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Flying into
the Flabob Airport in Riverside California |
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The Flabob Cafe'
Best time of the year to go? |
Anytime, it's Southern
California! |
Flight time in a Super Viking from KAJO? |
10 minutes |
Food on the airport? |
Yes, average quality but the
restaurant is an aviation museum. |
Fuel on airport? |
Yes, price typically below
average. |
Comments about arriving and departing |
If you're on base leg for runway 24 you
go around the mountain just get out of your plane and
scream; "I'm from out of town." |
Rate this trip
10 being best, 5 being average. |
10 minute flight and go back
in time 40 years. I'll give it an 8! |
"When you come into my airport you line up with the cross, close the
throttle, bless yourself, turn left and land."
Flavio Madariaga
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A Living Legacy for Sport Aviation |
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Flabob Airport, Riverside, California
By
John D. Lyon and
David Gustafson
Following a major rejuvenation, Flabob Airport (RIR) in Riverside,
California, has become a rewarding destination for those pilots
seeking hundred-dollar hamburgers with classic aeronautical
ambience.
Three years ago, the Wathen Foundation, created by Tom Wathen,
bought the airport, which was in serious need of repair. The
Foundation has restored existing structures, upgraded the runway and
taxiways, and returned the airport cafe to its original splendor as
a legendary site for general aviation pilots. Locals report that
airport traffic has increased significantly in the past year.
The restaurant’s origins date back to the early days of aviation.
Flavio Madariaga, guiding genius of Flabob, recognized from the
beginning that an airport cafe was key to the success of this small
airport populated by builders, restorers, airport bums, flyers,
would-be flyers, and all the other members of a viable flying
village. The first restaurant was in a lean-to constructed on the
side of Hangar One, which was itself a tarted-up WPA tool and
equipment shed left over from the New Deal. It had a grill, counter
and stools, and outside a hitching post for the frequent arrivals on
horseback to this then-rural strip. (Later the lean-to became the
apartment of “Professor” Art Scholl, who came by his title
legitimately; for many years he taught machining in Hangar One for
San Fernando Valley College, until his career as an airshow and
movie pilot took precedence.)
The little cafe was soon too small. Flavio — who must be regarded as
a serious contender for the title of greatest scrounger of all time
— borrowed a mule, some chickens, and a goat, with which he was
photographed to qualify him as a “farmer” and hence eligible to buy
government surplus. Thus equipped, he visited nearby March Field and
purchased what is said to have been the cookhouse for the NCO Club,
which he dragged back to Flabob and erected in its present location
on the flightline. The cafe and airport offices occupied the
building, but successful growth led to the eviction of the offices
and the cafe has been sole occupant for decades.
Today, the ambience is classic airport cafe, with giant-scale
airplane models dangling from the massive beams overhead, old wooden
props on the walls, and hundreds of photos of airplanes, pilots, and
happenings at Flabob. The foyer displays photos going back to 1925,
when original airport operator Roman Warren (known as the Cowboy
Aviator) flew his Thomas-Morse Scout under the low concrete span of
the Rubidoux Bridge. There is a long center table where pilots and
visitors sit next to someone who may be a stranger at first, but is
a new best friend by the time the coffee arrives. The restaurant’s
large windows provide a good view of the runway, and of the fields
beyond — still occupied by grazing livestock — with the Santa Ana
Mountains in the background.
The food is hearty airport cafe fare, simple and ample. The Philly
Cheesesteak and the Chili-Size are perennial favorites. The
operators of the cafe are from the Kozzee Cafe a few miles down the
road — and with a name like that, it’s got to be good. The Flabob
Cafe is open 7 am to 3 pm seven days a week (909-683-9066).
Just about anyone who’s who in general aviation has eaten at
Flabob’s airport cafe, including Frank Tallman, Paul Mantz, Jim
Appleby, and designers and builders like Ray Stits, Lou Stolp, Ed
Marquart, and Bill Turner.
Frank Tallman had hangars at Flabob, which he used for restoring
military aircraft. He later paired up with Paul Mantz, forming
Tallmantz Aviation in the mid-1950s, and the dynamic duo provided
Hollywood with a steady supply of aircraft and pilots. Jim Appleby
also set up shop at Flabob, producing a wide range of flying
replicas of World War I aircraft, many of which were used in feature
films. He also supplied many non-flying replicas to the 94th Aero
Squadron restaurant chain.
Ray Stits designed and test flew 16 amateur-built designs at the
facility, including the world famous Sky Baby, a biplane with an
eight-foot wingspan. He also founded EAA’s historic first chapter at
Flabob, and went on to develop his now-famous Stits Covering, known
currently as Polyfiber, which is still located at Flabob. Lou Stolp
developed many designs at Flabob, and refined his Stolp Starduster
here. As of April 2003, the Stolp Starduster Corporation has
announced its intention to move back to Flabob from its current
location.
Ed Marquart used the facilities here to give life to his Maverick,
Lancer, and eventually the popular Charger aircraft. Bill Turner
built a number of replicas of great racers, including the Miles &
Atwood racer, the DeHavilland Comet, Gee Bee Z, and Roscoe Turner’s
Meteor. He also worked with EAA Chapter One to restore Benny
Howard’s “Pete.” Several of Turner’s replicas are currently active
in the airshow circuit.
Not surprisingly, many of these new aircraft designs and projects
were conceived in the airport cafe.
Flabob Airport has become a legend in the past half-century as one
of the most prolific centers of aircraft design, construction, and
restoration. The Wathen Foundation is dedicated to preserving the
history of Flabob and encouraging new involvement in aviation. So
keep an eye out on your next visit to the Flabob Cafe, you may just
see aviation history being born. |
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