Redlands Municipal Airport is two miles (3.2 km) northeast of downtown Redlands, serving

San Bernardino County San Bernardino County (), officially the County of San Bernardino, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 2,181, ...

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. This

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 ...

airport covers and has one runway.

History

The Redlands area witnessed some of the nation's earliest general aviation activity. The first recorded air meet held in the Redlands area (sponsored by the

University of Redlands The University of Redlands is a private university headquartered in Redlands, California. The university's main, residential campus is situated on 160 acres (65 ha) near downtown Redlands. An additional eight regional locations throughout Califo ...

) was in 1911. In 1916, Beryl Williams founded the Redlands Aircraft Company in the town. He is remembered for painting his biplane in light blue paint, hoping to render it invisible from the ground. In 1947 Robert Kanaga and Austin Welch built the Redlands Flying Inn Airport (including a runway, a maintenance shop, and a hangar), which marked the first official airport for the city. Kanaga was called for military duty during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, and the duo offered to sell the airport to the city. The sale was not concluded, since the city did not have the necessary funds available, so the property was purchased by the Southern California Turkey Growers Association; who used the property as a turkey and chicken ranch. In the late 1950s, Roy Haskins and Alexander Theos purchased the turkey ranch, and began to refurbish the buildings to restore it as an aviation facility. In 1962, with the help of a $20,000 loan from Lockheed, the city purchased land to expand the airport site and make the airport a municipal facility. Several airport improvement projects followed to extend and widen the runway, install lights, erect a beacon, and install perimeter fencing. The beacon and the adjacent hangar (now operated by Blue Raven Aviation) is a prominent landmark for Redlands airport. The beacon and its tower were surplus FAA equipment donated to the city of Redlands in 1966. The beacon was originally installed on

Box Springs Mountain Box Springs Mountain is the highest peak in the Box Springs Mountains range, standing tall. The mountain is in northwestern Riverside County, Southern California. Geography The mountain is east of downtown Riverside, and northwest of Moreno Va ...

near March Air Force Base. The tower was initially installed as part of the US Airway Beacon system and was originally located approximately southwest of Beaumont. The US Airway Beacon system used lights and later radio beams to guide pilots navigating cross-country.

Current use

The airport has a fixed-base operator with a fueling station, flight training schools, and various aircraft repair and refurbishing establishments. Redlands is also home to EAA Chapter 845, an active chapter. The Redlands Airport Association, formed in June 2014, is dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Redlands Airport.

Airline service

In the 1970s two airlines flew to Redlands from Los Angeles:

Hughes Airwest Hughes Airwest was a regional airline in the western United States, backed by Howard Hughes' Summa Corporation. Its original name in 1968 was Air West and the air carrier was owned by Nick Bez. Hughes Airwest flew routes in the w ...

Fairchild F-27 The Fairchild F-27 and Fairchild Hiller FH-227 were versions of the Fokker F27 Friendship twin-engined turboprop passenger aircraft manufactured under license by Fairchild Hiller in the United States. The Fairchild F-27 was similar to the standa ...

s and

Golden West Airlines Golden West Airlines was a commuter airline that operated flights on a high volume schedule in California. It ceased operations in 1983. History The original Golden West Airlines, headquartered at Van Nuys, California, was founded in 1968 a ...

de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restarted ...

References

External links

{{IE Mass Transit Buildings and structures in Redlands, California Airports in San Bernardino County, California