Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: California: Northwestern Sacramento

Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields:

California, Northwestern Sacramento area

Branstetter Airport / Natomas Airport (revised 4/17/07) - Capitol Sky Park (revised 4/17/07)

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Capitol Sky Park, West Sacramento, CA

38.58 North / 121.52 West (West of Sacramento, CA)

Capitol Sky Park, as depicted on the 1948 Sacramento Sectional Chart (courtesy of Jonathan Westerling).

This small general aviation airport was located in West Sacramento,

just across the Sacramento River from downtown Sacramento.

According to Curtis Carroll, “The Sky Park was built in 1946 by Bob Watts & Jack Rich, two WWII fighter pilots.

They saw a need for an airport to serve the business of the downtown area

as well as the burgeoning agricultural, recreational and aerial surveying business.

Land was still relatively cheap & it opened with 66 tie-downs.

The Capitol Inn & the tony El Rancho were within walking distance so the airport was very popular with overnight flyers.”

The earliest depiction of Capitol Sky Park which has been located

was on the 1948 Sacramento Sectional Chart (courtesy of Jonathan Westerling).

It depicted "Capitol" as having a 2,400' unpaved runway.

A September 1948 telephone book advertisement for the Capitol Sky Park (courtesy of Dann Shively).

The 1949 Sacramento Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)

depicted "Capitol" as having a 2,400' unpaved runway.

A spring 1949 Bureau of Reclamation aerial view of Capitol Sky Park

(from the Yolo County Archives, courtesy of Fred Pierini, via Curtis Caroll, via Dann Shively),

which depicted the field as having 2 runways.

Curtis reported, “Fred Pierini... learned to fly there in the late 1940s

and then worked as a mechanic through most of the 1950s.

He mentioned a north/south crosswind runway.

It was basically just cleared brush & existed up until the land along West Capitol Avenue was sold & developed in the early 1950s.

This is probably one of very few photos that actually shows the seldomly-used runway.”

"Capitol Sky Park" was depicted on a 1950 street map (courtesy of Dann Shively)

as a rectangular property running northwest/southeast along the south side of the Sacramento Northern Railroad tracks.

Dann also met the daughter of the former owner of the Capitol Sky Park.

"Apparently, during the 1950s, it was a thriving airport as it was literally blocks from the state capitol."

Capitol Skypark, as depicted on a circa mid-1950s street map (courtesy of Dann Shively).

A circa 1950s aerial view looking west at Capitol Sky Park (courtesy of Curtis Carroll),

with a total of 18 biplanes & monoplanes visible on the field.

Note the gold-domed Capitol Inn in the foreground.

The 1957 Sacramento Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy) also labeled the field as "Capitol".

It was described as having a 3,000' unpaved runway.

According to Curtis Carroll, “It reputedly was the busiest private airport in the country by the late 1950s,

just before it was moved.”

The partners moved the FBO to Executive [Sacramento Executive Airport] in 1960

and a trailer park & bowling alley was built on the site.”

By the time of the 1961 Sacramento Sectional Chart (courtesy of Dann Shively),

Capitol Sky Park was no longer depicted at all.

A 2003 aerial view (courtesy of Dann Shively)

showed that no trace remained of the Capitol Sky Park.

A 2007 aerial photo by Dann Shively, looking north at the site of the former Capitol Sky Park.

"The runway was situated parallel to the railroad tracks.

There's a mobile home park located there now.

The mobile home park covers most of what was the airport.

You can see by the trees along the tracks it's been there for a while.

The street that runs parallel to the tracks was approximately where the strip was.

The large building at the left side of the picture is the West Sacramento City Hall.

The remnants of the old Capitol Inn are still there although the building went through a major renovation at some point

removing, among other things, the state capitol look-a-like dome.”

The site of Capitol Sky Park is located northeast of the intersection of Jefferson Boulevard & West Capitol Avenue.

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Branstetter Airport / Natomas Airport (Q96), Sacramento, CA

38.64 North / 121.51 West (Northwest of San Francisco, CA)

A June 1946 telephone book advertisement for the Branstetter Flying Service (courtesy of Dann Shively).

