Pearson Field

For the international airport in Toronto, Canada, see Toronto Pearson International Airport.
Pearson Field
IATA: none – ICAO: KVUO – FAA LID: VUO
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner City of Vancouver
Serves Vancouver, Washington
Elevation AMSL 25 ft / 8 m
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
8/26 3,275 998 Asphalt
Statistics (2006)
Aircraft operations 52,200
Based aircraft 175
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]

Pearson Field (ICAO: KVUO, FAA LID: VUO), is a city-owned public-use 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 operating airfield in the United States dating to the landing of the dirigible Gelatine, piloted by Lincoln Beachey, upon the polo grounds of the Vancouver Barracks in 1905.[2] Located in the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, it is also the only airport in the United States that operates totally within the boundaries of a national historic reserve.[3] Primarily used for general aviation, the airfield's lone runway is located directly beneath the final approach to nearby Portland International Airport. The airport lies next to the Lewis and Clark Highway and the Columbia River. It is the only airport in Washington that is a satellite airport.

Although most U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, Pearson Field is assigned VUO by the FAA but has no designation from the IATA.[4]

Contents

History

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 the dirigible Gelatine from the grounds of the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition on the shores of Guild's Lake in Portland, Oregon to Vancouver Barracks 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.[5]
1911 
First airplane lands at Pearson Field.
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[6]
1937 
Soviet aviator Valery Chkalov lands at the end of the first non-stop transpolar flight.
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.

Facilities and aircraft

Pearson Field covers an area of 140 acres (57 ha) which contains one runway designated 8/26 with a 3,275 × 60 ft (998 × 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 the Jack Murdock Aviation Center. Located nearby are the Jantzen Beach SuperCenter and the Portland International Raceway.

Transportation

Economic impact

The state of Washington provides economic impact studies of airports within the state. Pearson Field contributes about 600 jobs to the area. Salaries drawn in relation to business at Pearson total about $11M USD. The total economic activity related to Pearson totals about $38M USD.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c FAA Airport Master Record for VUO (Form 5010 PDF), effective 2007-12-20
  2. ^ 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 http://www.webcitation.org/5pu3OJB4I)
  3. ^ Pearson Field Airport - Services & Public Safety - City of Vancouver, Washington, USA
  4. ^ Great Circle Mapper: KVUO - Vancouver, Washington (Pearson Field)
  5. ^ Alley, William (2006). Pearson Field. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7385-3129-8. 
  6. ^ General Orders No. 9, J.L. Hines, War Department, May 7, 1925
  7. ^ [1]

External links

Airports in Washington
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Military
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