Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields:
California - Ventura area
© 2002, © 2008 by Paul Freeman. Revised 5/10/08.
Conejo Valley Airport (revised 12/24/06) - Rancho Conejo Airport (revised 5/10/08) - Ventura Airpark (revised 5/27/06)
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Ventura Airpark, Ventura Beach, CA
34.26 North / 119.26 West (Northwest of Los Angeles, CA)
A 1947 aerial photo of the Ventura Airpark from the UCSB Map & Imagery Laboratory (courtesy of Daniel Cormode)
appeared to depict the field as having a single northwest/southeast runway.
The origins of this former small general aviation airport date to WW2,
when pilots began using a piece of marginal farmland owned by the Hobson family to operate aircraft
(according to The Aviation Museum of Santa Paula).
It was apparently not yet officially listed as an airport in 1947,
as it was not yet depicted on the February 1947 LA Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
However, a 1947 aerial photo from the UCSB Map & Imagery Laboratory (courtesy of Daniel Cormode)
appeared to depict the field as having a single northwest/southeast runway.
After learning how to fly during the war, Hobson grandson Walter Hoffman opened an airport on his famland.
Called Ventura Airpark, it was advertised as "The Private Pilots Beach Haven."
The runway stretched 2,250', nestled among fields of sugar beets and lettuce.
When the Air Park opened there were only about 50 houses at Pierpont.
The strip saw use by recreational fliers and local businesses, especially oil companies.
The Ventura Airpark, as depicted on a 1948 Ventura County Street Map (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
The earliest aeronautical chart depiction of the Ventura Airpark which has been located
was on the February 1949 LA Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
It depicted Ventura as having a 2,200' unpaved runway.
According to Tom Henderson,
the Ventura Airpark "was located along the beach in Ventura.
It was owned by the Hoffman family, who were large landholders in the Ventura area & were also aviation enthusiasts.
At least Walter Hoffman, who was the head of the family from the 1950's & 1960's.
One interesting anecdote - the Hoffmans owned the land for ages & built the airport.
It was not well aligned with the prevailing winds but I'm told it was moderately busy.
My flight instructor was also Walter Hoffman's instructor & he has many stories of flying into Ventura."
Ventura Airpark apparently gained a paved runway at some point between 1949-54,
as it was depicted on the September 1954 LA Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
as having a 2,400' hard surface runway.
Ventura Airpark was depicted in an unchanged manner
on the September 1960 LA Sectional Chart (according to Chris Kennedy).
The 1962 AOPA Airport Directory & the 1963 AOPA Airport Directory (according to Chris Kennedy)
described "Ventura Airpark" as having a single 2,450' "road mix" Runway 11/29.
The field was said to offer tiedowns & charter,
and the operator was listed as the Rotor Aids Maintenance Corp (a Bell dealer).
A 1962 aerial photo from the UCSB Map & Imagery Laboratory
appeared to depict Ventura Airpark as having a single northwest/southeast runway.
According to Tom Henderson,
"Then in the early 1960's the Government decided to turn US 101 into a freeway.
Hoffman saw a business opportunity.
The freeway was built approximately adjacent to the railroad tracks as they came over the Santa Clara River,
along the South end of the city of Ventura, and then along the Beach & up towards Santa Barbara.
I don't know how active Hoffman was in helping select that route,
but he did come to realize that large portions of the Freeway were going to be built above grade.
So lots of fill dirt would be required.
So Hoffman worked a deal whereby the State & Feds would buy fill dirt from him, excavating on the site of the airport.
The resulting hole in the ground was donated to the City to be made into Ventura Marina.
In turn Hoffman was able to develop the Ventura Keys development, with canals and boat slips behind the houses.
It was a monumental commercial success
and instantly became one of the ritzier addresses in Ventura County & remains so today.
Who else besides Walter Hoffman could dream up a scheme to have the State pay him a ton of money
to dig a hole on his property that he could then donate to the City in order to get approval to sell ritzy homes?"
Construction on the Ventura Keys Marina & housing development started in 1963,
which presumably was when the airport closed.
By the time of the 1964 LA Sectional Chart (courtesy of John Voss),
the former Ventura Airpark was depicted as "Aband arpt".
By the time of a 1970 aerial photo from the UCSB Map & Imagery Laboratory,
the the Ventura Keys housing development & marina had erased any trace of the former Ventura Airpark.
