Reidâ€"Hillview Airport of Santa Clara County (IATA: RHV, ICAO: KRHV, FAA LID: RHV) is in the eastern part of San Jose, in Santa Clara County, California. The airport is owned by Santa Clara County and is near the Evergreen district of San Jose where aviation pioneer John J. Montgomery experimented with gliders in 1911. Reidâ€"Hillview Airport is also the official general aviation airport for the 2015 Super Bowl in Levis Stadium (nearby Santa Clara, CA).
Reidâ€"Hillview is a general aviation airport; there is no scheduled airline service. As with most general aviation airports air charter operations are available. The airport has a control tower that operates 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time. The FAA classifies Reidâ€"Hillview as a reliever airport for San Jose International Airport.
History
Groundbreaking for Reidâ€"Hillview airport came in 1937. Bob and Cecil Reid built the Garden City Airport in 1935, which was quickly closed to make room for U.S. Route 101. Their second site was northwest of the Hillview golf course, hence the name. Until 1946 the single runway was unpaved.
Reidâ€"Hillview was a single runway airport until 1965, when a second runway was added. The control tower opened in October 1967.
The airport was the origin for an emergency supply airlift to the Watsonville Municipal Airport following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, after mountain and coastal roads were blocked, cutting off Santa Cruz and Watsonville from relief efforts by ground. The Watsonville Airport estimates that it received 100 tons of supplies via the airlift during the week following the quake. John McAvoy and Bill Dunn of the Reidâ€"Hillview Airport Association received the 1990 Grand Award from the Bay Area's Metropolitan Transportation Commission for organizing the airlift.
In 2010 San Jose State University's Aviation program relocated to Reidâ€"Hillview. The University operates out of the Swift Building, where it holds classes during the academic year.
Fixed-base operators (FBOs)
At Reidâ€"Hillview, fixed-base operators (FBOs) compete for fuel sales, aircraft rentals and/or flight training.
- The Flying 20's
- Air Accord
- AeroDynamic Aviation, formerly Amelia Reid Aviation
- Nice Air Aviation
- Squadron 2 Flying Club
- Trade Winds Aviation
- Victory Aero Maintenance
- Aerial Avionics
- San Jose Fuel Company
Future airport plans
The Santa Clara County wrote up a 120+ page document containing information for future plans and expansions for Reidâ€"Hillview. Around the mid-2000s the County announced they would demo the second story of the Airport Terminal to make room for new offices for the Airport Administration. They failed to follow up on this plan and the second story has been sitting idle ever since.
Included in the document, the County also planned on adding small expansions to the runway to allow turboprops and small business jets to land. Although turboprops and small business jets still land in the current runway, this minor expansion will allow a larger flow of these type of aircraft to land.
Ground transportation
Capitol Expressway (County Route G21) is at the entrance to the airport at Cunningham Ave.
Rental cars/taxi
Enterprise car rental is available on the field next to the Airport Shoppe. Nice Air also has rental vehicles.
Bus
The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) has its Eastridge Transit Center across Tully Road at Eastridge Mall, about 1/2 mile walk southbound along Capitol Expressway.
VTA has plans for a bus rapid transit line from the Diridon train station in downtown San Jose to the Eastridge Transit Center. Further plans with less certain funding include a light rail extension from the Alum Rock station to Eastridge. In both cases, the segment along Capitol Expressway would serve Reidâ€"Hillview Airport.
Other airport amenities
As of a few years ago, Reidâ€"Hillview Airport had vending machines, a pilot's lounge and break room. Santa Clara County passed a new law stating the terminal would no longer allow unhealthy food or drinks to be sold inside. This means coffee and all the vending machines that used to be there would no longer exist in the terminal. Now, all that remains is a water drinking fountain and bathrooms. However, there is still a seating area inside the terminal.
See also
- Alum Rock Airport, historical airport nearby in Alum Rock from 1919 to approximately 1936
- Amelia Reid
- List of attractions in Silicon Valley
- Palo Alto Airport
- San Jose International Airport
- San Martin Airport
References
External links
- Reidâ€"Hillview Airport (official site)
- Reidâ€"Hillview Airport Association
- Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Chapter 62 â€" Local chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association
- Santa Clara Valley Chapter of Ninety-Nines â€" Local chapter of the Ninety-Nines International organization for women pilots
- Civil Air Patrol Squadrons based at RHV: search & rescue, aerospace education
- Squadron 80 â€" Senior squadron, adult volunteers
- Squadron 36 â€" Cadet squadron, youth volunteers
- live webcam at AeroDynamic Aviation
- Photos and video
- search for "reid-hillview airport" at Flickr
- search for "reid-hillview airport" at WebShots
- search for "reid-hillview airport" at YouTube
- Approval Of Noise Compatibility Program for Reidâ€"Hillview Airport, San Jose, CA at Environmental Protection Agency
- FAA Airport Master Record for RHV (Form 5010 PDF)
- FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective September 14, 2017
- Resources for this airport:
- FAA airport information for RHV
- AirNav airport information for KRHV
- ASN accident history for RHV
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart, Terminal Procedures
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