Reid Hillview Airport San Jose in the news.....

Soloed at RHV, 1986.

But why is the Santa Cruz paper reporting on RHV?
 
Soloed there in 1988, got my ticket in 89. They've been after that airport for a very long time. It was on its last legs in 88 when I started according to the local news. The mall at the approach ends of 31 L and R was supposed to have killed it prior to that but it soldiered on. It always reminds me of the gun control advocates......lots of rhetoric, lots of innuendo, lots of accusations, lots of negatives, no real reasons to shut it down other than those they don't want to print like city counselors looking for cash from developers.
Hope they'll keep it running. GA at SJ intl isn't very welcome.

Frank
 
Board voted to close after 2031. Stated try to consolidate with San Martin.
 
Another one bites the dust. It is sad to loose an airport. Not much chance of fixing it up now with the pending closure. San Martin needs a lot of work to make it a real option. Not to mention the distance back to San Jose.
 
Very bad news. RHV was there decades before the mall and all the development. The city knew exactly what they were doing in allowing the mall to be built there. It just took longer to close the airport than they expected.

This is going to hurt a lot of people. There are a lot of aircraft based there that aren’t welcome at SJC, plus a couple busy flight schools. Moving to South County is impractical for most, what with the distance and how long it will take in afternoon traffic.
 
That is a big loss. It is the airport I have always used for San Jose. 2031 isn’t that far out.
 
This hobby is increasingly not a metropolitan friendly lifestyle. Plan accordingly.
 
I couldn't read the article because the page would not let me use my ad blocker and wanted money to subscribe.
I started my aviation career flying at RHV and spent four years and almost 3000 hours instructing and enjoying the low cost of renting planes and being part of a great group of pilots who were my friends and competition...
 
ateamer said:
Very bad news. RHV was there decades before the mall and all the development. The city knew exactly what they were doing in allowing the mall to be built there. It just took longer to close the airport than they expected.

This is going to hurt a lot of people. There are a lot of aircraft based there that aren’t welcome at SJC, plus a couple busy flight schools. Moving to South County is impractical for most, what with the distance and how long it will take in afternoon traffic.
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Rather them tear down that damn mall...
 
I disabled my ad blocker and it wasn't worth reading after all...
Just a bunch of drivel about local residents concerned about lead contamination.
Knowing that side of town very well, I would say they need to worry more about the thousands of pounds of lead exiting the barrels of the guns carried by all the "local residents."
There is already a failed water park and sports fields built there for the non-existent kiddos and homeless squatters.
The city council are simply airport haters and are looking for a way to sell the location to their pool of insider developers and cash in.
Just another reason I am glad I escaped Kalifornistan 40 years ago...
 
The county board of supervisors voted to stop accepting federal grant money for the airport, which removes an obstacle to closure beginning in 2031. It would be nice if we could elect some more aviation-friendly supervisors before then.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/12...MWBgp5s0FOli1k0Mh1N8XROW_fG48WloPc_n0uFofKOaA

Meanwhile, I guess that the supervisors are unaware of the fact that the land reverts to the Reid family if it ceases to be an airport. From the AOPA board:

"I was at the County Sup meetings back when Zoe Lofgren was trying to close Reid. A former county clerk presented / read to the Sups the agreement that the county signed with the Reid family when they aquited the land originally. It clearly stated that if they ever close the airport the land goes back to the Reid family. Again, I'm not repeating something I heard from somebody who heard it from somebody. She read the actual docs. This lady was very old, probably not alive today but she shut down Zoe hard. A few years later I mentioned this to a Reid family member and he smiled. It's not lost on them."
​
https://forums.aopa.org/showpost.php?p=1970778&postcount=18 (Requires membership to read.)

There's also this, from the same poster:

"Richard at that same meeting the County Sups we’re briefed by the City that they had entered into an agreement with American Airlines. The agreement was that the runways would get extended at SJC so that American could takeoff for Intl. flights with full fuel loads, and that American would commit to San Jose long term. Part of the agreement was that the relief airports had to remain open to keep GA from being in the way at SJC. At the meeting the County Sups were informed that San Jose was in contract with American that if a Reid closed that they would claim eminent domain and operate it themselves."
​
https://forums.aopa.org/showpost.php?p=1970786&postcount=18
 
Newsflash, residents don’t have the power, money, influence and attention of any city council member to do something like this. Constituents don’t matter to them, the people who get them elected and donate to them do. Developers, unions etc.