As seen in the 1994 USGS aerial photo, the site of the former airport
has been densely redeveloped as the Ventura Keys housing development & marina,
and not a trace remains of the former Ventura Airpark.
Tom Henderson reported in 2004,
"As recently as a couple years ago there was a very large aerial photo of the city
in one of the local restaurants that showed the airport in action.
But I think they redecorated recently & that photo is no longer there.
A 2004 aerial view by Clif Simonson of Ventura Keys, the location of the former Ventura Airpark.
The site of Ventura Airpark is located southwest of the intersection of East Harbor Boulevard & Peninsula Street.
Thanks to Tom Henderson for pointing out this airfield.
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Conejo Valley Airport, Thousand Oaks, CA
34.18 North / 118.88 West (Northwest of Burbank, CA)
An undated (1950s?) aerial view of the Conejo Valley Airport
(from the Local History Collection, Thousand Oaks Library, via Larry Simmer).
Conejo Valley Airport, as depicted on a 1953 Flight Chart (courtesy of Scott O'Donnell).
Conejo Valley Airport was apparently opened at some point between 1946-49,
as it was not depicted on LA Sectional Charts from 1946 or earlier.
The earliest reference to the field which has been located
was on the 1949 Los Angeles Sectional Chart (according to Chris Kennedy),
which depicted "Conejo Valley" as having a 2,800' unpaved runway.
The 1953 Flight Chart (courtesy of Scott O'Donnell) described Conejo Valley as having a 2,600' unpaved runway.
An article by John Mitchell in the 12/15/03 issue of the Ventura County Star
provided some recollections about the Conejo Valley Airport.
Bob Morrison recalled the airport as stretching from Thousand Oaks Boulevard
to where the restaurant is today at the Los Robles Golf Course.
"Clete Roberts, the newsman, used to keep his Stearman biplane there," Morrison said.
Leroy Aronson grew up in Thousand Oaks,
and said the airfield near present-day Moorpark Road & Thousand Oaks Boulevard had two locations.
The first location, he said, paralleled Ventura Road (Thousand Oaks Boulevard).
Then, in 1952, when the state ran a divided highway through the small town,
the airfield was moved to the south side of the highway, near what is now the golf course.
"I remember a T-shaped hangar at one end of the runway," Aronson said.
"Dad had a Piper Cub and I would take rides with him.
Also, I remember one time when a bunch of us kids were at the airport
and watched them shoot part of a 'Francis the Talking Mule' movie with Donald O'Connor."
Bob Cannon recalled that in the 1950s,
"The Thousand Oaks area was almost totally open grazing land with only a few farms.
Conejo Valley was interesting in that a creek crossed midway down the strip.
At that point there was a bridge that served as part of the runway."
An undated (circa 1950s?) photo by Bill Aronson (courtesy of Pete Mason) of a fly-in at Conejo Valley Airport.
Sven Larson recalled, "My family was a 'pioneer' family in the Conejo Valley, moving there in 1958.
I remember the Conejo Valley Airport which could be seen on the southwest side while driving on Highway 101.
I don't recall it being particularly active."
Accornding to Larry Simmer, Conejo Valley Airport was located at
"the corner of Thousand Oaks Boulevard & Moorpark Boulevard,
the main entrance to Thousand Oaks.
The winding road is the original California Highway 101/Thousand Oaks Boulevard,
which became a freeway in the 1960s & is offset to the left.
The airstrip is heading into what is now the Las Robles Golf Course, built in the 1960s."
A 1961 aerial photo from the UCSB Map & Imagery Laboratory
appeared to depict the Conejo Valley Airport as consisting of a single unpaved northwest/southeast runway,
but it was not apparent if the airport was still in operation by that point.
Conejo Valley Airport was apparently closed by 1962,
as it was no longer listed among active airfields in the 1962 AOPA Airport Directory.
The circa 2000 aerial photo of the site
shows that it had been redeveloped with buildings, Highway 101, and the golf course,
and not a trace appears to remain of the former airport.
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Rancho Conejo Airport, Thousand Oaks, CA
34.19 North / 118.92 West (Northwest of Burbank, CA)
A 1960 artist's concept of the planned Rancho Conejo Airport
(from the Local History Collection, Thousand Oaks Library, via Larry Simmer).
