Hesperia (CA)
I thought I’d written about flying to Hesperia Airport before, but it seems like I didn’t. I flew there again today, so I’ll write about it now.
Hesperia is the airport in a fairly small desert town north of the Inland Empire. The town is north of Lake Arrowhead and sort of along the way to Barstow. It was growing pretty rapidly during the housing boom. The airport is used primarily by the Mercy Air air ambulance folks, but there are hangars and some based planes there as well. There is also an inexpensive fuel pit and a restaurant. The restaurant is what drew me in there, of course.
I’d been out to Hesperia once many years ago looking for a restaurant that I’d heard of, but it was closed. The fellow working the local FBO offered to share his sandwich with me, which was kind, but I didn’t take him up on it. I saw from our friends at AirNav that there was indeed a new restaurant there, and tried it out.
The restaurant itself is a classic airport cafe: sandwiches, burgers, and breakfasts. Everything I’ve had there is really tasty and the staff is very friendly and helpful. It’s a good fly-in joint.
The field itself is kind of small. There’s ample runway length, but it’s kind of tucked away and there’s not a lot around the airport. It feels very close to the houses and highway nearby. It’s also in the high desert, so it can be windy and is higher than it might seem. When I was there today, the density altitude was in the 6000′ range, and it was very noticeable on takeoff. The wind was gusty though only 10 knots or so.
I took a few pictures. I love the airport restaurant sign, and found a Cessna labeled with “Realtor.” I have no idea why you’d need to label a plane with that, but there must be a reason. For someone.
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- Cessna labeled for Real Estate
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- A Train Passes Hesperia
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- Some twin-engine experimental at L26
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- Motel/Restaurant Sign at L26
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- Mercy Air Pad at L26
