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 Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

located one mile (2 km) southeast of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center 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 wit ...

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 cit ...

, 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 ...

, United States. Pearson Field is the oldest continuously operating airfield in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (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 no official boundary exists, the most common ...

and one of the two oldest continuously operating airfields in the United States, 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 Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecra ...

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 aerobati ...

, 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 to 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built for the ...

of the

Vancouver Barracks The Vancouver Barracks was the first United States Army base located in the Pacific Northwest, established in 1849, in what is now contemporary Vancouver, Washington. It was built on a rise above the Fort Vancouver fur trading station establish ...

in 1905. It is located in the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site 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 except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

, 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 ...

and the

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

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 se ...

Alexander Pearson Jr. of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. ; 1905 :

pilots his Baldwin airship from the grounds of the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition on the shores of Guild's Lake in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

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

. Beachey 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 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 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 won the dead-stick landing competition. ; 1937 : Soviet aviator

Valery Chkalov Valery Pavlovich Chkalov (; ; – 15 December 1938) was a test pilot awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union (1936). Early life Chkalov was born to a Russian family in 1904 in the upper Volga region, the town of Chkalovsk, Russia, Vasi ...

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, 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 In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

designated 8/26 with a

asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...

pavement. For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2022, the airport had 52,700 aircraft operations, an average of 144 per day: 100%

, <1%

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

and <1%

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. History The concept of air taxis existed as early as the 1910s. This concept goes back as early as 1917 with Glenn Curtiss’ prototype, the auto-plane. Furthermor ...

. At that time there were 151 aircraft based at this airport: 144 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 ge ...

, 4 multi-engine, 2 helicopter, and 1 glider. The airfield has a 150 T-hangars and tiedown facilities, with capacity for 175 light aircraft. Located adjacent to the airfield 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 visito ...

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.

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

History

Facilities and aircraft

Economic impact

See also

References

External links