An early 1960s view of the ramp at Rancho Conejo Airport,
with four Beech 18s among the parked aircraft, indicating a corporate aircraft use of the field
(from the Local History Collection, Thousand Oaks Library, via Larry Simmer).
The Rancho Conejo Airport was built to sustain aerospace manufacturing & research operations
of a nearby new industrial park, where Northrop was the primary tenant.
Northrop had just built their Institute of Technology & Northrop Corporation Ventura Division,
where much of their work was related to space flight.
The opening of the Rancho Conejo Airport was proclaimed by a banner headline
across the top of the 5/5/60 issue of the LA Times (courtesy of Larry Simmer),
which said "Janss Corp. Opens Executive Airport".
The article said, "The finest executive aircraft facility on the West Coast was opened here today by the Janss Corporation.
Set among the rolling, oak-dotted hills of this beautiful valley,
Rancho Conejo Airport will serve the needs of the fast-moving executives of the space-age industries
moving into Janss Corporation's Rancho Conejo Light Manufacturing & Research Center.
The facility has a completely surfaced & lighted runway measuring 4,500' in length.
The airport was specifically designed to meet the needs of flying executives,
many of whom pilot there own planes."
A "Press Party" on 5/5/60 celebrating the opening of the airport
included a "jet salute by planes from Oxnard AFB."
According to an article by John Mitchell in the 12/15/03 issue of the Ventura County Star,
Jack Valenti was president of Murray Aviation and had a five-year lease from the Janss Corporation
to operate a charter service & give flying lessons at Rancho Conejo Airport.
"Northrop was at the end of the runway," he said.
"We flew their people working on the Gemini and Apollo programs to El Centro.
Also, we had charters to Los Angeles, San Francisco and other places."
Valenti remembers being filmed while in a twin-engine Skymaster moving down the runway.
That piece of film, he said, ended up being in the opening sequences of the TV program "American Bandstand."
Sven Larson recalled, "My family was a 'pioneer' family in the Conejo Valley, moving there in 1958.
We were also an aviation family.
Dad kept his 1943 Beech D17S Staggerwing in a hangar at the Rancho Conejo Airport,
a 10 minute or so drive from our home.
He always complained that the runway orientation was wrong for the prevailing winds resulting in a perpetual crosswind."
A 1961 aerial photo from the UCSB Map & Imagery Laboratory
depicted the Rancho Conejo Airport as having a single northwest/southeast paved runway
along with several hangars on the south side of the field.
The 1962 AOPA Airport Directory described Rancho Conejo as having a single 4,265' asphalt Runway 12/30.
The operator was listed as Aviation Services Inc.
The top of this composite picture by Gerry Chudleigh
is a 2003 photo taken from the site of the former Rancho Conejo Airport,
showing an unnamed mountain to the northwest of the former airport.
The lower portion is a scene from the 1963 movie "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World",
showing the same mountain from inside a "control tower" built for the movie.
The top of this composite picture by Gerry Chudleigh
is a 2003 photo taken from the site of the former Rancho Conejo Airport,
showing Adventist Hill, west of the former airport.
The lower portion is a scene from the 1963 movie "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World",
showing the same mountain, behind the hangars on the left.
The top of this composite picture by Gerry Chudleigh
is a 2003 photo taken from the site of the former Rancho Conejo Airport,
showing the Santa Monica Mountains to the south of the former airport.
The lower portion is a scene from the 1963 movie "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World",
The 1963 movie, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" included several airport scenes
which were shot at Rancho Conejo Airport.
The movie depicted Mickey Rooney & Buddy Hackett chartering a twin-engine plane
and flying it to an airport loudly identified by the man in the control tower as "Rancho Conejo Airport".
Buddy Hackett's character ended up flying the plane after the pilot got drunk & passed out.
A man in the control tower gave Hackett's character flying instruction over the radio.
Although several other airport scenes in the movie may have been filmed at other airports (Chino & Sonora),
a comparison of movie scenes with the present-day topography
led Gerry Chudleigh to conclude that several scenes were indeed filmed at Rancho Conejo.
Nearby resident Jay McKee pointed out that the "control tower" filmed in the movie,
"was built by the studios specifically for the fliming of these sequences.
Rancho Conejo never had a control tower.
This control tower looks like no other FAA or private control tower I have ever seen - from any era.
The reason it looks so different is that it is >made entirely out of wood.
