FAQs

  • Yes, and yes. The airport sells Shell avgas, which helps support airport operations. You can check prices on the City of Petaluma website, or call the Airport Office at 707-778-4404.

  • Yes, via truck, during normal business hours, and after hours on call.

  • Airport personnel monitor the CTAF/UNICOM frequency of 122.7 MHz during normal business hours.

  • Hangars are currently at 100 percent occupancy. To be added to the Hanger Waiting list, please contact Claudia Heikhaus - 707-769-1335 or email cheikhaus@cityofpetaluma.org

    Tie-Down spaces are always available, for short-term or long-term lease/license. Rates are $69 per month (single engine) and $77 per month (twin engine) through FY-23/24. Minimum insurance requirements apply.

  • Yes, there’s a flight planning room in the airport Terminal. It’s open 8 am-5 pm seven days a week. Free WiFi is available near the airport office. Plans are to have free WiFi available throughout the airport property but that hasn’t yet happened.

  • Landing patterns are away from the city for noise abatement, left traffic for runway 11 and right traffic for 29. Winds usually favor 29, which is also the preferred calm wind runway.The power line that runs down the hill from the north end of Sonoma Mountain makes a good 45 to downwind for runway 29. Near the south end of Sonoma Mountain is a quarry that can mark the start of a 45 to runway 11.Other common reporting points are the “Schellville Gap” southeast of the airport and “North along the ridge” approaching the right 45 for runway 29. If flying the latter course, watch for traffic popping over the ridge from the north/northeast to enter the 45.Note that Petaluma has a growing population of Light Sport aircraft that tend to use a lower & tighter pattern at 700 feet AGL or below. Not all have radios or transponders so use caution, especially when making a long final approach.

  • Yes. Avoid crosswind turns below 800 feet MSL when departing either runway 29 or 11. Straight out departures should climb to 1500 feet MSL before turning onto course. On downwind, stay outside (northeast) of Old Adobe Road and avoid overflights of the Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park.

  • There’s both a VOR and GPS 29 approach.

  • Typical summer weather is a ~1000 ft ceiling that burns off by 11am, and temperatures 65-90F. Spring brings occasional rain and wind that usually clears in a day or two, and temperatures 50-75F. Fall is about the same as spring. Winter usually brings weekly rain & low clouds that clear in three to four days, and temperatures 40-55F.

  • Here’s a good source of Northern California and San Francisco area satellite images.

  • Mangon Aircraft (707-765-1848) provides oxygen refills.

  • Flight instruction and aircraft rentals are available from the Petaluma Pilot Training Center at 707-765-1848.

  • AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association) provides a great deal of information, including a free newsletter for those thinking of or learning to fly. https://youcanfly.aopa.org/

  • We’d love to have you! We have a great restaurant on the field, the Two Niner Diner, which is set to re-open in July 2023. (It’s a favorite of one winemaker’s daughters!) Petaluma always has something going on in town. Taxi / Uber service is a phone call/ app tap away. A new Sheraton is on the Petaluma River next to the Petaluma Marina, and there are many other hotels to choose from. There are 175 restaurants in the city, lots of antique shops downtown and a quaint historic waterfront walk. And last, should you need it, there is an FBO providing maintenance services: Mangon Aircraft (707-765-1848).

  • Petaluma is mostly flat between the airport and downtown. You can easily get anywhere by bicycle. Petaluma prides itself as a bike and pedestrian friendly city, and bike lanes abound. The N. McDowell Blvd. shopping area is just over a mile to the west, and the downtown area is about 2.5 miles west.

  • Rooster Run is the public golf course in town. It is within walking distance of the airport, about ¼ mile. The front nine holes of Rooster Run are built on airport property so a portion of your green fees and cart rental go to the airport’s operating fund.

  • The best viewing area is from the deck outside the terminal building/airport office. Stop by any time and pull up a chair! Due to security and liability concerns, the public is not allowed to walk inside the airport fence without being escorted by airport personnel or an airport tenant. But visitors are welcome on the deck, on the grass area below, and in the airport office. Also consider attending some of the PAPA events, especially the free Display Day on the third Saturday of summer months. That provides much closer access to both static aircraft on display and to many of their pilots.

  • The last Petaluma Airport air show was in 1991. Since then a golf course was built on the air show flight path area. An air show today would require the golf course to be temporarily shut down for safety and the operator compensated for their revenue loss. Financially this makes future air shows unlikely.

  • Yes! We’ve built the PAPA Clubhouse at the south end of the field, and memorabilia donations are most welcome.

  • Yes! The first U.S. Postmaster-sanctioned airmail flight departed Petaluma on February 17, 1911, bound for Santa Rosa. The pilot was Fred Wiseman. The centennial of that historic flight was in 2011.