Lets be honest; you will probably never fly here!
Welcome To Wine Country! 🍷
Photo Credit: Me
Welcome to a new updated thread of the guide to STS airport, without a doubt Santa Rosa’s best airport.
Thank you to @Flightistic for letting me create this topic.
In this guide, you will be informed about airport procedures, a spotting guide, and some other helpful information!
Let’s start it off with the airlines that fly here, and what aircraft they use to service STS.
- American Airlines (Embraer E175)
American Airlines routes from KSTS
- Avelo Airlines (Boeing 737-700, Boeing 737-800)
Avelo Airlines routes from KSTS
- Alaska Airlines (Boeing 737-800, Embraer E175)
Alaska Airlines routes from KSTS
Taxi Procedures
Since taxiing is relatively easy at KSTS because of the airports small size. Winds however, do play a role in determining what runway you take off at, along with any other airport.
Main tip for taxiing: just follow irl rules and you’ll be set 👍
Approaches for RWY 14, 2, 32
Note: When landing at KSTS, there are only 4 gates for commercial use, so be cautious and make sure they aren’t full.
Air Museum
While visiting KSTS, the air museum is a must. Being veteran-owned, this is an ideal spot to get up close to the many aircraft they have there. Some things you will see: F-14, F-4, and even a piece of an SR-71 Blackbird.
pics belong to me ;)
Virtual Reality (Air Museum)
If you visit the air museum at KSTS, you absolutely have to do the VR. It immerses you in a full VR experience with real controls and a very high quality headset. You sit in a real cockpit, and can fly a great number of aircraft, whether it be fighter jets, or commercial airliners.
The software runs off of the latest version of Aerofly Flight Simulator.
Spotting Guide
While visiting Sonoma County, plane spotting is a must at KSTS.
A great location is this spot off of Laughlin road near the south end of RWY 14.
Suggested Cameras And Lenses
You won’t need a crazy camera to spot here as planes are very close to the spotting location. I use a Canon EOS Rebel T1i and it works fine even though it is 10 years old.
Again, planes won’t be too far out from the spotting location, but a lens extending up to 200mm at least will suit you well.
With good lighting, you can get some amazing shots like these!
There are my pics :)
That’s just about it for this topic. Thank you for reading and have a great time flying to Santa Rosa’s best (and only) airport!