In all probability, it didn't even have glass in the windows.
The cameras were positioned in this temporary tower to shoot the (elevated) scenes
of the Beech approaching from the distance and 'buzzing' the tower.
The interior scenes with the actors in the control tower were filmed in a sound stage in a mockup of the tower interior.
The footage that was shot on location from the tower was projected in the background
while the actors did their bits and 'reacted' to the passing plane
(notice how even & controlled the lighting is on the actors in the control tower).
The FAA would have freaked if someone were to build a real control tower THAT close to the flightpath/runway centerline.
Notice that the tower is positioned between the runway & taxiway centerlines.
Definitely a temporary structure.
I'm almost positive it was dismantled as soon as they wrapped up shooting at the field."
Steve Hix recalled, “From September 1964 through June 1968 I attended Newbury Park Academy,
which is sited near the base of Adventist Hill west of the airport.
I remember hiking over to the airport from the school on afternoons when I had no classes & was off work;
about as often as I could manage it, being a typical aviation-mad kid of the era.
On one particularly fine day, I heard a couple of big V-12 engines,
and once I got over the hill, found that a P-38 was landing, fueling, and taking off, repeatedly.
TallMantz aviation was filming flying sequences for 'Von Ryan's Express', a WW2 film,
and I think that Frank Tallman was doing the flying.
During one fueling break, he let me pop up the rear ladder & look in the Lightning's cockpit.
It was alway pleasant to hang around the airport; nobody seemed to mind the kid,
and several would talk about flying & airplanes as they did chores or worked on their planes.”
The Aerodromes table on the August 1964 LA Local Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Donald Felton)
listed Rancho Conejo as having a single 4,264' asphalt runway,
along with the remark, "Glider operations at & in vicinity."
A circa 1965 photo by Frank Knight of Roy Larson's Beech D17S Staggerwing,
making a low pass over the runway at Rancho Conejo Airport.
“The view is southerly with the Santa Monica Mountains in the background.
The photo was taken specifically for publication in the book Staggerwing! published in 1967 & authored by Robert Smith.”
Ironically, even though the Rancho Conejo Airport had been opened with much fanfare in 1960,
an article in the 10/20/65 issue of the Oxnard Press Courier (courtesy of Larry Simmer)
described how the Janss Corporation (the same company which had built the airport)
already planned to close it, after a mere five years in operation.
The article was entitled "Closing of Conejo Airport barrier to moon trip?"
Executives of the North American Corporation (which conducted spaceflight related business nearby)
were quoted in the article as explaining how the proximity of an airport had been a prime factor
in their decision to locate their operations nearby.
They also explained how the closing of the airport could delay their work on the Apollo moon-landing project.
(Mark Robinson pointed out that the North American facility is still in business as of 2003, as Rockwell Scientific.)
A temporary restraining order was filed in 1965, blocking the closure of the airport.
It was obtained by Murray Aviation, which said that it had a lease at the airport which ran through 1967.
However, according to Larry Simmer, "the airport was closed by late 1965 or early 1966."
According to an article by John Mitchell in the 12/15/03 issue of the Ventura County Star,
Valenti's bid for an injunction to keep the airport open failed, but he continued to operate from the field.
Janss sent in bulldozers to chew up the taxiway and runway,
but planes continued to land "in the parking lot, on scraps of runway and anywhere else there was an open patch of ground,"
the newspaper reported.
"All I need is 150 feet and I'm still in business," Valenti vowed.
However, after five days, Valenti threw in the towel and moved his aircraft to Ventura County Airport at Oxnard.
Other fliers relocated to Santa Paula, Oxnard or Van Nuys.
Valenti said he eventually won damages from the Janss Corp.
He can't remember how much money his company got, but said it was enough to buy an airplane.
According to Larry Simmer, "To my recollection the Janss Corporation came to view the airport which they owned
as an impediment to their land sales opportunities.
At one point a large section of the property was sold to MGM Studios for a planned new large film studio site
but MGM ran into financial difficulties & sold the property back to Janss.
The Janss family has always been a land development company first & foremost."
Sven Larson recalled, "It was a very sad day when the Janss Corporation finally closed the airport
on account of the proposed new MGM sound studios which were never built."
Rancho Conejo Airport was still depicted on the 1967 USGS topo map.
