Local Airport Touted as the ‘Foggiest Airport’ in Simple Flying Article
![An aerial view of Arcata-Eureka Airport in Humboldt County, California. [Photo provided by HSU]](https://kymkemp.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/2018-0928-Micrgrid_LARGE-300x176.jpg)
An aerial view of Arcata-Eureka Airport in Humboldt County, California. [Photo provided by HSU]
As many Humboldt residents are aware, the Arcata airport, as it’s generally referred to by locals, is prone to delays and rerouted flights due to the unpredictable nature of fog. It’s something many of us take into account when booking travel out of the airport located in between Arcata and north of McKinleyville.
The Simple Flying article by Mark Finlay, elaborates on the airport’s history including the first “blind” landing of a civilian passenger aircraft at ACV back in 1947. Finlay also shares the airport’s history with the U.S. Navy and present-day operations.
The piece is an interesting read on a local resource and although it may not be the most boastful titles to behold, those of us that frequently fly the foggy skies coming into and out of ACV may choose to wear the title as a badge of honor.
To read Finlay’s article on ACV, click here.
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There are more than 97 days with dense fog in the mornings. And this is old news.
Old news is called History.
So, there. La de frickin da.
My advice- Never trust that last flight of the day to actually come in. I’ve been dropped off in Redding but mostly just cut loose at SFO w/ no hotel room available, no confirmed flight home for days if it’s holiday travel time….Yes- it is better w/ the new jets but still I won’t trust that last flight. Don’t say that old Farce didn’t warn you!
I had a couple airlines send me over to Greyhound… 🙁
I visit every Christmas and agree, make sure there are backup flights!! Connection in SFO is a pain as well, either airport can be fogged in 😖😩
before it became property of the county, it was a purpose built training station for army air corps. Specifically for the weather conditions over seas.
My understanding is that the teepee burners of the numerous saw mills ejected billions of particles for the fog to form around and caused us to be one of the foggiest places in the US, especially in the 40’s, 50’s and early 60’s. I remember it being much more foggy than it is now. I understand it was great for training pilots.
Nice! I’ve never heard that explanation-only old-timer stories about how incredibly dense the fog was back in the day. Always chocked it up to deforestation. But what you just said does make some sense! If only we had some way of knowing…
“…located in between Arcata and McKinleyville.” I guess the author hasn’t actually been to the airport..lol
Yeah I noticed that too it is on the north side of McKinleyville.
It was located but because of the fog that day they had no clue where they were.
I heard that that’s why this airport was even built was to study the fog
Fog is the only reason we have the airport we have. The Navy built the airport to explore fog dispersal techniques during WWII. It is the only “Hardened” tarmac between SF and Portland. It still an emergency airport for the large transport aircraft.
There is no journalism here. You saw a fact about a local thing in a magazine that you can just look up on Wikipedia. Congratulations you can read,
Hey I’ve been on that flight like that, kudos to them pilots. Great job .
Kudos to the pilots for braving the dense fog. Scares the crap out of me landing there. My last flight in, every passenger were placed throughout the plane to the even out weight as we landed
Shouldn’t worry too much. If the plane hits the runway too late the plane will just not have enough runway, plow itself off the bluff, drop onto and bounce across the highway and go into the ocean. Nothing to worry about!
Comforting😖
The airport was used to train WWII pilots flying in low visibility conditions. I am sure it was scary as hell for the new pilots. There were a few deaths from this training. Landing before the tarmac and shooting completely by only to land over the bank, beach or ocean. I tip my hat to these brave fliers. Sadly, so many lost their lives in combat. May they RIP.
And ACV is not as foggy as Humboldt Bay–while standing in sunlight near the southern edge of Dow’s Prairie, one can often see the view to the south filled up like a bowl with fog.
Nix VFR for that airfield, IFR is absolutely best, ILS approach is the safest. After inner marker it’s 50 feet for a standard visual or an abort for a go around. Be safe! If confused ask tower for vectors… avoid problems… and choppers…
It is not located between McKinleyville & Arcata but in the most northern part of McKinleyville above Clam Beach!
Thank you for the catch Corinna.