World War II aviation history for sale — tucked away in central California farmland

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World War II aviation history for ***** — tucked away in central California farmland

Uniquely is a

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that covers the moments, landmarks and personalities that define what makes living in the Fresno area so special.

A central San Joaquin Valley airport with historic ties to World War II is for *****.

Located amid acres and acres of farmland in the small Tulare County town of Strathmore, the Eckert Field Airport is for ***** with an asking price of $1.275 million.

Roughly 80 years ago, the airport facility located about 65 miles southeast of Fresno was originally the

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and used by the United States military for training during World War II.

These days, smaller aircraft occasionally fly in and out of Eckert Field, and some of its hangars (there are 20 on site) are still used to store planes.

“It’s not a commercial airport, but it’s still an active airport,” said listing real estate agent Sandy Jamison, whose work includes a side niche in aviation real estate.

Eckert Field, a small airport facility in the small South Valley town of Strathmore, is for ***** $1.275 million. The runway is about 2,000 feet long and 50 feet wide. The airport has ties to World War II.

Eckert Field has been on the market since October.

“A lot of World War II buffs have been interested in the property,” Jamison said. “It’s hard to find an airport for *****.”

While many of the potential buyers who’ve looked at the airport property have had little problems with the price tag, there have been some concerns of the runway’s limitations and the condition of other structures.

With Eckert Field’s landing strip considered to be on the smaller side for an airport with a runway 2,000 feet long and 50 feet wide, only smaller planes like the

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can utilize the airstrip.

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Eckert Field, a small airport facility in the small South Valley town of Strathmore, is for ***** for $1.275 million. The airport has ties to World War II.

By comparison, the Porterville Municipal Airport, which is the next closest airport in the Strathmore area, provides a runway that’s 6,000 feet long and 150 field wide.

The Fresno Yosemite International Airport, the most popular commercial airport in the Central Valley, has a runway that’s 9,539 feet long and 150 feet wide.

“Eckert Field is a pretty cool, old airport,” pilot Robert Byker

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. “But it’s scary to fly into for many pilots.

“I trained out there, so the short runway doesn’t scare me. But for many pilots that are training, they look at it and say ‘That’s awfully short.’“

Historic ties at rural California airport

Despite Eckert Field’s limitations, the public airport has been used plenty over the years.

Even by celebrities.

According to the article by Flying Magazine,

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, who starred in box-office films in the late 1950s through the mid-1970s, would visit Eckert Field en route to aviation gatherings in Porterville.

Years earlier, //when it was Trauger Auxiliary Field, it was used as part of the “Rankin Aeronautical Academy, Inc.,” a flying school at nearby

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in Tulare.

The academy trained pilots and ground mechanics to help provide personnel for the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.

Ownership of the airport has changed only a few times, with Wendell Eckert becoming the first civilian owner in the 1950s.

Eric Schutze, who co-owns Eckert Field along with his brother Curtis, said their father bought the airport in 1988 and ran a flight school during the 1990s.

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Eckert Field, a small airport facility in the small South Valley town of Strathmore, is for ***** for $1.275 million. The airport is still active and can be used by the public. Six of the 20 hangars are currently leased.

The pilot training program eventually shut down some time after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 with

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.

“You could still use the airport as a flight school if someone was inclined,” Eric Schutze said.

The property once came with a house, but that was sold off separately in 2019.

As is, Eckert Field comes with a runway that is considered to be in good condition (repaved about six years ago), 20 hangars (six of which are currently leased) and a fuel tank/pump (currently empty), along with 25 acres of land (there is no room to expand the runway, though, since that adjacent land is owned by someone else).

More to Eckert Field listing

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also states the ***** may include three tractors, a brush hog, a discer, golf carts, a forklift, a sweeper, roller, sprayers, trailers and a courtesy van that has a combined book value of $30,000.

Jamison admitted some of the structures would need improvement.

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Eckert Field, a small airport facility in the small South Valley town of Strathmore, is for ***** for $1.275 million. The airport has ties to World War II.

But she envisions the right buyer either being an airplane hobbyist who’d view the property as a project to renovate as they see fit, someone who’d fix up the hangars and get into the hangar-leasing business, or a business owner who’d like to take advantage of the massive storage space on the property.

“I think it’s a good business opportunity for that right someone,” said Jamison, who is a pilot herself and is originally from Hanford, about 40 miles northwest of Strathmore.

The Schutze brothers, who are both pilots and aircraft owners, expressed a desire for Eckert Field to continue to operate as an airport rather than be bought to transform into farmland.

“The views there are just amazing,” Eric Schutze said. “Got orange trees on the sides. It’s just really nice, having this airport basically with ag land all around.

“There’s history and it’s unique.”

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Eckert Field, a small airport facility in the small South Valley town of Strathmore, is for ***** for $1.275 million. There are 20 hangars on the property, varying in condition

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Eckert Field, a small airport facility in the small South Valley town of Strathmore, is for ***** $1.275 million. The airport has ties to World War II.

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#World #War #aviation #history #***** #tucked #central #California #farmland

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