South County Airport

South County Airport of Santa Clara County (E16) (used to be Q99) is in San Martin, a town south of San Jose, roughly half way between San Jose and Gilroy. The single runway is runway 14-32, 32 uses right traffic, 14 left, so the pattern is flown over the 101 freeway. The whole area is very noise sensitive and pilots are requested to climb to pattern altitude (1300') before turning crosswind.

The FBO on the field is 2 Genes Aviation. They offer aircraft servicing and sales, flight instruction, rentals, and the cheapest fuel (100LL only) anywhere near San Jose at their self service pump.

The airfield tends to get very busy at weekends as it is a frequent destination for practicing students from other Bay Area airports.

The two pictures here are both from the South East, looking at the approach end of runway 32. As you can see the field can be hard to spot. These were taken in December. In summer, much of the green has been burnt to a golden brown and it all tones in with the dusty tarmac to make the airport very stealthy.

The first picture shows the view from above US101 from about 5 miles south. The field is in the center of the picture, just after the freeway takes a slight left turn.

The second picture shows E16 from about 3 miles south.