Departure
93%
vs 95% ▼ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Riverside Municipal Airport (KRAL) lies four miles southwest of downtown Riverside, California, and is one of the busiest FAA contract-towered fields in the state, blending general and corporate aviation with a substantial flight-training community. Its two asphalt runways, including a full-length ILS approach on the main strip, sit within Class D airspace that also accommodates the non-towered Flabob traffic pattern nearby, making careful radio work and pattern awareness essential for visiting pilots.
Riverside Municipal Airport, historically known as Riverside Arlington Airport, is a city-operated general and corporate aviation field on the western edge of Riverside, California. It has long served as a base for airline history, flight training, and aviation education, and today hosts around 100 based general aviation aircraft alongside several flight schools, making it a busy and interesting destination for a visiting simulator pilot.
The airport sits within Class D controlled airspace, four miles southwest of downtown Riverside, the county seat of Riverside County, California. It is in close proximity to several other Inland Empire airfields, including the non-towered Flabob and Corona Municipal airports; the Riverside Class D airspace includes a cutout to accommodate the Flabob traffic pattern, so pilots should expect a steady flow of traffic transiting between the two fields nearby.
Riverside Municipal has two paved, lit runways. The main runway, 09/27, is 5,401 feet long with a hard surface and is equipped with an ILS approach to Runway 09. The crosswind runway, 16/34, is 2,849 feet long, also hard-surfaced and lit, and is generally suited to smaller aircraft.
Riverside Tower operates on 121 MHz, which also serves as the field's CTAF. Ground control is on 121.7 MHz, and the ATIS broadcasts on 128.8 MHz. Approach and departure services are provided by SoCal Approach/Departure on 135.4 MHz. Additional radio frequencies of 25.54 MHz and 122.05 MHz are listed, and UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz. The field supports ILS, GPS, and VOR instrument approaches.
The airport is served by a manned FAA contract control tower, reported to operate from 0700 to 2000 local time, and pilots should expect to work the tower on the CTAF/tower frequency of 121 MHz for pattern entry and departure. Because Riverside's Class D airspace includes a cutout for the adjacent Flabob traffic pattern, pilots should be alert for non-towered traffic operating nearby and coordinate accordingly when transiting or joining the pattern.
The airport lies four miles southwest of downtown Riverside, providing a straightforward landmark for orientation on approach. Pilots operating near the field should also be conscious of the nearby Flabob and Corona Municipal airports, whose traffic patterns lie close to Riverside's Class D boundary and its associated airspace cutout.
Runway 9/27 was paved around 1956, after which Bonanza Air Lines began service, followed by successor Air West, which flew Douglas DC-3s and Fairchild F-27s to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Palm Springs and other destinations until 1969. Golden West Airlines operated nonstop and direct de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter services to LAX through the 1970s. More recently, scheduled flights to Laughlin/Bullhead International Airport in Arizona, operated by Western Express Air, ended when that airline ceased operations at the end of May 2007. The airport has been home to Civil Air Patrol Squadron 5 since 2005. In 2013, FedEx Express donated a Boeing 727-200F to California Baptist University for its aviation science program; the aircraft, registration N266FE, remains on permanent display at the airport as a working laboratory for aviation students.
Riverside Municipal is described as the busiest FAA Federal Contract Tower in the state of California, ranking 116th out of 526 airports nationwide by total operations. It functions as a major aeronautical education hub, hosting seven different aviation schools offering flight, mechanical, and aviation degree programs, and is home to around 100 based general aviation aircraft. The field offers a full-service FBO, Riverside Air Service, competitive leasing rates across 140 airport hangars, and a manned FAA contract control tower reported to operate from 0700 to 2000 local time.