• Maintenance

    Springtime at the San Martin Airport

    April 9, 2025 - By 

    It’s springtime in Northern California. The days are becoming longer and it is time to start flying again! All the winter precipitation normally makes all the hills green for a period of time until the overwhelming heat of summer withers everything. At the airport, it means that vegetation must be…

  • Fuel

    The G100UL Chickens Have Come Home to Roost

    April 2, 2025 - By 

    Paul Marshall, a SCAPA member and owner of a 2000 Bonanza A36, has reported issues after using G100UL fuel for 67 hours. He published a report available here. Michael Luvera, based at Reid Hillview (RHV) has, at the time of this post, published the results from a series of experiments…

  • Board of Supervisors - Fuel

    A Disaster Waiting to Happen

    December 12, 2024 - By 

    Santa Clara County has adopted G100UL fuel, the first jurisdiction in the US to do so, despite concerns about its lack of ASTM approval and potential compatibility issues with other unleaded fuels like Swift 100R. The decision to adopt G100UL, driven by political pressure and a desire to reduce lead…

  • Community

    SCAPA Food Truck Fly-In and Scholarship Winners

    October 14, 2024 - By 

    South County Airport Pilots Association (SCAPA) is thrilled to announce the winners of the 2024 Scholarship! After reviewing 35 (a new record) highly competitive applications, we are excited to congratulate Julia Sutter, Christian Legaspi, and Jeremy Viray as this year’s scholarship recipients. Each of these outstanding individuals will receive $3,000…

  • Funding - Maintenance

    Free Airport Funds? Santa Clara County says “Hard Pass!”

    October 4, 2024 - By 

    The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, officially known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, allocates significant funding to modernize and improve U.S. airports. The bill provides $25 billion for airport infrastructure, aiming to upgrade outdated facilities, enhance safety measures, and increase capacity to accommodate growing air traffic. This funding includes $15…

  • Fuel

    Lead Lies

    August 23, 2024 - By 

    CalPilots, in conjunction with CAAPSO (thank you Doug Rice and Stephen McHenry), has finally received air quality data from Bay Area Air Quality Management District. BAAQMD is a public agency entrusted with regulating stationary sources of air pollution in the nine counties that surround San Francisco Bay. It took a…

  • Funding - Maintenance

    Sky-Daddy Slumlords

    July 28, 2024 - By 

    Well, it’s July and in Santa Clara County Roads and Airports Division, there is celebrating going on. Why are the champagne corks flying you might ask? Well, it’s because of this little provision here tucked into our license agreement for space rental. Fees and Charges for Assigned Spaces are established…

  • Funding - Maintenance

    San Martin Airport is a $hithole

    May 23, 2024 - By 

    There are some concerning deficiencies related to safety and security at San Martin Airport (E16), operated by Santa Clara County. Safety Issues Previously, the airport’s rotating beacon was frozen in place and did not rotate. This is a safety issue for pilots attempting to identify the airport, in both night…