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Volume 051-3 - July 1997 (6 pages)
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Page: of 6
A four-e
chanics and radio facilities. The Loma Rica company then
laid plans for an ambitious industrial park, including 18
prepared construction sites with airplane access. A colorful
booklet bearing endorsements from city and county officials
was distributed, but sales were slow. Charles Litton’s dream
proved to be an idea ahead of its time and another 15 years
would pass before the industrial park would begin to realize
its potential.
A second important reason for rebuilding the airport was
to offer the state and federal government a suitable facility
for basing fire-fighting planes and a fire-retardant mixing
plant. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service,
and California Division of Forestry (CDF) now realized the
effectiveness of fighting fires by air, and together were eager
to contract with private companies that could provide planes
and pilots.
The first air tankers to arrive in 1957 were N3N Biplanes
owned by Willows Flying Service. These were converted
crop dusters that had been used originally as Navy trainers in
WWII. With their limited 150 gallon retardant capacity, the
N3Ns proved inadequate for fighting larger fires. Enter Bob
Stevenson and his Cal-Nat Airways, who from 1958 to 1968
leased the main hanger and surrounding grounds from the
county and acted as base operator and airport manager. At the
same time, the Forest Service and CDF purchased land, and
with limited financing built the first retardant mixing and
reloading facility in California. Stevenson then assembled an
impressive fleet of WWII bombers, beginning with the
Grumman TBM Avenger, a large single-engine torpedo plane
which he fitted with a 600-gallon tank. Other types included
the Beechcraft 18s, Grumman F7F3 Tigercats, and a one-ofa-kind Northrop Black Widow, with 400, 800 and 1,800
gallon capacities respectively.
Even larger planes arrived in the early 1960s, and these
brought about the need for further airport improvements.
During 1965, the Empire Reservoir located on the eastern
approach of the runway was covered over, and a new Loma
Rica dam was constructed to serve the needs of the local
ngine Boeing B-17 air tanker takes off from the airport in 1973. (Union photo by John Hart.)
water district. This allowed the runway to be extended to
4,200 feet, large enough to accommodate almost any type of
aircraft, including a twin-engine PBY and a 4-engine Boeing
B-17, which had been added to Cal-Nat’s tanker fleet. Other
improvements included new runway lights, a parallel taxiway, and a beacon.
The Forest Service/CDF Air Attack Base also was modernized, with reloading facilities capable of turning air tankers around in about 90 seconds—a far cry from the original
operation in which the pilots could be seen in the early
morning hand-mixing the very retardant they would risk their
lives delivering in the afternoon. The pilots were now free to
concentrate on other activities between fires, or in the case of
veteran flyer Ralph Ponte, restore old airplanes at his hangar
next to the base. When single-engine air tankers were banned
from fighting fires in California, scores of TBM Avengers
became available on the open market. Ralph acquired and
meticulously restored no less than six of them, which along
with many of his other projects are now prized possessions of
museums across the U.S. and Europe.
Bob Stevenson sold Cal-Nat Airways to Sis Q Flying
Service of Santa Rosa in 1968. Sis Q, along with other
companies, continued flying WWII vintage tankers until the
mid-1970s, at which time the Grumman §2 Trackers in use
today became available, having been surplused in large numbers by the U.S. Navy. The CDF then consolidated all S2
operations in the state, and along with the U.S. Forest Service
continues to enhance efficiency and utilization of all firefighting resources. Future plans call for the S2s to be fitted
with turbine engines, which will reduce response time while
adding pilot safety to one of the most hazardous professions
in the world of aviation.
The ongoing airport improvements further stimulated
growth in general aviation. The banner year 1968 saw completion of the first pilot’s lounge, additional tiedown spaces,
T-hangers, improved aircraft fueling and maintenance facilities, a formal ground school with flight instruction, and in
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