Charles Bernard (aviator)

Charles Bernard is an aviation pioneer who developed Bernard's Airport in Beaverton, Oregon, USA.[1][2]

Bernard ran a hayfarm in Beaverton amounting to 60 acres (240,000 m2) in size at least as early as the mid-1920s. By 1929, he allowed 40 acres (160,000 m2) of this agricultural holding into a private airfield catering to aircraft inventors and collectors of one-of-a-kind small aircraft.[3][4] The original airfield was known as Watts Airfield, named for Dr. G.E. Watts, the man most actively involved in the initial airfield development.[5] As more capital for airport expansion was needed, Watts called upon Bernard to assist with financing and management of the enlarged airport. Much of the enlargement was for construction of additional wooden hangars to support the expanding fleet of aircraft housed at this airport.[6] Around 1929, the facility was renamed Bernard's Airport, as it is shown on official maps of the area in 1948. The airport was closed in 1969 when the Beaverton Mall was developed on the airport site.

References

  1. ↑ "100 People Who Shaped Beaverton." The Valley Times [Beaverton, OR], 24 July 1993, Inside.
  2. ↑ Beaverton's 75 Year of Progress: 1893-1968. Beaverton Diamond Jubilee Corp.: Beaverton, OR, 1968.
  3. ↑ Ken Scott, Air Space, History of Flight, Oregon Aviation Historical Society, The Resistance(2007)
  4. ↑ Bill Alley, Pearson Field: Pioneering Aviation in Vancouver and Portland, Arcadia Publishing, 127 pages (2006) ISBN 0-7385-3129-4
  5. ↑ Earth Metrics Inc, Phase I Environmental Site Assessment for Willow Grove Apartments at 11981 SW Center Street, Beaverton, Oregon, December 8, 1989
  6. ↑ City of Beaverton official website: Beaverton History: Beaverton Airport and Motion Picture Industry
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