Follow the money. Reid family will make millions. Developers will make hundreds of millions. Elected officials get big contributions and will put money on their pocket as well.
 
Jamie Kirk said:
Newsflash, residents don’t have the power, money, influence and attention of any city council member to do something like this. Constituents don’t matter to them, the people who get them elected and donate to them do. Developers, unions etc.

Follow the money. Reid family will make millions. Developers will make hundreds of millions. Elected officials get big contributions and will put money on their pocket as well.
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At this point, it's the county's board of supervisors who are making the decisions, not the city council.
 
Palmpilot said:
At this point, it's the county's board of supervisors who are making the decisions, not the city council.
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And they just happen to do this? Don't think so, someone pushed them. Someone with enough influence and pockets deep enough where they had to listen.
 
Jamie Kirk said:
And they just happen to do this? Don't think so, someone pushed them. Someone with enough influence and pockets deep enough where they had to listen.
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They didn't "just happen" to do this; the pressure has been there for decades. I certainly don't discount the possibility that influence and deep pockets could be involved.
 
My IR instructor was on the city council here in Scottsdale for many years. He had so many entertaining stories. One of which involved some lady who lived near the approach end of Runway 3 at KSDL. This lady literally thought that he (my IR instructor) was telling the tower to use Runway 3 just to **** her off. Guess she would actually call the tower, etc.

Another story is that there was some big group that was trying to get KSDL shutdown (I think it was called "Clean Skies" or something). Turns out they couldn't get much backing, so they called it "Clean Skies for Kids" or some BS like that. LMAO. Do it for the KIDS!!!!

It's amazing what goes on.
 
sad indeed
same thing they are doing to my home drome KSMO :(
 
I’m amazed California has any GA airports left tbh. They’ll be getting shut down one by one. Too many people and not enough room.
 
CC268 said:
I’m amazed California has any GA airports left tbh. They’ll be getting shut down one by one. Too many people and not enough room.
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I don't understand people's inelasticity to population density. At some point, that level of proxemics has to outright negate whatever merits there supposedly are to topography and climate in Coastal California/wherever. I've never felt so affluent as the times I've stood in the middle of a field with no one for miles to take umbrage to my presence, mannerisms or noise (aka neighbors). This is especially so when you consider how the other 5 out of the 7 billion in the planet live like. Maybe I'm just a pariah within my species.

Clearly I'm in the minority opinion, because Southern California is PACKED (LA County is more populous than 40 states and 2 territories, if it were a state itself!) and clearly that's working out for somebody. Though I give thought to the notion that there may be a swath of silent captive audience within that population. I.e. people for whom it is actually economically a non-starter to relocate and attain a better economic output by doing so. Kind of a "rather be homeless in paradise" tragedy of the commons. I find that possibility depressing, though I understand how plausible it can be in our "successful"[for who?] wageless economy.
 
lead poisoning from the Leaded AvGas... Wonder how much they paid to come up with that scary tidbit to spin on...

No wonder I always feel so light headed at the airport :rolleyes:
 
CC268 said:
I’m amazed California has any GA airports left tbh. They’ll be getting shut down one by one. Too many people and not enough room.
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Well, for one thing, there are still people who are willing to spend time and money defending California's airports. For example:

https://calpilots.org/

As for "not enough room," the population density statewide is only 240 persons per square mile, which ranks 11th in the nation. Due to the concentration of folks in cities, there are still lots of wide open spaces.
 
Palmpilot said:
Well, for one thing, there are still people who are willing to spend time and money defending California's airports. For example:

https://calpilots.org/

As for "not enough room," the population density statewide is only 240 persons per square mile, which ranks 11th in the nation. Due to the concentration of folks in cities, there are still lots of wide open spaces.
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I think that is great - I hope they are successful.
 
I forgot to mention that I flew with Amelia Reid in a Decathlon for an aircraft checkout and impromptu aerobatics lesson. Great memories!
 
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