This former general aviation airfield was reportedly opened in 1945,

under its original name of Branstetter Airport.

The earliest reference to Branstetter Airport which has been located

was an advertisement for Branstetter Flying Service in a June 1946 telephone book (courtesy of Dann Shively).

However, inexplicably, Branstetter Airport was not yet depicted at all

on the September 1946 Sacramento Sectional Chart (according to Chris Kennedy).

A March 1947 telephone book advertisement for the Branstetter Flying Service (courtesy of Dann Shively).

The earliest depiction of Branstetter Airport which has been located

was on the 1948 Sacramento Sectional Chart (courtesy of Jonathan Westerling).

It depicted the field as having a 3,000' unpaved runway.

The 1949 Sacramento Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)

also depicted Branstetter as having a 3,000' unpaved runway.

A 1950 street map (courtesy of Dann Shively) depicted "Branstetter Airfield" simply as a rectangular outline on the west side of Airport Road,

without showing any other airfield details.

Branstetter was still depicted on the 1957 Sacramento Sectional Chart (according to Chris Kennedy),

but by then the listed runway length had decreased to only 1,800'.

The field was apparently renamed Natomas Airport at some point between 1957-61,

as that is how it was depicted on the 1961 Sacramento Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).

The runway had also been paved, and was 2,000' long.

The 1962 AOPA Airport Directory described Natomas as having a single 2,000' macadam Runway 16/34.

According to local pilot Don Rodrigues,

Natomas Airport was the home of the American Aero Club, run by Russ Kilmer.

The airport's operator was Sacramento Aero Services.

Natomas Airport was depicted on the 1967 Sacramento Sectional Chart (courtesy of John Voss)

with a single 2,000' asphalt runway.

A 1978 Flight Guide (courtesy of Chris Kennedy) listed the operators at Natomas

as American Aero Club & Farm-Air Inc.

Aerial view of Natomas Airport in 1982, looking north, copyright by John Hockenbury (used by permission).

The runway had apparently been lengthened by 1987,

as it was depicted as 2,700' long on the 1987 CA Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of John Voss).

In the circa 2000 aerial photo (taken shortly before the field's closure),

a total of 10 aircraft were visible parked outside.

The airfield consisted of a single paved Runway 16/34 (2,600' long),

two parallel taxiways, a ramp, and several small hangars.

For several years, Natomas developers were trying to get the airport shut down,

citing it was not part of the master plan for the community.

Pilots say it's a shame they couldn't reach a compromise.

The airport was closed in 2000

(even though it is still depicted as an active private airfield on 2002 aeronautical charts).

The Arco Arena (where the Sacramento Kings play) was built immediately north of the airfield site.

Dann Shively reported in 2003, "I ventured out to Natomas airport today.

That whole area is a hotbed of residential development.

On one of the aerial shots you can see houses encroaching from the east.

There are the very early stages of site preparation going on around the airport property.

But the airport boundaries are partially fenced off & the road closed to what used to be the office."

A 2003 photo by Dann Shively of the hangars which remains at Natomas.

Note the "Natomas Field" legend on the white portion of the hangar at right.

A 2003 photo by Dann Shively, looking north along the remains of the former Runway 34.

Note the painted-out "34" runway numbers, just in front of the closed-runway "X".

The large building on the left is ARCO Arena, home of the Sacramento Kings.

A January 2006 aerial view by Dann Shively, looking northeast at the rapidly-disappearing remains of Natomas Airport,

with several hangars, a portion of the ramp, and a portion of the paved runway (including one closed-runway “X” symbol) still visible.

Dann remarkedm, “Development is quickly encroaching north, west and south.

Part of the runway is now gone as site preparation continues.

An orange fence marks what's left of the old airport.

How long the buildings will last isn't known right now.”

Dann Shively reported in 2007, “Natomas Airport is shrinking daily.”

The site of Natomas Airport is located west of Airport Road, north of the intersection of Interstates 5 & 80.