Cable Airport is a non-towered public-use airport located two miles (3 km) northwest of the central business district of Upland, a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It is privately owned by the Cable Land Company.

History

Cable-Claremont Airport (as it was known until 1961) was founded in 1945 by Maude and Dewey Cable, who bought the land for $8,500. This is. The Cables divided the land, selling the northern portion for what the entire parcel had cost them. That parcel was developed into a quarry by Holliday Rock, which recently erected its national headquarters near the approach end of Runway 24. The first runway, 1-19, built by Dewey Cable himself, was 1500 ft long. It ran north–south, perpendicular to the prevailing winds, and had a steep gradient. The main runway, 6-24, was completed six months later. Unlike the first runway, it ran east–west (parallel to the wind, which is ideal), had a hard, flat surface, and by 1947 was 2350 ft long and 150 ft wide. Cable Commuter Airlines was a commuter air carrier operating de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter STOL capable turboprop aircraft that was initially based at the airport. In 1968, Cable Commuter Airlines was operating a hub at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) with flights to such southern California destinations as Burbank, Colton, Inyokern, Ontario, Oxnard, Palmdale, Palm Springs, Santa Ana (Orange County Airport), Santa Barbara and Santa Maria as well as to Lake Havasu City in Arizona. Cable Commuter was acquired by Golden West Airlines, another southern California based commuter air carrier.

Today

KCCB is a Class G (untowered) airport. Runway 1-19 is no longer in existence. In its place are some hangars, a fuel island, and a covered, lighted wash rack. Runway 6-24, now lengthened to 3865 ft, has been resurfaced and is mostly flat, with some undulations on the east half. There is a terminal building with an FBO (flight school and rentals), aircraft repair shop, Maniac Mike's restaurant, and a control tower which is used to marshal aircraft during the annual Cable Air Show in January. (The tower is not normally used at any other time, as Cable is an uncontrolled airport.) This airport is also home to the Civil Air Patrol Squadron 25. Cable Airport is still owned by the Cable family. Based on number of aircraft based at the field (450), it ranks as the largest privately owned airport in the world.

Facilities and aircraft

Cable Airport covers an area of 95 acre which contains one runway (6/24) measuring 3,864 x and two helipads, each measuring 65 x. For the 12-month period ending August 31, 2016, the airport had 92,189 general aviation aircraft operations, an average of 252 per day. There were 227 aircraft based at this airport: 94% single-engine, <1% multi-engine, <1% helicopter, <1% glider and <1% ultralight.

Accidents and incidents