| Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 USGS Photo | |||
| IATA: STS – ICAO: KSTS – FAA LID: STS
STS
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| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Owner/Operator | Sonoma County DOT | ||
| Location | Sonoma County, near Santa Rosa, California | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 125 ft / 38 m | ||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 1/19 | 5,002 | 1,525 | Asphalt |
| 14/32 | 5,115 | 1,559 | Asphalt |
| Statistics (2007) | |||
| Aircraft operations | 128,875 | ||
| Based aircraft | 350 | ||
| Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1] | |||
Charles M. Schulz – Sonoma County Airport (IATA: STS, ICAO: KSTS, FAA LID: STS) is a county-owned public-use airport located 6 nautical miles (11 km) northwest of downtown Santa Rosa, a city in Sonoma County, California, United States.[1][2] It serves the county and surrounding areas of California's Wine Country.
The airport is named after Charles M. Schulz, 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 in World War I flying ace attire, taking to the skies atop his imaginary Sopwith Camel, that is to say, his doghouse.
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Charles M. Schulz – Sonoma County Airport covers an area of 1,014 acres (410 ha) at an elevation of 125 feet (38 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt paved runways: 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).[1]
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, 4% air taxi, 1% scheduled commercial and <1% military. At that time there were 350 aircraft based at this airport: 86% single-engine, 11% multi-engine, 2% jet, 1% glider and <1% helicopter.[1]
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Alaska Airlines | Las Vegas Los Angeles Portland, OR Seattle/Tacoma |
Through the 1930s, Santa Rosa had a small municipal airfield owned by Richfield Oil Corporation adjacent to the old Redwood Highway, approximately 4 miles southeast of the present airport. Use of the 3,000-foot sod runway at the earlier airfield was discontinued during World War II as facilities at the present airport improved.[3]
Opened in June 1942 and known as Santa Rosa Army Air Field, the airfield was assigned to Fourth Air Force as a group and replacement training airfield. Known units assigned to Santa Rosa were:
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.
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 nonstops to LAX, four flights each weekday, later replaced by EMB-120s before being dropped in 1991.
United Express had daily flights out of STS to Los Angeles and San Francisco from 1986 to 2001.[4]
In March 2007 Horizon Air (a subsidiary of Alaska Airlines) returned commercial aviation service to Santa Rosa with flights to Seattle/Tacoma and Los Angeles. Horizon added service to Portland, Oregon in late 2007, and to Las Vegas in early 2008.
Alaska retired its Horizon brand in early 2011,[5] and all flights now use the Alaska Airlines name.
The Sonoma Air Attack Base of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (known as CDF or CAL FIRE) was established in 1964 and is located at the northeast corner of the 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 Bronco (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 300,000 US gallons (1,000 m3) of retardant a year. With the base’s pumps, four loading pits and equipment, Sonoma has a possible peak output of 120,000 US gallons (450 m3) of retardant each day. The base’s immediate response area covers 4,000 square miles (10,000 km2) and includes Marin County and portions of the CDF Sonoma-Lake-Napa, Santa Clara, San Mateo-Santa Cruz, and Mendocino Units.
The Pacific Coast Air Museum 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. Known as the Butler Building, the hangar was built during World War II, and is still in use today.
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
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