Plans for Lampson Field

Weather Station Upgrades

Pilots need accurate and complete weather information when approaching Lampson Field. This is especially true for instrument (IFR) and commercial operations.

Our current Automated Weather Observation System (AWOS) does not measure the height of low overcast or clouds (ceiling). The aging current system also has an extremely weak transmitter that has a very limited airborne reception range.

Sewer Project

At the urging of LCAA, the County has allocated funds to replace our aging and piece-meal septic systems. The new system would include a connection (sewer pipe) to the City of Lakeport's facility located to the north-west of Lampson Field. The FAA has agreed to a 90/10 matching grant for the project.

Recently, the City has tied our sewer connection into their facility to their annexation plans for the commercial area along South Main Street. The County has been opposing this annexation effort. This move by the City has halted progress on the much needed sewer system for Lampson Field.

Pilot Lounge and Public Rest Rooms

Lets be honest, one of the first things that most folks need after a long cross-country flight is a rest room.

The public toilet facility at our airport currently consists of a port-a-potty located near the rotating beacon on the corner of our visitor parking ramp. The port-a-potty is certainly better than nothing, but hardly a nice welcome for visitors to our County.

We propose that the small building between the restaurant and LASAR be re-opened to the public as both a Pilot Lounge and a public rest room.

A few years ago, access to the rest room was moved to an external (outside) door. Perhaps an interim solution would be to simply unlock that one door. Of course, cleaning of that facility would need to be arranged.

Fuel Station

The existing self-service fueling station is located on the north side of the approach end of runway 28. This station was built several decades ago by one of our LCAA members who was in the auto and home fuel business. That member has since pasted away and the fueling services are now run by a firm based in Oakland.

The County has indicated that it would like to build a modern, state-of-the-art, self-serve re-fueling facility on the airport.

New Hangars

Population growth in County has also contributed to a growth in the number of aircraft based at Lampson Field. Modern new hangars are needed.

The Master Plan calls for the placement of new hangars in the western most portion of the airport property on the south side of the existing taxiway.

We have approached the County with a plan to construct privately owned hangars on land leased from the County.

Runway 16/34

Several years ago, the County Board of Supervisors approved the construction of a "north-south" runway and it was made part of the Airport Master Plan. The need for this "cross" runway has been included in each and every Airport Master Plan since that approval.

Runway 16 would perfectly align itself for a straight-in approach for the recently published RNAV(GPS)A IFR approach into Lampson.

Click here to get a PDF (printable) copy of our current IFR Approach Plate (not for navigational purposes).

The heading for the GPS approach is 164 degrees. Straight-in approaches normally allow for much lower IFR "minimums" (ceilings and visibility) in bad or marginal weather, perhaps as low as 200 feet and 1/2 mile visibility, versus 1,200 feet and 1.5 miles for our existing "circle to land" IFR approach. This would be very attractive for potential commercial, air-taxi, Cal-Fire, or freight operations.

The proposed new runway would cross the existing runway (28/10) at about mid-field, approximately where the wind sock and AWOS are today. An associated new taxiway would be located on the east side of the new runway and west of all existing hangars (Tom's Aircraft, et al) on both the north and south sides of the airport.

Although all parties fully understand that current FAA funding is tight and that construction of this runway is likely several years off, it is very, very important, and costs nothing, to keep this commitment in the new Plan that is currently under revision.

Airport Master Plan

The Master Plan for Lampson Field is currently be reviewed and updated. We think that is only natural to have one or more local airmen sitting in on this process.