Pearson Field also once known as Pearson Airpark, is a city-owned municipal

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

located one mile (2 km) southeast of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, a city in

Clark County, Washington Clark County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 503,311, making it Washington's fifth-most populous county. Its county seat and largest city is Vancouver. It was the first co ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Pearson Field is the oldest continuously operating airfield in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

and one of the two oldest continuously operating airfields in the

, receiving recognition in 2012 as an

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA is the U.S. representative on the International Astronautical Federation and the International Council of ...

historic aerospace site. Pearson Field's history began with the landing of a Baldwin airship, piloted by

Lincoln Beachey Lincoln Beachey (March 3, 1887 – March 14, 1915) was a Aviation in the pioneer era, pioneer American aviator and barnstorming, barnstormer. He became famous and wealthy from flying exhibitions, staging aerial stunts, helping invent aerobatics ...

, upon the

polo grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built fo ...

of the

Vancouver Barracks Established in 1849, the Vancouver Barracks was the first U.S. Army base located in the Pacific Northwest. Built on a rise 20 feet (6 m) above the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) trading station Fort Vancouver. Its buildings were formed in a line adjac ...

in 1905. It is located in the

Fort Vancouver National Historic Site Fort Vancouver National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Site located in the states of Washington and Oregon. The National Historic Site consists of two units, one located on the site of Fort Vancouver in modern-day Vancouver ...

immediately to the east of the reconstructed fort. Primarily used for

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

, the airfield's lone runway is located directly beneath the final approach to runway 10L at nearby

Portland International Airport Portland International Airport is a joint civil–military airport and the largest airport in the U.S. state of Oregon, accounting for 90% of the state's passenger air travel and more than 95% of its air cargo. It is within Portland's city li ...

. The airport lies adjacent to

Washington State Route 14 State Route 14 (SR 14) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Washington. The highway travels east-west on the north side of the Columbia River, opposite Interstate 84 (I-84) to the south in Oregon. SR 14 forms a section of ...

and the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

History

Pearson Field's history dates back to the early 1900s and is named for local resident

First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

Alexander Pearson Jr. Lieutenant Alexander Pearson Jr. (November 12, 1895 – September 2, 1924) was a prominent aviation figure in the Army Air Service from 1919 until his death in 1924. He is credited with setting the world speed record in March 1923. Pearson Fiel ...

of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. ; 1905 :

pilots his Baldwin airship from the grounds of the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition on the shores of

Guild's Lake Guild's Lake (also Guild Lake) was a flood-prone lowland near the confluence of Balch Creek with the Willamette River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Indigenous Multnomah people established villages on nearby Sauvie Island but not in the swampy area ...

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, to Vancouver Barracks, a distance of approximately 8 miles, in the first aerial crossing of the

. This flight also set an endurance record for flight at the time. Carrying a letter from Theodore Hardee, an official of the fair, to the commandant of the Vancouver Barracks, General Constant Williams, the flight is also the recognized as the first time an airship is used to deliver a letter. ; 1911 : First airplane lands at Pearson Field. ; 1912 : A homebuilt aircraft built onsite becomes the first aircraft departure. ; 1923–1941 : Pearson Field is home to the US Army Air Service. ; 1923 : Commander Lt.

Oakley G. Kelly Oakley George Kelly (December 3, 1891 – June 5, 1966) was a record setting pilot for the United States Army Air Service. Biography He was born on December 3, 1891 in Pennsylvania and grew up in Grove City. In May 1922, Lieutenant Oakley G. K ...

makes the first non-stop transcontinental flight. ; 1924 : Pearson Field is a stopover point on the army's first round-the-world flight. ; 1925 : Pearson Field is named after Lt. Alexander Pearson by order of Major General John L. Hines. On 16 September 1925, during the inauguration of Pearson Field, in front of 20,000 spectators and against 53 competitor pilots,

