Sweetwater Dam Naval Outlying Landing Field was a

airfield An aerodrome ( Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for pub ...

near Naval Auxiliary Air Station Brown Field and

Naval Air Station North Island Naval Air Station North Island or NAS North Island , at the north end of the Coronado peninsula on San Diego Bay in San Diego, California, is part of the largest aerospace-industrial complex in the United States Navy – Naval Base Coronado (N ...

used to support the training of

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

pilots during

World War 2 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The runway built in 1944 was located in what is now a neighborhood 8 mile east 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 eighth most populous city in the United State ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The Navy support airfields are called

Naval Outlying Landing Field An outlying landing field (OLF) is an auxiliary airfield, associated with a seaborne component of the United States military. When associated with the United States Navy (who operate the majority), they are known as naval outlying landing fields ...

(NOLF). For the war, many new trained pilots were needed. The Naval Outlying Landing Field provided a place for pilots to practice landing and take off without other air traffic. Sweetwater Dam site offered flight training without distractions. Most of the new pilots departed to the Pacific War after training. The Sweetwater Dam Outlying Landing Field had no support facilities. After the war the Outlying field closed in 1946, having completed the role of training new pilots. Sweetwater Dam Naval Outlying Landing Field and Sweetwater Carrier Landing Strip. The Landing Field had a single 3,000-foot east/west asphalt runway. The Navy leased 135.45 acres of grassland from

Rancho de la Nación Rancho de la Nación was a Mexican land grant in present-day southern San Diego County, California given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to John (Don Juan) Forster. The grant encompassed present-day National City, Chula Vista, Bonita, Sunnys ...

for the Landing Field. In 1949 the runway became a private civil airport, the Sweetwater Dam Airport also called the Paradise Mesa Airstrip. The Airport is named after the nearby Sweetwater Dam that makes the

Sweetwater Reservoir Sweetwater Reservoir is a artificial lake in San Diego County, California, formed by the Sweetwater Dam on the Sweetwater River. Construction of the dam was completed in 1888. Environment The area surrounding the reservoir is home to several s ...

. The Airport closed in 1951 and the runway became home to the Paradise Mesa Drag strip. The Carlsbad, California's Oilers Club help start the drag strip with the first meet on March 11, 1951. At its peak, 25 clubs were using the strip. The drag strip closed in 1959. Houses were built on the site, now called Paradise Hills and no trace of the runway can be found today. Part of the site is also the Daniel Boone Elementary School.Paradise Mesa - San Diego’s First Dragstrip
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweetwater Dam Naval Outlying Landing Field 1940s in California Formerly Used Defense Sites in California United States in World War II 1944 establishments in California

See also

References