Brown Field Municipal Airport

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Not to be confused with Charlie Brown Field, at Fulton County Airport, Georgia.

Brown Field

IATA: SDM - ICAO: KSDM
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		City of San Diego
Serves		San Diego, California
Elevation AMSL		526 ft (160.3 m)
Coordinates		32°34′20.18″N, 116°58′48.58″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
8L/26R	7,972	2,430	Asphalt/Concrete
8R/26L	3,180	969	Asphalt

Brown Field Municipal Airport is located near San Diego, California and named in honor of United States Navy Commander Melville S. Brown, who killed in an airplane crash in 1936. Its FAA/IATA airport code is SDM (probably from "San Diego Municipal"), its IATA airport code is KSDM. Formerly a Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS), it is now a port of entry from Mexico. It is sometimes staffed by the U.S. Customs Service, but only upon the request of incoming pilots to the FAA.

It first opened in 1918 as East Field, later becoming NAAS Otay Mesa and then NAAS Brown Field, both in 1943. It was last used by the U.S. Navy in 1962, before becoming converted for general aviation use. As a result of its prior military use, the runway (08 / 26) is quite long, at 8000 feet or 2438 meters. Its control tower operates from 8AM to 8PM.

[edit] Caveat

Tijuana Airport is just over 1 nm to the south, with a similar length and a slightly different runway orientation (09 / 27) but is clearly a commercial passenger facility.