Edith Foltz Edith Magalis Foltz Stearns Grissom was the first female transport pilot in Oregon, the fifth female transport pilot in the United States, and the first female state governor of the National Aeronautic Association. For her work as a transport pi ...

won the

dead-stick landing A deadstick landing, also called a dead-stick landing, is a type of forced landing when an aircraft loses all of its propulsive power and is forced to land. The "stick" does not refer to the flight controls, which in most aircraft are either ful ...

competition. ; 1937 : Soviet aviator

Valery Chkalov Valery Pavlovich Chkalov ( rus, Валерий Павлович Чкалов, p=vɐˈlʲerʲɪj ˈpavləvʲɪtɕ ˈtɕkaləf; – 15 December 1938) was a test pilot awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union (1936). Early life Chkalov was bo ...

lands at the end of the first non-stop transpolar flight. ; 1975 : Chkalov monument dedicated ; 1994 : City of Vancouver and National Park Service enter into agreement governing the future of Pearson Field. ; 2005 : Pearson Field celebrates its 100-year anniversary. ; 2012 : Pearson Field receives AIAA historic aerospace site designation. ; 2015 : AIAA monument placed. ; 2016 : Former State Representative

John McKibbin John Simpson McKibbin (January 20, 1947 – March 23, 2016) was an American Democratic politician and businessman in the state of Washington. Career McKibbin was born in Lancaster, California. McKibbin moved to Clark County, Washington in ...

, along with Irene Mustain, depart from the field; their plane crashes in the

Facilities and aircraft

Pearson Field covers an area of which contains one

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

designated 8/26 with a

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

pavement. For the 12-month period ending May 31, 2006, the airport had 52,200 aircraft operations, an average of 143 per day: 97%

, 2%

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

and 1%

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) an ...

. At that time there were 175 aircraft based at this airport: 97% single-

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

and 3% multi-engine. The airfield has a 150 T-hangars and tiedown facilities, with capacity for 175 light aircraft. Located at the airport are the

Pearson Air Museum The Pearson Air Museum is a place-based aviation museum at Pearson Field in Vancouver, Washington, USA. Managed by the National Park Service as part of the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, museum exhibits provide an opportunity for visitor ...

and Aero Maintenance Flight Center, a full service FBO, maintenance station, avionics station, and part 61 and part 141 approved flight school, and the Pearson Field Education Center. Located nearby are the Grand Central Retail Center,

Jantzen Beach SuperCenter Jantzen Beach Center is an outdoor shopping mall located in Portland, Oregon, on Hayden Island in the Columbia River, known as Jantzen Beach SuperCenter from 1996 until about 2012. Opened in 1972 as an indoor mall, sometimes known informally as ...

and the

Portland International Raceway Portland International Raceway (PIR) is a motorsport facility in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is part of the Delta Park complex on the former site of Vanport, just south of the Columbia River. It lies west of the Delta Park/Vanport ...

Economic impact

The state of Washington provides economic impact studies of airports within the state. In the 2001 report, Pearson Field contributed about 600 jobs to the area. Salaries drawn in relation to business at Pearson total about US$11 million. The total economic activity related to Pearson totals about US$38 million. There was an updated report in 2012.

References

External links

Pearson Field
at City of Vancouver website

Pearson Air Museum

A video about Pearson Field, on Youtube

Aviation: From Sand Dunes to Sonic Booms, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary

Aviation photos of Pearson Field
at

Airliners.net Airliners.net is an aviation website that includes an extensive photo database of aircraft and airports, as well as a forum catering to aviation enthusiasts. Created by Johan Lundgren, Jr., the site originated in 1996 as ''Pictures of Modern Airl ...

* {{Authority control 1905 establishments in Washington (state) Airports established in 1905 Airports in Washington (state) Transportation buildings and structures in Clark County, Washington Transportation in Vancouver, Washington

History

Facilities and aircraft

Economic impact

See also

References

External links