Unit ...
, seven nautical miles (11 km) northwest of the
central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
of
Jurupa Valley, California
Jurupa Valley ( Serrano: ''Hurumpa'') is a city in the northwest corner of Riverside County, California. It was the location of one of the earliest non-native settlements in the county, Rancho Jurupa. The Rancho was initially an outpost of the ...
.
Location and history
The airport is located in the city of
Jurupa Valley
Jurupa Valley (Serrano people, Serrano: ''Hurumpa'') is a city in the northwest corner of Riverside County, California, Riverside County, California. It was the location of one of the earliest non-native settlements in the county, Rancho Jurupa. ...
beside the
Santa Ana River
The Santa Ana River is the largest river entirely within Southern California in the United States. It rises in the San Bernardino Mountains and flows for most of its length through San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, before cutting through ...
. Established in 1925 by Flavio Madariaga and Bob Bogan, the name of the airport was derived by combining the first three letters of their names.
Facilities
Flabob Airport has a "control tower" (the airport is a
non-towered airport
In aviation, a non-towered airport is an airport without a control tower, or air traffic control (ATC) unit. The vast majority of the world's airports are non-towered. In the United States, there are close to 20,000 non-towered airports compared ...
and exists in Class G airspace) and several permanent aircraft hangars. It covers an area of at an
elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...
of 764 feet (233 m) above
mean sea level
There are several kinds of mean in mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. ...
. It has one
runway
According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...
designated 6/24 with an
asphalt
Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...
surface measuring 3,200 by 50 feet (975 x 15 m).
Operations and based aircraft
![Aero Commdr AC500A Riverside Flabob 05](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Aero_Commdr_AC500A_Riverside_Flabob_05.01.08R.jpg)
For the 12-month period ending 31 December 2004, the airport had 40,000
general aviation
General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...
aircraft operations, an average of 109 per day. At that time there were 202 aircraft based at this airport, 94% single-
engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...
and 6% multi-engine.
Flabob airport is home to
Experimental Aircraft Association
The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is an international organization of aviation enthusiasts based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States. Since its inception, it has grown internationally with over 200,000 members and nearly 1,000 chapt ...
Chapter #1, launched by
Ray Stits
Raymond M. Stits (20 June 1921 - 8 June 2015) was an American inventor, homebuilt aircraft designer, aircraft mechanic and pilot. He designed the Stits SA-2A Sky Baby, which was the world's smallest aircraft in 1952, developed the Poly-Fiber ...
and since joined by over 1,000 more EAA chapters worldwide. The airport is also birthplace of the
Marquart MA-5 Charger
The Marquart MA-5 Charger is a homebuilt two place biplane.
Design and development
The MA-5 Charger was designed and developed by Ed Marquart with the first prototype being built and flown by Daniel W. Fielder Jr. at Flabob Airport. It is an a ...
airplane, and of the Polyfiber
aircraft fabric
Aircraft fabric covering is a term used for both the material used and the process of covering aircraft open structures. It is also used for reinforcing closed plywood structures. The de Havilland Mosquito is an example of this technique, as are ...
company founded by Ray Stits, who also created the popular
Stits Playboy
The Stits SA-3A Playboy (also called the Stitts SA-3A Playboy) is a single seat, strut-braced low-wing monoplane that was designed by Ray Stits for amateur construction. The aircraft was designed and the prototype was completed in a three-month p ...
homebuilt aircraft
Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...
at Flabob.
References
External links
Flabob.orgnbsp;— Flabob Airport
eaach1.orgnbsp;— EAA Chapter 1
Aerial photo as of 2 June 2002from
USGS
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...
''
The National Map
''The National Map'' is a collaborative effort of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and other federal, state, and local agencies to improve and deliver topographic information for the United States. The purpose of the effort is to prov ...
''
Airports in Riverside County, California
Jurupa Valley, California
Airports established in 1925
1925 establishments in California
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