This World War II-Era Airport in Central California Needs a New Owner

But stories of a vibrant past rooted in military aviation may be all that remains of the airfield in Strathmore, California, if the property is not sold to a pilot.

“I’m hoping somebody will have the resources and the interest to keep it operating as an airport,”  said Eric Schutze, who inherited Eckert Field alongside his brother, Curt. “I hate to see so many airports in the United States going away and don’t want to see it turned into farmland.” 

The airfield’s origins are rooted in World War II aviation, and its ownership has only changed a few times in more than eight decades. Its first civilian owner, Wendell Eckert, purchased it in the 1950s.

“Eckert Field Airport was originally Trauger Auxiliary Field back in the day, which was used by the United States Army Air Force for training during WWII,” said Eric Schutze. “Wendell Eckert took it over before my dad bought it in 1988.”

For many years, the airport was a hot spot for activity from communal aviators. Those in central California and beyond knew that if they flew into Eckert Field that there would almost always be at least one other pilot they could swap stories with.

“Back in the day, there would always be fly-ins out here,” said Curt Schutze. “There would be Watsonville, Merced, Porterville, and others. We had a swimming pool there before and the event was in June, so it was pretty hot then and people would fly into Eckert Field before flying over to Porterville. There would always be all kinds of really neat airplanes here. From Stearmans, to a Ryan PT-22, to a bunch of WACOs. A lot of the planes came over from Santa Paula Airport, which has always been known for super-rare and antique aircraft." 

Rumor has it, even iconic film actor Steve McQueen would visit Eckert Field en route to the aviation gathering in Porterville. But as the years progressed, inbound traffic slowed and visitors became more infrequent. 

The approximately 25-acre airport currently has a 2,000-foot-long-by-50-foot-wide asphalt runway, as well as 20 hangars of varying sizes. Almost half of the spaces are leased, including space where Robert Byker, an Aeronca 65-TC and vintage Cessna 172 owner, keeps his aircraft. 

“Eckert Field is a pretty cool, old airport, but it’s scary to fly into for many pilots,” Byker said. “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.’ It’s advertised at 2,000 feet long, but it’s closer to around 1,800 feet useful.

“So, you have to be a pretty good pilot to get in and out of there, which is [partly] why it’s not really busy. Every once in a while, you have somebody that will drop in, but it’s pretty much a graveyard now, which is why I like it.”

Byker, a general contractor by trade, said he enjoys the solitude of the calm airport. 

“I deal with people all the time, so it’s nice that I can go and work out there and nobody bothers me,” he said. “And I take care of pretty much the whole airport by keeping the hangars in shape, the doors working, doing weed control, and other things.”

The Schutze brothers, both pilots and aircraft owners, credit their interest in aviation to growing up around the varied aircraft models that frequented Eckert Field’s pavement. They are hopeful the airport’s next caretakers also have a memorable experience. 

“We always invited people to come up and camp here at Eckert Field,” Curt Schutze said. “There’s a lot of times where guys are just flying through and they stay there.”