However, Ranch Conejo was depicted as "Abandoned Airport" on the 1967 LA Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
A 1967 aerial view looking northwest at the remains of the Rancho Conejo runway (courtesy of Jay McKee).
The original caption read, “The open land that was long held by MGM for potential use as a shooting location.
Photo taken after the airstrip was partially bulldozed to prevent illegal landings.”
Jay McKee recalled, "As a kid I would occasionally ride my bicycle down the abandoned runway.
This must have been 1973-81.
Most of the asphalt of the runway was removed long before then,
but the southeast end (100 yards of it) was still paved asphalt.
Someone had run a plow or something through this asphalt criss-cross across the remaining 100 yards at wide intervals,
and 2 foot weeds were growing up through these 'cracks'.
Though no longer white, I could still make out the runway number 30 on the faded pavement.
Although the paint & runway surface had both faded to the same dirty shade of 'dirt',
the marking paint was thick & appeared raised on the asphalt.
At that time the foundations to the hangars & semi-circular fueling pad were still there.
Broken pieces of tile from the floor of the old FBO were scattered about.
It was a fascinating place to wander around.
There was no airport easily accessible from Newbury Park for a kid on a bicycle,
and I often wished they had never closed Rancho Conejo."
A 1980 aerial view showed the remains of Rancho Conejo Airport.
The pavement had been removed from the majority of the runway,
but a portion still remained intact on the southeast end.
All of the hangars & other airport buildings had been removed,
but their foundations were all still evident.
Amazingly, this 1983 photo by Jeff Niven looking southeast at the site of the Rancho Conejo Airport
shows the same exact perspective as the 1965 photo [several paragraphs above] of the Staggerwing taking off.
Note the large oak tree in the center of the photo [which was visible under the right wing of the Staggerwing].
Also, one of the diagonal runway cuts is clearly seen in the foreground.
Jeff Niven observed, “It is true that developers cut numerous diagonal cuts through the runway
to encourage the stubborn pilots to abandon an airfield.
The sad part of the story of Rancho Conejo
is that after they kicked out the pilots & cut up the runway,
the developers changed their minds and did not use the land until about 25 years later!
The property sat vacant with the damaged runway for many years.
One day I saw a pilot try to land on the old runway.
He was very low before he must have noticed the damaged surface
because the pull up maneuver he made was very impressive!”
A 1983 photo by Jeff Niven looking northwest along the remains of runway at Rancho Conejo,
with what appear to be the former Northrop buildings in the background.
According to Jeff, “This photo was taken near the same location
as the shot of the guy jumping from the tower in the 'Mad, Mad World' Movie.
I was working for a small aerospace company in California.
Our work required that we do some inert submunition drop tests from an altitude of 1,000'
on various surfaces such as dirt, concrete, asphalt, etc.
On this particular day we dropped numerous items onto the old runway, the concrete pads from the old buildings & local soil.
We tried various techniques such as helium balloons,
but the best was when we hired a helicopter to drop them as he hovered over the old airfield.
We did run into trouble, however.
As noted in the local police report, a call came in from a local resident
that there was a drug delivery in progress from a hovering helicopter,
and if they hurried they could catch the drug dealers in the act!
Well they hurried to our location just after the helicopter had flown off.
There we were walking around looking at items that had just been dropped.
We had a lot of explaining to do as we tried to explain to the cops what we were doing.
We had dropped bags of white flower to mark the impact areas
and that was what the woman called saw from her house before she called the police.
Of course the flour had to be tested, but the biggest problem was trying to convince them
that the bomblets that were scattered around area were inert.
Luckily one of the policemen recognized me from High School & knew that I was not a troublemaker.
That seemed to calm the situation tremendously.
The owner of the old airport at that time was Shapell Industries, who later would build homes on the property.
We had called Mr. Shapell earlier & got his permission to do the drop test on his property.
That fact kept us from really getting into trouble.”
Sven Larson recalled, "The remnants of the runway were clearly visible from the air through the late 1980s
before the area was developed into housing."
The 1994 USGS aerial photo of the site showed that it had been densely redeveloped with housing,
and not a trace remained of the former airport.
The circa 2001 aerial photo showed no trace remaining of the former Rancho Conejo Airport.
The site of Rancho Conejo Airport is located northwest of the intersection of North Ventu Park Road & Lawrence Drive.
Thanks to Tom Nalevanko for pointing out Rancho Conejo.
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