Departure
94%
vs 95% ▼ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
San Carlos Airport (KSQL) is a busy single-runway general aviation field on the San Francisco Peninsula, tucked hard against US Highway 101 in San Carlos, California. It sits in one of the most congested pieces of airspace in the country, sandwiched among San Francisco International's Class B airspace and more than a dozen other Bay Area airfields, making it a demanding but rewarding destination for the VFR sim pilot. The airport has a long aviation lineage stretching back to the First World War and today hosts hundreds of based aircraft, flight schools and the adjacent Hiller Aviation Museum.
San Carlos Airport is a general aviation field on the San Francisco Peninsula, about 20 miles south of downtown San Francisco, in the city of San Carlos, California. It is operated by the Department of Public Works of the County of San Mateo and is home to roughly 500 based general aviation aircraft along with more than 25 aviation-related businesses, flight schools and flying clubs. For a sim pilot the field offers a compact, single-runway operation set within genuinely complex Bay Area airspace, and its history and neighbouring Hiller Aviation Museum add extra character to a visit.
The airport lies immediately east of US Highway 101 (the Bayshore Freeway), adjacent to the Holly Street off-ramp, on the bay side of the freeway in San Carlos, California. It sits within a dense and complex mix of controlled airspace that includes San Francisco International Airport's Class B airspace along with at least a dozen other busy Bay Area airfields, and the local traffic pattern, noise abatement routing and approach and departure paths are all designed as part of the wider San Francisco Bay airspace plan.
San Carlos Airport has a single physical runway, 12/30, 2,611 feet long with a hard surface and runway lighting. There is no ILS approach. The relatively short length restricts the field to piston aircraft and some turboprop business types; aircraft with a maximum gross weight in excess of 12,500 pounds are prohibited from using the airport.
San Carlos Tower and Ground operate on 119 MHz and 121.6 MHz respectively, with the CTAF also published as 119 MHz. ATIS is broadcast on 125.9 MHz, and UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz. Approach and departure services are provided by NorCal Approach on 133.95 MHz (with 33.82 MHz also listed) and NorCal Departure on 135.65 MHz. The control tower provides service 14 hours per day, 365 days a year; outside these hours, or during periods when the tower is unstaffed, the field reverts to non-towered operation and pilots should use standard uncontrolled-field procedures on the CTAF.
A voluntary noise abatement procedure is in effect at San Carlos, reflecting the airport's location amid residential areas and its position within the wider San Francisco Bay airspace plan. Published noise abatement guidance covers specific departure routings, including procedures for Runway 30 departures such as the Hillsdale Departure. Given the airport's proximity to San Francisco International's Class B airspace and numerous neighbouring fields, pilots should expect closely managed approach and departure paths coordinated with NorCal Approach and Departure.
The airport is readily identified from the air by its position alongside US Highway 101 at the Holly Street off-ramp, on the bay side of the freeway. The Hiller Aviation Museum sits immediately adjacent to the airport on its western side and serves as a useful visual landmark when locating or joining the field.
San Carlos has hosted an airport since 1917, when the San Carlos Flying Field was established during the First World War by J. Paulding Edwards, who built a five-plane hangar and graded a runway near what is now Terminal Way. Operations moved in 1940 to a site near Brittan and Industrial Roads, and separately the Cooley family established another airfield near today's Twin Dolphin Drive in the mid-1930s with a 2,100 by 200 foot runway, later relocating it because proximity to nearby sloughs limited runway length. The Cooleys opened the present airport site on the east side of Highway 101 in 1948; in 1952 ownership passed to Francis Michaud, who renamed it San Carlos-Belmont Airport and drew up plans, never realised, to lengthen the runway to 7,000 feet. San Mateo County purchased the airport in 1964. During the Second World War, Chinese student pilots trained at San Carlos before the United States entered the conflict, and the field's flight schools, including West Bay Aviation in the 1960s and early 1970s, trained generations of local pilots.
San Carlos Airport today is entirely funded through user and business fees, receiving no money from the county's General Fund, and remains a significant general aviation hub for the San Francisco Peninsula. It is home to approximately 500 based aircraft owned by individuals, businesses, flight schools and flying clubs, supporting around 2,500 area pilots, and hosts over 25 aviation-related businesses. The field is also home to the Civil Air Patrol's West Bay Composite Squadron 192 and sits next to the Hiller Aviation Museum. The control tower normally operates 14 hours a day year-round, though staffing shortages have at times left the tower unstaffed during scheduled hours, requiring pilots to treat the field as uncontrolled during those periods.