Cable Airport, 70 Years of Service

In the Beginning
Cable Airport is the largest privately owned airport open to the public in the United States and was started in 1945 by Dewey and Maude Cable. It is currently owned and operated by Dewey’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

In the beginning, as WWII marched to its conclusion, Dewey Cable set about making his dream of having his own airport a reality. He considered several different locations in southern California in the area now known as the Inland Empire area. He finally settled on 80 acres of rocks and shrubs north of Foothill Boulevard, between Upland and Claremont.

Dewey talked the owner into selling it to him for $8,500, which was much less than the original asking price. It took all of Dewey and Maude’s savings to make the purchase, as the banks would not loan them money to develop the airport because the property, being watershed, was subject to flooding. Being the resourceful person he was, Dewey turned around and sold 12 acres to the Holiday Rock Co. for $8,500, which gave him the money he needed to start construction. Another 40 acres was purchased in 1948 and the final 20 acres in 1956.

When it came time to start runway construction, Dewey was again frustrated by uncooperative banks and unwilling contractors. Contractors, looking at the rugged terrain with deep gullies, huge boulders, and rocks of all sizes, said it would cost a fortune to build the runways and quoted accordingly. That didn’t stop Dewey. He went ahead and built them himself.

He rented two bulldozers and a carryall, and bought an old pull grader. With the help of his wife, two children, and some hired help he began construction on the first runway in March 1945. Thirty days later (for a fraction of the cost one contractor wanted) the first 1,200 feet of runway was completed.

Dewey had chosen to fill one of the eroded north-south ravines first, because it was the easiest to do. This became runway 1-19. Of course, it did have a steep 3.5% gradient, and the prevailing winds were across the runway instead of parallel. But that wasn’t a problem for an experienced pilot like Dewey. Besides, the important thing was that he could use it now, while the other longer runway was being built!

Dewey used the dozer to clear the boulders and the grader to level the runways. Maude Cable drove a truck and hauled equipment. Roger, his son, who was seven, marked outlines for the runway, which was no easy task because he was not tall enough to be seen from one point to another. Many times he had to stand on the top of the old Model T truck. Millie, Dewey’s daughter, was 13 and kept track of topsoil being delivered from the nearby rock quarry at 50 cents a truckload.

The First Landing
Dewey was not a patient man and was anxious to be the first to use “his” airport. As soon as he had cleared 1,200 feet, he went over to Brackett, where he kept his Porterfield, took off and headed home for the first time. The date was May 23, 1945.

It was a short flight to the strip he and his family had carved out of the San Antonio Wash. It looked small from the air, but Dewey saw the future and it was huge.

Everything appeared fine as he came in on final. But the runway had just been watered and he didn’t see a large rock that had been upended by the water truck. He flared expertly and had just touched down when one wheel hit the rock and was sheared off. The plane kept going, finally skidding to a stop. Upset but undaunted, he moved the plane out of the way and continued construction of the runway.

There was no stopping now. The family reserves had been spent and the only way to survive was to get the airport operational. Dewey, Maude and the children worked from sun-up to sun-down seven days a week to finish the runway. It wasn’t long before it was 1,500 feet long and improved to a point where other planes started coming in.

One of the first to arrive was Everett Bronson, who became their first tenant. He flew his Aeronca Chief in shortly after Dewey made his first landing and stayed. Through the years he has changed planes, but not airports. Bronson was Cable’s first tenant and continued to base his planes there throughout his flying career. At the age of 81, in 1996, he was still actively flying his Piper Comanche 260.

Maude made sure everyone was greeted with a smile. No one could turn down the Cable hospitality and welcome . . .