French Valley Airport is a county-owned public-use airport

Airport

An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

 in southwestern Riverside County

Riverside County, California

Riverside County is a county in the U.S. state of California. One of 58 California counties, it covers in the southern part of the state, and stretches from Orange County to the Colorado River, which forms the state border with Arizona. The county derives its name from the city of Riverside,...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, located on Highway 79 near the communities of Murrieta

Murrieta, California

Murrieta has a Mediterranean climate or Dry-Summer Subtropical . Murrieta has plenty of sunshine throughout the year, with an average of 263 sunshine days and 35 days with measurable precipitation annually....

 and Temecula

Temecula, California

Temecula is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States with a population of 100,097 according to the 2010 United States Census, making it the lowest populated American city over 100,000 population. It was incorporated on December 1, 1989...

.

Facilities and aircraft

French Valley Airport covers an area of 261 acres (105.6 ha) which contains one asphalt

Asphalt

Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...

 paved runway

Runway

According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...

 which is designated as 18/36 and measures 6,000 x 75 ft (1,829 x 23 m).

For the 12-month period ending December 30, 2009, the airport had 98,185 aircraft operations, an average of 269 per day, all of which were general aviation

General aviation

General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...

. There are 170 aircraft based at this airport: 82% single engine, 12% multi-engine, 1% jet aircraft

Jet aircraft

A jet aircraft is an aircraft propelled by jet engines. Jet aircraft generally fly much faster than propeller-powered aircraft and at higher altitudes – as high as . At these altitudes, jet engines achieve maximum efficiency over long distances. The engines in propeller-powered aircraft...

, 2% helicopter

Helicopter

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

s and 1% ultralights.

There is also Wings and Rotors Air Museum in hangar 7 (Bld 31), with military displays, flyable helicopters and an F-4 Phantom II in restoration to fly. WWW.wingsandrotors.org