Dutch Flats Airport is a former airport in the Midway area, a neighborhood of

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It is located at the northern (mainland) end of the

Point Loma Point Loma (Spanish: ''Punta de la Loma'', meaning "Hill Point"; Kumeyaay: ''Amat Kunyily'', meaning "Black Earth") is a seaside community within the city of San Diego, California. Geographically it is a hilly peninsula that is bordered on the w ...

peninsula, northwest of

Downtown San Diego Downtown San Diego is the city center of San Diego, California, the eighth largest city in the United States. In 2010, the Centre City area had a population of more than 28,000. Downtown San Diego serves as the cultural and financial center and ...

and just west of

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

. Other names include: Ryan Airport, Mahoney Airport, and Speer Airport. Cassag 00290 Ryan M-1 at Ryan Field with Peaches Wallace and pilot Jerry Jones, later Pan-Am chief pilot in Alaska

Cassag 00290 Ryan M-1 at Ryan Field with Peaches Wallace and pilot Jerry Jones, later Pan-Am chief pilot in Alaska

In 1923 T. Claude Ryan moved his business

Ryan Airline Company Ryan Airline Company was an airline founded by T. Claude Ryan and Benjamin Franklin "Frank" Mahoney at Dutch Flats Airport in San Diego, California, on April 19, 1925. They had earlier established a scheduled service between San Diego and Los A ...

to an area of Dutch Flats adjoining the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, located near what are now Midway and Barnett streets. A hangar, a small office building and grass airstrip were constructed. He hired a full-time mechanic and offered free plane parking to other pilots, the ensuing success allowed the business to develop into a larger airport and flight training school. Ryan took on a partner, Benjamin Franklin Mahoney, and on 1 March 1925, they started the first year-round, regularly-scheduled passenger airline, the Los Angeles – San Diego Air Line, which continued for about a year and a half. Dutch Flats Airport became famous when Ryan built a specially designed aircraft, for

Charles A. Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

After completion at the adjoining Ryan factory, Charles A. Lindbergh made the first flight of his ''

Spirit of St. Louis The ''Spirit of St. Louis'' (formally the Ryan NYP, registration: N-X-211) is the custom-built, single-engine, single-seat, high-wing monoplane that was flown by Charles Lindbergh on May 20–21, 1927, on the first solo nonstop transatlant ...

'' airplane, constructed in 60 days by Ryan Airlines. The 20-minute flight took place on 28 April 1927. Lindbergh describes the flight: In 1929, the editor of the '' San Diego Sun'' announced a contest to encourage women's participation in aviation – the winner of the “Miss Air Capital of the West” contest would receive a free full course of instruction at the Ryan Flying School at a (1929) value of about $1,300. The contest consisted of a series of tests to determine the greatest advance over a period of time in the study and practice of aviation. When the judges made their final decision, Peaches Wallace placed first with a score of 85.48. The flying instructions began on September 3, 1929, at Ryan Airport (Dutch Flats). In 1929, pioneer aviatrix

Ruth Alexander Ruth Blaney Alexander (May 18, 1905 – September 18, 1930) was an early female pilot in the United States who established several records in altitude and distance during 1929 and 1930. Youth Ruth Blaney was raised in Irving, Kansas in Mar ...

, a graduate of the Ryan Flying School, established a new world record for women in light aircraft on a flight from Dutch Flats Airport. A post office now located on the site contains several historic plaques commemorating Dutch Flats and Lindbergh. In the early 1940s, the name of the Dutch Flats Airport was changed to the Speers Airport. The airport was not used during WWII, and the government later converted the land to military housing facilities.

References

{{Authority control Airports established in 1923 Defunct airports in California