Pearson Field
Pearson Field | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | |||||||||||
Summary | |||||||||||
Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
Owner | City of Vancouver | ||||||||||
Serves | Vancouver, Washington | ||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 25 ft / 8 m | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 45°37′14″N 122°39′23″W / 45.62056°N 122.65639°W | ||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Statistics (2006) | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Pearson Field (ICAO: KVUO, FAA LID: VUO) [2] also once known as Pearson Airpark, is a city-owned municipal airport located one mile (2 km) southeast of the central business district of Vancouver, a city in Clark County, Washington, United States.[1]
Pearson Field is the oldest continuously operating airfield in the Pacific Northwest 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 historic aerospace site.[3][4] Pearson Field's history began with the landing of a Baldwin airship, piloted by Lincoln Beachey, upon the polo grounds of the Vancouver Barracks in 1905.[5][6] It is located in the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site adjacent to the reconstructed fort. Primarily used for general aviation, the airfield's lone runway is located directly beneath the final approach to runway 10L at nearby Portland International Airport. The airport lies next to Washington State Route 14 and the Columbia River.
History[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Goodyear_N3A_blimp_in_June_1973.jpg/300px-Goodyear_N3A_blimp_in_June_1973.jpg)
Pearson Field's history dates back to the early 1900s and is named for local resident First Lieutenant Alexander Pearson Jr. of the United States Army.
- 1905
- Lincoln Beachey 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, to Vancouver Barracks, a distance of approximately 8 miles, in the first aerial crossing of the Columbia River. 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.[7][8]
- 1911
- First airplane lands at Pearson Field.
- 1912
- A homebuilt aircraft built onsite becomes the first aircraft departure.[9]
- 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.[10] 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.[11]
- 1937
- Soviet aviator Valery Chkalov 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.[12][13][14]
- 2015
- AIAA monument placed.
- 2016
- Former State Representative John McKibbin, along with Irene Mustain, depart from the field; their plane crashes in the Columbia River.
Facilities and aircraft[]
Pearson Field covers an area of 140 acres (57 ha) which contains one runway designated 8/26 with a 3,275 ft × 60 ft (998 m × 18 m) asphalt pavement. For the 12-month period ending May 31, 2006, the airport had 52,200 aircraft operations, an average of 143 per day: 97% general aviation, 2% military and 1% air taxi. At that time there were 175 aircraft based at this airport: 97% single-engine and 3% multi-engine.[1]
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 and Aero Maintenance Flight Center, a full service FBO, maintenance station, avionics station, and part 61 and part 141 approved flight school,[15] and the Pearson Field Education Center. Located nearby are the Grand Central Retail Center,[16] Jantzen Beach SuperCenter and the Portland International Raceway.
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.[17] There was an updated report in 2012.[18]
See also[]
- Grove Field
- Hillsboro Airport
- Portland International Airport
- Portland-Troutdale Airport
- Swan Island Municipal Airport
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c FAA Airport Form 5010 for VUO PDF, effective 2007-12-20
- ^ Great Circle Mapper: KVUO - Vancouver, Washington (Pearson Field)
- ^ http://www.fortvan.org/images/AIAA_Booklet.pdf
- ^ http://www.aiaa.org/HistoricAerospaceSites/
- ^ Alley, Bill (2006). Pearson Field Pioneering Aviation in Vancouver and Portland. Charleston: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-3129-8.
- ^ Pearson Field: Compiled From Columbian Archives. the Columbian. 2010-05-21. URL:http://www.columbian.com/history/pearson/. Accessed: 2010-05-21. (Archived by WebCite at https://www.webcitation.org/5pu3OJB4I)
- ^ Alley, William (2006). Pearson Field. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7385-3129-8.
- ^ http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025138/1905-09-20/ed-1/seq-1/
- ^ "College Park Vrs Pearson Field". AOPA Pilot: 38. May 2014.
- ^ General Orders No. 9, J.L. Hines, War Department, May 7, 1925
- ^ http://fortvan.org/images/Pearson/Educational_PDFs/Foltz.pdf
- ^ http://fortvan.org/images/AIAA_Booklet.pdf
- ^ http://www4.columbian.com/news/2012/sep/06/pearson-fields-standing-in-aviation-history-recogn/
- ^ http://www4.columbian.com/news/2012/sep/10/pearson-field-soars-past-kitty-hawk-in-one-area-of/
- ^ http://www.aeromt.com
- ^ "Grand Central Retail Center".
- ^ "AIRPORT: Pearson Field (VUO) ASSOCIATED CITY: Vancouver ARC: B-II REGION: Southwest" (PDF). Washington State Department of Transport Aviation Division. 2001. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
- ^ "Pearson Field" (PDF). Washington State Department of Transport. 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
External links[]
- Pearson Field at City of Vancouver website
- Washington State Department of Transportation (Pearson Field)
- Pearson Air Museum Archived 2007-02-08 at the Wayback Machine
- 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
- FAA Terminal Procedures for VUO, effective September 9, 2021
- Resources for this airport:
- FAA airport information for VUO
- AirNav airport information for KVUO
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS weather observations: current, past three days
- SkyVector aeronautical chart, Terminal Procedures
- 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