Identifier
MER
Castle Airport Map Print (MER)
MER
KMER
Atwater, California
$55
✓ Free US shipping · Made to Order
Colorway
White
Black
Navy
Sand
Blueprint
Night Ops
Hi-Viz
Finish
Fine Art Print pairs 330 gsm, 100% cotton Hot Press paper with pigment giclée printing for rich color and a smooth matte finish. Supplied unframed. Orders containing only paper prints ship flat.
Framed Fine Art Print presents the same cotton paper in a 1.25 inch solid wood frame, with a white beveled mat and optical-grade clear acrylic. The mat is included, and hanging wire is already installed.
Glossy Metal Print brings vivid color to coated aluminum through dye sublimation. The glossy surface resists scratches and water; the included hidden mount positions it about 3/4 inch off the wall.
Size
Free US shipping
Printed in the USA
Secure checkout
- Museum-quality, 330 gsm cotton paper with pigment inks for rich color and fine detail. Ready for your own frame.
- Atwater's runways and taxiways, composed as art for anyone who has spent time at the field.
- Seven colorways to suit the room. A considered gift for pilots, crew, and frequent flyers.
Description
A runway diagram map print of Castle Airport (MER), made from the airport's own layout for the place it holds in your life. Choose your colorway and your format: a fine art giclée print on cotton paper, a framed fine art print, a glossy metal print or a digital download.
Your fine art print is made to order with pigment inks on heavyweight, 100% cotton Hot Press paper, a 330 gsm sheet with a high color gamut and deep black density. The acid-free, archival-grade paper has a smooth matte surface. Supplied unframed, ready for your own frame.
Shipping and Returns
Physical prints are made to order in 2 to 3 business days; shipping time is added on top and varies by your location and the method you choose. Standard shipping is free across the US. Orders containing only paper prints ship flat, though paper may retain a slight curl; orders with framed or metal pieces ship in separate boxes. Digital downloads are delivered by email, so there is nothing to ship.
The Digital Download is a JPEG at 300 dpi, sized for 24 by 30 inches. The digital add-on matches the selected physical print size at 300 dpi. Download links arrive by email and stay active for 30 days; save the file within that time and keep it for personal, non-commercial use. No physical item is shipped.
Physical products have a 30-day money-back guarantee. Contact us within 30 days of delivery to request a refund; we may require a return before issuing it.
Digital downloads are non-refundable once delivered, except where required by law or where AirportPrints determines that a delivery failure or technical issue was caused by AirportPrints.
Materials
Fine Art Print: pigment giclée printing on heavyweight 330 gsm (17 mil), 100% cotton Hot Press paper, on regularly calibrated giclée printers. The paper is acid-free and archival-grade, with a smooth matte surface and the high color gamut and black density that let a dark ground and fine linework keep their depth. Supplied unframed, with no added white margin, ready for your own frame.
Framed Fine Art Print: the same cotton fine art paper in a 1.25 inch solid wood frame. A white, acid-free, 4-ply mat with a 45-degree bevel and optical-grade, shatter-resistant clear acrylic (safer to ship than glass) are included. The print is mounted to foam core for a flat presentation, with a kraft paper dust cover and installed hanging wire on the back.
Glossy Metal Print: the image is transferred by dye sublimation into polymer-coated aluminum with a glossy white base. The 1.14 mm panel has a scratch- and water-resistant surface, with a hidden inset mount that positions it about 3/4 inch off the wall. Display indoors, away from direct sunlight.
Digital Download: a high-resolution JPEG for personal, non-commercial use. No physical paper, frame, or metal panel is included.
Dimensions
Fine Art Print: 8 x 10, 16 x 20, and 24 x 30 inches.
Framed Fine Art Print: 8 x 10, 16 x 20, and 24 x 30 inches, measured across the mat and acrylic area inside the frame. The mat sits within that area, so the visible image is about 6 x 8, 12 x 16, or 18 x 24 inches. The outside frame is larger than the listed size.
Glossy Metal Print: 8 x 10, 16 x 20, and 24 x 30 inches. During sublimation, 1/8 to 1/4 inch of the artwork may be cropped, so the printed edge can differ slightly from the preview.
