Anyone that follows my blog postings (and I sincerely hope someone does!) will be well aware of the amount of time I’ve spent outside Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport over the last couple of years. In terms of sheer variety of types and operators which regularly use the airfield there are few locations which come close. In addition, the airport management has a very positive attitude towards allowing the public to watch operations, providing a very pleasant park area adjacent to the main ramp outside the FBO where many of the interesting visitors park.
The airport can trace its history back to the Williams AFB, once one of the USAF’s main pilot training bases. The airfield closed in 1993, resulting in substantial job losses and also considerable loss of revenue for the surrounding area. As part of a plan to offset these losses, the Williams Gateway Airport Authority was formed with the intention of reopening the airfield as a civilian airport. This was successfully achieved when Williams Gateway Airport opened in 1994.
The airport name was changed to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in 2008, better reflecting the area which it serves. The airport is now overseen by the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority (PMGAA) which consists of representatives from the cities of Phoenix and Mesa, the towns of Gilbert and Queen Creek and also from the Gila River Indian Community.
Nowadays, the airport supports all manner of aviation activities including cargo, flight training, maintenance and corporate aviation. There is also a small passenger terminal which is mainly used by Allegiant Air, which offers an increasing number of flights to destinations throughout the US. The airport’s location in the eastern suburbs of Phoenix allows it to relieve some of the pressure on the busy Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport and also gives the local community the opportunity to fly from an airfield much closer to home – Mesa is in fact the third largest city in Arizona behind Phoenix and Tucson, so it represents plenty of potential customers wishing to travel to and from it.
The FBO at the airport is Gateway Aviation Services. Over the last couple of years the FBO has built up an excellent reputation with a number of military operators, that tend to use Gateway as a refuelling stop or as a convenient operating location when making use of the nearby ranges. Most common types are USMC Harriers and trainers from the USAF and USN. In addition Gateway Aviation Services also handles a lot of corporate and general aviation movements.
Over the last couple of years, the airport has held several open days, allowing the local public to learn more about their airport, and also to meet representatives from some of the companies and organisations who are located there. The most recent had been held in November 2008, but in January this year, the airport management announced that the event would return in 2011. The chosen date was the 12th March and invitations were sent out to a variety of local operators and also to some of the military units which regularly make use of Gateway Aviation Services.
In a fortuitous (and purely accidental) piece of planning, I ended up being in the Phoenix area for both the Aviation Day on the Saturday and also on the Friday afternoon when many of the military aircraft arrived for display. Gates opened at 9am, by which time a sizeable queue had already developed. Entry was free, but the public were encouraged to donate tinned food to the United Food Bank, and judging by the overflowing collection boxes at the end of the day, many of them did.
The Aviation Day was held on the Gateway Aviation Services ramp, adjacent to the famous park where I have spent so much time over the last few years! The large ramp proved perfect for an event such as this, and there certainly was plenty to see.
The US military supplied very strong support to the event, with the US Marine Corps in particular providing four aircraft for static. These consisted of an AV-8B Harrier from MCAS Yuma and three helicopters from MCAS Camp Pendleton. Harriers are virtually a permanent fixture at Gateway on any given weekend, so it was wholly appropriate that one of them attend the Aviation Day.
The Harrier on display was part of a pair of jets which arrived on Friday afternoon, operated by VMA-311 “Tomcats”. Both aircraft were “straight” AV-8Bs, rather than the more common radar equipped AV-8B+s. The public were able to view the cockpit of the Harrier, with the pilots in attendance to answer questions – whilst all the military personnel present did a great job of interacting with the public, special mention should go to the two Harrier pilots who spent the whole event (9am-2pm) with their aircraft – and then departed on a training mission over the ranges in the afternoon!
The USMC helicopters on display all hailed from the HMLA squadrons at Camp Pendleton and represented a selection of old and new versions of the same airframe. The Corps is currently in the process of supplementing its older UH-1N Huey and AH-1W Cobra with the UH-1Y Venom and AH-1Z Viper. It had been intended to have an example of each of these four types on display, but in the event the AH-1W was prevented from attending.
Even without the AH-1W, this was still an impressive line-up of Marine Corps helicopters, with the Venom and Viper making a formation arrival late on Saturday afternoon. Both are very impressive machines and it was certainly interesting to hear them arrive – the new four bladed rotors making a menacing growl, more akin to the AH-64 Apache than the traditional “whup-whup” of the Huey!
Speaking of the Apache, an aircraft from the Arizona Army National Guard was also a big attraction for visitors. The Apache flew in from its base at Silverbell Army Heliport, Marana, on Saturday morning just prior to doors opening. The aircraft on display was a proper workhorse, with its faded and patched up paintwork making it look like a real warrior.
The USAF sent two aircraft for display at the Aviation Day – the largest of these was a KC-135 Stratotanker from the 161 ARW of the Arizona ANG, based at nearby Sky Harbor airport. The KC-135 was open to the public and there were long lines to get on board throughout the day.
Also from the USAF but from slightly further away was an HH-60G Pave Hawk from 943 RQG of the Air Force Reserve at Davis-Monthan AFB. Pave Hawks from this unit are reasonably regular visitors to Gateway, while making use of the nearby ranges for training.
