A development team of local residents, myself, Lindblad Architects Office, and consulting engineers
are forming a non-profit public interest association that represents a consortium of community
investors, to ensure a successful development, construction, occupancy and operation of an Electric
Aircraft Field, (EAF) and of a low density "15 minute community," where daily needs are within a
short walk, bicycle or transit trips, centered around the EAF, 2 miles from San Jacinto's central
business district.
Our EAF and "15 minute community" are based on a "living building" concept in which ecological
resilience and sustainability are regenerated on the EAF site and in the surrounding "15 minute
community," to address habitability challenges of extreme climate disruption.
The airport hangar is subterranean to allow airport operations to economically function with
extreme and ever rising temperatures on the surface.
The EAF is located on nine acres between North Sanderson Avenue and Ramona Expressway.
Our proposed airport has a grass runway with the hangar subterranean, highlighting a control tower
with rammed earth splayed walls, as the only building above grade.
The Soboba Band of Luiseno' Indians will operate and manage the EAF and pilot training base, with
the assistance of Hemet’s Squadron Fifty-Nine of the California Wing Group 3, Civil Air Patrol, to
ensure addressing the current shortage of military and commercial pilots to fly aircraft, now
numbering 100,000, by the introduction of training electric aircraft such as the Pipistrel Alpha
Electro. The Bureau of Indian Affairs will own the EAF.
The EAF, featuring a grassy field, with light-weight electric aircraft, militates noise, while recharging
the groundwater aquifer.
Just three aircraft accommodate eight to nine training flights per day, with a small solar photovoltaic
array and high capacity chargers.
We selected the electric Pipistrel for our motorized glider pilot training, in compliance with Federal
Air Regulations part 20. [See footnote 1]
Our EAF provides the Civil Air Patrol program for youngsters, aged twelve to fourteen, enrolled in the
motorized glider flight program, to attain private pilot status by age sixteen. [See footnote 2]
The electric aircraft are lowered to the subterranean hangar and hoisted to the surface runway by
two separate circular elevator platforms, one for arriving aircraft, and one for departing aircraft.
Both platforms are situated adjacent to the control tower, which is of rammed earth construction.
Cable guided electric tow motors process aircraft to chargers, hangar storage, and flight departure.
Charging the Pipistrel training aircraft can be completed in one hour with a 20 kilowatt charger. The
six passenger Apaire Tailwind commuter aircraft, equipped with a faster charger, provides quicker
turnaround for shuttling passengers between San Jacinto and nearby regional airports such LAX and
John Wayne. Our EAF is also envisioned for the advent of electric flying cars, such as the Xpeng X2,
that flies for 35 minutes on a three hour charge.
Our formation of a non-profit public interest association will contract and finalize preliminary design
development building and site plans to secure grant applications approvals.
An immediate financial return is realized from a revenue stream by finding buyers for site recovered
sandstone, comprising an estimated 71 one mile long trains of gondola rail cars filled with site
sandstone, to underwrite project costs.
A geotechnical investigation of the nine acre building site will determine the allowed depth of the 22
foot high subterranean round shape, the dynamic structural load capacities, for subterranean hangar,
groundwater aquifer, above grade rammed earth control tower, for our 140,000 square foot, EAF
hangar, housing approximately 51 aircraft.
Whether borehole tunneling, or other methods of subterranean sandstone excavation are suitable to
meet our site condition requirements, is also to be determined by the soils and geology investigation.
An estimated 327,000 cubic yards of subterranean sandstone are to be excavated, to create the
hangar, with a diameter of 580 feet.
The above-grade landing and take-off field is irrigated by an subsurface drip irrigation system of gray
water supplied by adjacent housing.
The field of native grasses can be cut and harvested for animal food supplement, adhering to our
"living building" concept, with local economic and ecological benefits, by training new pilots, skilled
in flying decarbonized, zero emission and quiet aircraft.
Footnotes:
The Civil Air Patrol has been an auxiliary of the Air Force since 1947. In the new system:
At six flight hours, a glider license is obtained.
At twelve flight hours, a commercial glider license is obtained.
During the next flight hours, the "right of passage," or solo flight is completed.
At 20 hours, a check ride in a powered flight is completed for the PRIVATE PILOT Certificate.
Training pilots for electric motorized gliders would cost the AIR FORCE, which finances the aircraft,
maintenance, training, Ten Thousand Dollars, versus gas powered at Fifty Thousand Dollars,
alleviating the need that twenty-four Squadrons compete for six planes.
For youngsters aged twelve to fourteen, enrolled in the Civil Air Patrol, at the same field, where
Federal Air Regulation Part 20 training is completed, compliance with Federal Air Regulation Part
107 “DRONE License” is provided, with a small training area with obstacles, which meets the
required “Ground School, “ for achieving PRIVATE PILOT status, fulfilling the “Search & Rescue” part
of the original mission of the Civil Air Patrol, to locate missing persons and to assist FEMA in damage
estimates of local disasters.
