Airwork: San Pablo Aerodrome

Tom Benenson

Thursday, November 25, 2021 at 07:21 PM ET

Verified

** Tony Raab on the possible future runway
of the San Pablo Aerodrome.**

Key Takeaways:

The article details an effort to establish a flying club in Oaxaca, Mexico, a region the author noted had virtually no general aviation activity.
The initiative, driven by an enthusiastic local named Tony, faced significant practical challenges such as finding an affordable and suitable ultralight aircraft capable of operating from a short, high-altitude runway.
Major bureaucratic hurdles were identified, including complex Mexican regulations concerning aircraft registration, import duties, and pilot licensing requirements.
Despite these substantial obstacles, the proponent maintained an optimistic outlook on the future establishment of local aviation.

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(July 2011) It was a silence I wasn’t used to. Actually, it wasn’t all that quiet what with the whirr of hummingbirds’ wings, the braying of burros and the cooing of doves. But what I wasn’t hearing was the sound of airplanes. For the two months I spent in Oaxaca, Mexico, last winter, the skies were virtually void of the “sounds of freedom.” It seems local general aviation activity is nonexistent in Oaxaca. A couple of times a day there are commercial flights in and out of Oaxaca, but that’s about it.

The lack of airborne activity doesn’t mean there’s not a nascent groundswell of interest by aviation aficionados. We hadn’t been in Oaxaca for more than a couple of days when Tony Raab, a neighbor who runs a vacation rental property with his wife, Rebecca (and her eight dogs, five burros and a horse), stopped by to greet us, and the talk turned quickly to airplanes and flying.