Franklin Field , formerly Q53, is a public

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

located four miles (6 km) southeast of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

(CBD) of Franklin in

Sacramento County Sacramento County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,585,055. Its county seat is Sacramento, which has been the state capital of California since 1854. Sacrament ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is mostly used for

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

. The airport was used for bomber training during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and in 1947 it was acquired by the County of Sacramento.

World War II

During

, the airport was designated as Franklin Air Force Auxiliary Field and was an auxiliary training airfield for both

Mather Army Airfield Mather Air Force Base (Mather AFB) was a United States Air Force Base, which was closed in 1993 pursuant to a post-Cold War BRAC decision. It was located east of Sacramento, on the south side of U.S. Route 50 in Sacramento County, Californ ...

and Stockton Army Airfield, California.

Facilities and aircraft

Franklin Field covers and has two

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

s: * Runway 18/36: 3,240 x 60 ft (988 x 18 m), surface:

asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...

* Runway 9/27: 3,100 x 60 ft (945 x 18 m), surface: asphalt For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2020, the airport averaged 89 aircraft operations per day, or about 32,500 per year. This was completely

. For the same time period, 10 aircraft were based on the field, all single-engine

airplanes An airplane (American English), or aeroplane (Commonwealth English), informally plane, is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, ...

Accidents & Incidents

*On April 25, 2004, a

Piper PA-28 Cherokee The Piper PA-28 Cherokee is a family of two-seat or four-seat light aircraft built by Piper Aircraft and designed for flight training, air taxi and personal use.Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', pages 62–64. Werner & Werner Corp, ...

made a hard landing at Franklin. While the commercial pilot and flight instructor were practicing landings, the pilot being instructed noticed that the plane was approaching too slow. As the pilot flared to land, he touched down hard on the main gear and elected to go around. As he attempted a return to his home airport, the landing gear would not lock in the extended position for some time. After landing, it was revealed that several wing ribs were substantially damaged while maintenance personnel examined the aircraft the next day. The probable cause of the incident was found to be the pilot under instruction's failure to maintain adequate airspeed on final and a misjudged flare, leading to a stall and hard landing. Contributing were the instructor's inadequate supervision and failure to initiate timely remedial action. *On October 10, 2009, a Tecnam P2004 Bravo experienced a loss of engine power on approach to Franklin Field. The aircraft received substantial damage when the nose landing gear was sheared off and the airplane nose over and came to rest inverted. The probable cause of the accident was fuel starvation due to the instructor's improper fuel system management. Neither the CFI nor the student pilot on board were injured.

Current Tenants

The airport currently houses the Sacramento County Sheriff's Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center (RCCC). The Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center (RCCC) is the primary custody facility for inmates sentenced to County Jail from the Sacramento County Courts. An increasing percentage of the inmates are pre-sentence detainees housed at RCCC to keep the population at the Main Jail below the limit set by Federal decree. In addition, the Correctional Center houses inmates en route to other jurisdictions, federal prisoners under a contract with the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, and reciprocal prisoners from other counties. RCCC is the primary reception point for parole violators who are being held pending revocation hearings and the central transportation point for all defendants sentenced to State Prison. Classified as a Type II facility, RCCC accepts newly arrested persons booked by law enforcement agencies in the south part of Sacramento County. A staff of over 180 Sheriff's Office employees provides supervision to all inmates to ensure they live in a safe, secure and healthy environment. Several support services activities augment the custody staff and provide needed services and programs for inmate housing.

References

*
Franklin Field
(official Sacramento County Airport System site)

External links