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Volume 051-3 - July 1997 (6 pages)
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Page: of 6
The mine continued its gold flights with a Waco 5-passenger plane, powered by a single 350 hp engine. A two place
Taylorcraft was also on hand to train mine officials to fly.
In 1939 and 1940, the California Air National Guard
conducted training maneuvers at the site, using Douglas B18s which could best be described as the bomber version of
the famous DC-3. Various observation planes also were used.
Security was tight and MacBoyle’s airport could be accessed
only by special permission. The U.S. entry into World War II
in December 1941 brought about the closure of all gold
mines and related properties, and with a ban on all civilian
flying 150 miles from the coast, the airport fell into disuse.
Errol MacBoyle’s success benefited the community in
other ways. In 1939, he and Dr. Carl P. Jones founded the
Grass Valley Memorial Hospital Association. By transferring
a large portion of his stock from the mine into the project,
MacBoyle financed the building of a badly-needed community hospital. However, the war halted construction before it
could be completed.
MacBoyle suffered a stroke in 1943 and died in 1949. The
partially built hospital building remained vacant until 1953,
when it was purchased by Charles V. Litton, a pioneer in the
vacuum tube industry, founder of Litton Industries, and the
first to bring “high tech” to Nevada County. But the hospital
dream was not dead. Acting on behalf of the estate, Malcolm
Hammill carried out MacBoyle’s wishes by offering money
from the Litton sale, provided the community would raise a
like amount. The response was overwhelming and the Sierra
Nevada Memorial Hospital eventually was built on land
donated by the Idaho Maryland Company.
Charles Litton also played a pivotal role in redeveloping
the airport. After local attempts to restore the airport had
failed, Litton purchased 153 acres (including the airstrip) a
from MacBoyle’s estate in 1955. This coincided with a number of accidents at Gilmore field in Grass Valley that demonstrated the need for a safer and more extensive facility. Litton
offered the field for public use and began work on the
landing strip. During the dormant years (1941 to 1955) trees
and brush had grown up in the runway and considerable
erosion had occurred. After Litton had spent $10,000 of his
own money, local citizens approached him with offers of
assistance. The Grass Valley Chamber of Commerce and
businessman Downey Clinch solicited public and private
funding, while the city of Grass Valley, Nevada County Public Works Department, California Division of Forestry, and
others donated heavy equipment and operators. The field
opened as the Loma Rica Airport in 1956.
The local gold mines that managed to struggle back into
operation after the war did so at a marginal pace. The price of
gold fixed by the government at $35 dollars an ounce made
large-scale mining unprofitable, resulting in their final closure in 1956. Realizing the negative impact this would have
on the local economy, Charles Litton and John Looser
founded the Loma Rica Industrial Park corporation to stimulate industry and tourism in the area.
The corporation gave the airport and adjacent roads to
Nevada County’s board of supervisors in 1957, on the condition that the county meet specific criteria regarding future
development, public access and maintenance. At that time the
airport boasted a 3,900 foot lighted runway, full-time meThe Grumman F7F Tigercat was an early favorite of the air tanker pilots. (Illustration © Tim O’Brien.)
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