January 18, 2025 - Saturday - Today we were in Jurupa Valley, CA, just outside of Riverside. Our destination was the Flabob Airport. Flabob is the fifth oldest airport in California. Founded in 1925 as Riverside’s first civil airport, Flabob is a hub for homebuilders, antique airplane buffs, and everyone devoted to sport and family aviation. While it began as the Riverside Municipal Airport, in 1943 the strip was purchased by Flavio Madariaga and Bob Bogen, partners who operated a machine shop, hence the new airport name, Flabob.
There are a lot of monuments and statues around the entrance.
There's even a monument to the Wright brothers.
It's a functioning airport.
This is the control tower.
Walking around we noticed the steel cables anchored to the ground and then realized that this was how the airplanes were tied down.
You can see Mt. Rubidoux from the runway. Judy and I had hiked to the top a few years ago.
There are many vintage airplanes here.
The Flabob Express has curtains in the windows.
It's very nostalgic to walk around this airport.
After looking around the facilities, we had lunch at the popular Flabob Airport Cafe.
This is a story how Flavio got his revenge at the FAA.
Judy had their BBQ Pulled Pork Skillet that was good, but needed some more BBQ sauce.
I chose the Chili Relleno that was delicious.