In addition to the aircraft on display, the Aviation Day provided a great opportunity to get a closer look at some of the military jets operating from Gateway for the weekend. These included eleven T-38 Talon trainers from Sheppard and Vance AFBs, which flew multiple training missions during the day. In the absence of a proper flying display, the T-38 operations provided a welcome and noisy distraction!
Alongside the military aircraft on display there were also extensive displays from local law enforcement and public safety agencies. The Mesa Police Department sent one of its MD500E helicopters, along with vehicles and equipment, including a SWAT team display. The Maricopa County Sherriff Department also sent a helicopter – a former US Army Bell OH-58 Kiowa.
There are many interesting organisations based at Gateway Airport and many of them were represented at the Aviation Day. Not least amongst these is ATSI – Advanced Training Systems International. ATSI operates a fleet of former Israeli A-4 Skyhawks which are used for a variety of roles, including operating as aggressor aircraft during exercises.
The ATSI fleet consists of both A-4N and TA-4Js; on display at the Aviation Day was an example of the single seat A-4N, painted in overall light grey. During the day, one of the camouflaged TA-4Js also arrived at the airport, apparently returning from a project to support the development of the KC-767.
Another private company offering specialised training is APS, which offers upset recovery and aerobatic training to pilots. APS use the Extra 300 aerobatic aircraft and its aircraft flew several missions during the day, each time performing smart formation take offs and tactical breaks for landing.
One of the most familiar sights at Gateway airport is the yellow and black Eurocopter AS350 helicopter of PHI Air Medical. This aircraft acts as an air ambulance and stands alert with a crew of paramedics ready to respond to a call out. During the day, the helicopter was forced to depart the static display to respond to an emergency but returned shortly afterwards.
Gateway Airport is close to Falcon Field, also in the Mesa area. Falcon Field is home to a huge variety of warbirds, including several operated by the Commemorative Air Force (CAF), and these attended en masse, arriving in several mixed formations.
The first of these consisted of a C-47, a pair of Harvards, a TBM Avenger and a P-51 Mustang. The formation performed several flypasts before breaking and landing. The C-47 carries a very convincing desert camouflage scheme and USAAF roundels. I’ve seen this aircraft on the ground at Falcon Field many times before, so it was very nice to see it in the air.
Several other mixed formations also arrived during the day, consisting of a mixture of different types. Many of these were Nanchang CJ-6 trainers in a variety of colourful schemes. This Chinese trainer seems to be a very popular choice for owners in the area – a couple of weeks ago a training symposium at Falcon Field attracted large numbers of Nanchangs. One of the smartest aircraft in the group which arrived was painted in a mottled dark grey colour scheme with black engine cowls, looking very much like a potential WWII Japanese scheme in progress.
Also arriving were further T-6s and T-34s. One of the more interesting T-6s was a Canadian built Harvard Mk.IV which has been modified to represent a North American NA-50. Whilst it is certainly an odd looking machine, it looked very smart in its US Navy colour scheme.
Another extremely smart formation consisted of four Boeing Stearman and a single 1940 Waco UPF-7. These aircraft arrived and departed together and in common with the other warbirds, provided several flypasts on arrival and departure.
One locally based aircraft managed to make a spectacular arrival without ever getting airborne! Gateway is home to one of the few remaining airworthy F-104 Starfighters, in this case a Canadian built CF-104D two-seater. It is privately owned and, although it hasn’t flown for some time, it is a very smart looking machine. After performing a fast taxi run on the runway, the CF-104 taxied to the ramp under its own power with the J79 engine making its distinctive hooting sound.
The event concluded in the early afternoon and many of the attending aircraft departed straight afterwards, often with at least one flypast before heading off on course. Highlight of these departures was probably the Apache, which hover taxied all the way down to the far end of runway 30L before taking off and flying low down the full length of the runway!
The Gateway Aviation Day was undoubtedly a very successful day and attracted a large number of visitors, many of them families with young children. Brian Sexton is the airport’s Public Information Officer and he was very pleased with how the day went.
“The purpose of the event is to showcase our Airport tenants and the benefits of having an airport in the community. Thanks to our corporate sponsors, the event was free to the public and attracted approximately 10,000 visitors. We had over 50 aircraft on display, including service vehicles from Mesa Fire and Police.”
The whole day was well organised and well supported by a variety of civil and military organisations and agencies. For me, it was great to be shooting from the other side of the fence for once! I would hope that the success of the Aviation Day will encourage the PMGAA to organise similar open days in the future. The airport is currently in the process of planning a large expansion to facilities and public events such as the Gateway Aviation Day help to raise community awareness of the huge economic benefits that airports such as Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport can bring to their local communities.
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2011-04-08 - Matt
Paul, great pics and article. Thanks for the coverage and we hope to see you back out here soon.
Matt
2011-03-30 - Mike Traficano
Great Job! I was the pilot of the Mesa Police MD500E and it was great to see a large turnout for this event. As a former Marine I really loved checking out the Marine Corps Helicopters. I hope this continues in the future!
2011-03-29 - Jack
Nicely done Paul. You can mark it down for next year too.
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