Digital Download: a 7200 x 9000 pixel JPEG at 300 dpi for 24 x 30 inch printing. A digital add-on instead matches the selected physical size: 8 x 10, 16 x 20, or 24 x 30 inches at 300 dpi.
Made like something you keep.
The field itself
This is Atwater's own layout, the way its runways run and the taxiways thread between them, composed into a print you will want to look at every day. Not a stock template with a new name on it.
Museum-quality cotton paper
Heavyweight 330 gsm, 100% cotton Hot Press paper, acid-free and archival-grade. Its high color gamut and black density give the runways real depth, and pigment inks keep the fine detail crisp on a smooth matte surface.
Solid wood framing or glossy metal
Frame it in 1.25 inch solid wood, black, white or natural oak, with the white beveled mat, optical-grade clear acrylic and hanging wire included. Or choose glossy metal: dye sublimation into aluminum, floated about 3/4 inch off the wall on a hidden mount.
Castle
MER · Atwater, California
37.3805° N · 120.5682° W
Field elevation 190 ft
Field elevation 190 ft
ICAO code
KMER
Field elevation
190ft
Runways
1
Magnetic variation
15°E
Runways
13/3111,802 × 150 ft
Composed from published airport information and available field depictions as original wall art. Learn how AirportPrints maps take shape.
Castle Airport Runway Diagram Print
Castle draws as one runway. Runway 13/31 measures 11,802 feet long and 150 feet wide, asphalt and concrete, and on the print it becomes a single dark bar running from the upper left corner down to the lower right. There is no second strip to balance it, no crossing wind runway, no V or X. The whole composition rests on one long diagonal, and at nearly twelve thousand feet that bar is the reason this sheet works: it cuts the frame corner to corner instead of sitting politely in the middle.
The pale geometry beside it is what gives the diagonal its weight. A taxiway runs parallel along the southwest side of the runway for most of its length, and off that taxiway a comb of angled parking stubs steps down the sheet in two long rows, the kind of hardstand pattern that reads instantly as a former military field. Broad apron rectangles gather near the middle and toward the 31 end, with small building blocks scattered along the edge. Near the 13 threshold a short spur reaches across to a rounded pad. Castle spent its first life as Castle Air Force Base, a Strategic Air Command installation from 1941 until it closed in 1995, and the ground plan still shows it. Today it is a public airport in unincorporated Merced County, about eight miles northwest of Merced, owned jointly by the city of Merced, the city of Atwater and the county. Runway 31 is the only end with an ILS approach, which is part of why the 31 label sits at the busier end of the drawing.
On a wall the print reads as one confident stroke with a field of quiet grey texture along one flank, so it does well in a narrow vertical space where a many-runway airport would turn muddy. In the colorway you choose the runway bar stays the darkest element and the stubs recede to a soft rhythm. If you are hanging a set of California fields, MER sits well next to a print of Stockton, which gives you two very different ground plans on the same wall.
Atwater (MER) print, common questions
How many runways does Castle have, and how long is the runway?
One runway. It is designated 13/31 and it is 11,802 feet long by 150 feet wide, surfaced in asphalt and concrete. That single strip is the entire runway layout you see on the print.
Where is MER, and how high is the field?
MER is at Atwater, California, in unincorporated Merced County about eight miles northwest of Merced. Field elevation is 190 feet, which is printed under the identifier in the lower corner of the sheet.
What does the code MER mean?
MER is the identifier for Castle at Atwater, California, and it is the code printed large on this print. The four-letter version used internationally is KMER, but the print carries the three-letter form.
Is the diagram accurate to the published layout?
It is plotted from published airport information for cycle 2608, so runway 13/31 carries the published orientation and proportion, and the taxiway and apron shapes follow the same source. It is a design piece rather than a navigation chart, so fine details may be simplified or omitted. Runway markings, lighting, signage and small pavement edges are among the things left out.
What sizes does this come in?
Several sizes, in the colorway you choose. The Castle layout scales down better than most because one long diagonal is the dominant shape, so the 13/31 bar and the row of angled parking stubs stay legible even in the smaller formats. Each print is produced to order.
Does this work as a gift?
It suits anyone with a tie to Atwater or the Merced County area, pilots who trained on a runway this long, and people drawn to the ground plan of a former Strategic Air Command field. The identifier and coordinates are printed on the sheet, so the recipient knows exactly which airport they are looking at without a caption.
