Mather Airport

Great place to be with kids

Come here for the airshow. WOO HOO!!!

Landed here coming back from Albuquerque and was unable to get into Cameron Park due to fog. Mather has a full ILS so fog is no issue. On landing was offered a free crew car to shuttle the kids home. I put gas in the crew car but was told I didn’t need to. The only down side is that fuel is very expensive. There is no self serve and fuel runs a couple dollars per gallon more than at Exec.

Nothing like seeing a JET coming straight at you!
SITREP
Mather Airport is still a first-​rate air field. As an airport, it’s greatest asset is a 11,300 feet long runway, one of the largest in CA. It plays home base for shipping companies like UPS and also hosts other tech-​related companies in its renovated, cavernous hangars leftover from their days of housing huge C-​5s, SR-​71s, and anti-​missile aircraft flying command-​centers.
But most of all, I love airshows! And even though Mather Airport is no longer a fully-​operational Air Force Base like it was in the 80s all the way back to the height of the Cold War, it still will host some absolutely brilliant air shows a few times a year. Check out the California Capitol Airshow’s Unilocal homepage:
The airshow is a 501c3 organization that provides scholarships to young men and women pursuing careers in aviation and attendance at the show is a vital part of that fundraising effort. Your support at the airshows are always appreciated and benefit so many people you may not have even realized.
THE SETUP
In fact, on Airshow weekends (which I usually forget when they are), it’s quite a bit disconcerting to be driving home on an afternoon on Eastbound HWY 50, and then as you come onto the rise of that highway overpass over Folsom Blvd between Watt & Bradshaw, the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end and you gulp frantically because an Air Force Fighter Jet is coming straight at you! Or at least, from your perspective it LOOKS like it is, as it flashes by above you literally only 150 – 200 feet overhead (Dam!). [Friday is practice day for the Thunderbird team before they engage in their shows on Saturday and Sunday.]
I would never see the main pack of jets from the Thunderbirds’ team come out that far, but the two soloists often track over the roads and the highways before veering back towards the air field. I have friends and co-​workers that live deeper into the Rosemont neighborhood which is much much closer to the field, and they can make a block party on their street «Americana», because that street IS one of the visual markers for the entire Thunderbird team, and I can’t tell you what a rush it is to have 4 – 6 F-​16s screaming overhead only 100 feet above our heads, at tight angles of incline, stacked with mere feet of each other, and close enough to see the helmets of the pilots glisten in the sun.
On the field itself, it is a veritable jet-​convention with all sorts of makes and models of aircraft from the world over. I still always get a kick when a Harrier-​VTOL (Vertical Take-​off & Landing) craft still comes around and puts itself through it’s paces.
But I also enjoy being able to walk through some of the larger jets that serve as airborne command centers over regions of conflict, but where it is unsafe to land and place a ground-​base.
However, my all time favorite aircraft to visit with are the SPY PLANES — such as the SR-​71 Blackbird and the U-​2 — and the Old WWI Biplanes, usually the Stearman. However, it is indeed a rare treat when «enemy» aircraft of a period are also on display such as the FOKKER DR1 Triplane which the Red Baron, Manfred Von Richthoven made famous. I also have it on good authority that this next Airshow 2011 will feature «enemy aircraft» in the form of Japanese Zeroes and engage in an reenactment of «Tora, Tora, Tora»! (I can’t freakin wait!)
Note-​to-​self: I will NEVER get tired of air fields nor air shows. But… I always get sunburned if I forget the sunblock.
THE LOWDOWN
Mather is an awesome air field, still full of awesome times…

I drive by here on my way to work almost everyday, and on my way home. It’s fun to watch the planes take off and land above your head. From large UPS freight carriers to stealth jets doing excercises, and helicopters in maitenence, there’s always action goin on in the skies. But be sure to pay attention to the road too as you drive by!

I like living next to an airport. I get to see planes take off and planes land. Some planes are big, carrying valuable FedEx packages from thousands of miles away, and some planes are small and designed for emergency response. Sometimes I’ll see a decommissioned military helicopter. The noise, as long as you are inside, is minimal, and the air traffic is few and far between. Occasionally, if I time it just right, I can drive around the edge of the field at the exact moment that a jumbo jet roars over my head to land. Once or twice a year, the field becomes the center of attention as residents from miles around gather to watch one of the best airshows in California.
Yep, I live next to an airport. But it’s never bothered me.