Nearly 100 pilots flew in from all over Aug. 31 to mark the closure of Art Scholl Aviation, a staple at Rialto Municipal Airport for 36 years. The impromptu fly-in also commemorated the impending closure of the Rialto airport later this year, according to a report in the San Bernadino County Sun newspaper.
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Very sad day to see the Rialto Airport close down. This was the field I grew up on as a kid. I was a rowdy kid that couldn’t stay out of trouble if my life depended on it. I got on the airport one day looking around because I always had a passion for aviation. Needless to say I got caught. This group of guys took me in and took me under their wing (no pun intended).
I would go to the airport every weekend from 7 in the morning till some times after dark working on the planes. When they found out I was failing math they told me I wasn’t allowed to come back if my grades didn’t improve. That was the kick in the ass I needed. My grades improved and I could still go to the airport. I graduated from Eisenhower high with a 4.0 in 1997 and went right into the Navy and was a Structural and Hydraulics mechanic on F-14’s. I got out after 4 years and went right into the California Air National Guard at March Air Reserve Base and been there ever since.
I still continued to volunteer my time at the Rialto airport all the way up to and even after the closing. I am going to truly miss that place. That airport was my childhood. It was closed for all the wrong reasons, and had plenty of opportunity for growth. All the guys moved to several different airports around the area. I have gone to visit some of them, but none of those airports have the feel as Rialto did. Rialto airport was home, it had history and its a shame it’ll be leveled and just wiped away. If there was something I could do to save that airport I would do it in a NY second.