There are more than a million pilots in the world today. More than two, if we’re being generous. The USA alone hosts nearly seven hundred thousand of these aviators. During the second World War, the number of pilots in the country had increased drastically – from thirty four thousand in 1939 to around four hundred thousand in 1946. After the havoc ended, proposals were made to construct residential airfields for veteran pilots. California’s Cameron Airpark is one such residential area – airplanes are as common on streets and in ‘garages’, i. e. hangers as cars are in the rest of the world. So what is life like in this residential airpark? Let’s find out.
The lanes of Cameron Airpark are 100 feet wide – wide enough to accommodate airplanes and cars and let them pass by each other. The letterboxes sit lower than they do in the rest of the world, lest they be chipped by crafts’ wings.
All the houses – a hundred something in number – come with their own hangars. A resident might own one, two or three airplanes. But getting a house here isn’t easy. This is a community of aviation lovers, almost everyone is related to aviation in a way or the other. The residents joke that you practically have to wait for someone to die to get a place here. Who in their right mind would empty a house in Earth’s heaven?
Those lucky enough to score a house here, though, as living a dream. All you have to do is open your hangar with a remote control like you would a garage, take out your airplane, ride it for five minutes to the public airport close by and, next thing you know, you’re in the air. The residential airpark is especially built for active pilots to be able to come and go as they please, and quickly. Imagine watching your partner take off, through your kitchen window.
Many residents of the Cameron Airpark fly in order to commute to work. Located in El Dorado County, the airpark gives you the chance of reaching work in half an hour when it would take you a good four hours if you drive a car.
Because of the low population at Cameron Air Park District(CAPD), everybody knows everybody. The aviators’ community is well-knit, more so because of the shared interest and passion. Passion so intense that the road signs and street names, like Boeing Road, are also related to aviation.
If you do decide to befriend someone who lives there, just for visiting them and watching the ethereal locality(psst, no shame in that), make sure you follow the rules of this residential airpark.
If you love aviation wonders, you’ll love the sinking airport of Japan.
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