Petaluma group propels city’s aviation heritage

In the cockpit of his 1976 Piper Lance aircraft, Paul Spongberg eased on the controls, banking left, the cliffs of the Bodega Head cutting a rugged profile in the deep blue Pacific Ocean.

Thousands of feet below, cars, seemingly crawling along, dotted the labyrinthine road network. But being here in the wild blue yonder, flying in a tiny six-seat plane that cuts through the air at a brisk clip of about 180 miles an hour while soaring over the unfolding rural Sonoma County scenery, symbolizes freedom for Spongberg.

“It’s such a great way to travel,” said Spongberg, the president of the Petaluma Area Pilots Association. “You don’t have to take your shoes off or check your bag.”

Petaluma has been an aviation capital in its own right since the first airmail flight took off from the city in 1911, and the Petaluma Area Pilots Association, a longstanding local group, is propelling that legacy into future generations.

The avid club of more than 120 pilots and aircraft enthusiasts has long advocated for the development, upkeep and promotion of the city’s airport, a portal to Petaluma that sees about 60,000 take offs and landings each year, according to Tom McGaw, a longtime member of the association and former member of the city’s Airport Commission.

Formed in 1978, nearly 70 years after Fred Wiseman made the groundbreaking journey to deliver mail by plane from Petaluma to Santa Rosa, the nonprofit was integral to the genesis of the city’s airport, creating a coalition to convince the city council to turn the Petaluma Sky Ranch, a privately-owned airport, and the adjoining farmland into a larger-scale general aviation airport rather than developing the land for housing, McGaw said.

As the project got off the ground and the Petaluma Municipal Airport was opened in 1985, the group remained actively involved, relocating the former police chief’s building to the airport to be converted to a terminal and helping plan for expansions, McGaw, 66, said.

Volunteers from the association are currently undertaking an extensive revamp of the terminal, working since May to redo both the interior and exterior of the building, repairing the roof, repainting and adding in a full kitchen, among other improvements, with efforts expected to wrap up by the end of the month, McGaw said.

Members also tackle various other projects when their help is needed – efforts that are appreciated by Airport Manager Bob Patterson, who runs the city-owned airport that remains financially self-sufficient.

He said the costs from the terminal project will likely tally around $20,000 for materials and some aspects of the project that required contract labor, coming in $30,000 below budget with the help from the volunteers’ efforts.

“They’re a good group to work with and their hearts are in the right place,” Patterson said. “They fly and they want to make sure our airport is looking equal to or better than others.”

In addition to the beautification of the 220-acre airport, which is home to flight schools as wells as aircraft service and repair facility Mangon Aircraft Inc., the group also hosts monthly meetings in its clubhouse, a converted hangar decked out with model planes handcrafted by McGaw, a lending library of books, a collection of trophies from past Butter and Egg Days parade victories, and tables and chairs with a front row seat to the runway, set to the backdrop of the rolling golden hills.

The association also hosts a monthly “display day” during the warmer months, showcasing a handful of airplanes, from classic era craft to present day planes, with pilots on hand to show bystanders the ropes. The next event is slated to be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 20 at the airport, according to the association’s website.

“You really get chance to talk to people and help them learn a little something about flying and airplanes – it takes some of the mystery out it, and you can say ‘Hey, have you ever thought of taking flying lessons?” McGaw said of the event. “It’s really fun.”

To make aviation-based careers more attainable, the group also offers scholarships to youth, hoping to share their love of flying with the next generation. Spongberg, whose own father, Charles Spongberg, was an avid pilot and one of the airport’s first commissioners, knows firsthand about passing along a passion for aviation. Following in his father’s footsteps, he learned to fly in the early 1980s, and has since taken his own two sons on many trips in his plane.

The group also organizes “fly-outs,” with members of the association flying to destinations like Nevada, Auburn, Oregon, McGaw said. The airport also welcomes incoming clubs, as well as business-related flights, including frequent trips from FedEx for airmail pickups and deliveries, McGaw said.

About half of the flights that come into the airport are attributed to pilots flying into Petaluma from other areas, and the airport is estimated to have a $40 to $45 million annual economic impact on business activity in the area, according to McGaw, who’s long studied the financial impacts and last updated the figures in 2015.

The airport and related entities also provide around 30 jobs, with additional revenue generated from fuel sales on site and fees from hundreds of planes in hangars and others using tie downs, McGaw said.

The community in the Petaluma Area Pilots Association - the beating heart of the airport - is a close-knit but diverse bunch, Spongberg, 59, said, adding that the success of the airport hinges on the friendly faces working behind the scenes.

“It’s just a great way to meet new people and get exposed to a whole other dimension of travel. Private flying ... opens up so many more opportunities to go places you can’t easily reach by driving,” he said. “That’s the biggest benefit, and people at the airport are warm and welcoming, and there’s a lot of aircraft being built out there, so there’s a lot of knowledge with hands-on building.”

The group plans to continue supporting the spread of aviation across multiple generations and to “keep people wanting to come to the airport,” McGaw said.

“The airport is a real gem for the city,” Spongberg said.

(Contact Hannah Beausang at hannah.beausang@arguscourier.com. On Twitter @hannahbeausang.)