The morning of September 19, 1905, dawned cold and damp. The Columbia and Willamette rivers lay under a light cloak of fog that draped many of the pavilions built specially for the Lewis and Clark Centennial and American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair, which spread across the shore of Guilds Lake, in Portland, Oregon. At the edge of the exhibition complex, the dirigible Gelatine floated tethered to its moorings, motionless in the still air. Soon the dirigible would make history by establishing a nearby site as one of the nation's first airfields.
Several hours later, with 18-year-old pilot Lincoln Beachey at the controls, Gelatine ascended above the exposition and set off across the Columbia, eventually landing on the polo grounds of the U.S. Army's Vancouver Barracks. Although historians agree that Beachey's mission was to deliver a message, they differ as to the particulars. Some say the communiqué was from the president of the exposition to the commander of the Department of the Columbia. Others say it was from Portland's mayor, Harry Lane, to Vancouver's mayor, E.G. Crawford. Regardless, no one disputes that on that day, Lincoln Beachey became the first person to achieve an aerial crossing of the Columbia River and the first to make a controlled, powered flight into the state of Washington.
Beachey went on to an illustrious career in aviation, becoming the first American to fly inverted and the first to do the loop the loop. Indeed, Orville Wright praised him as "the most wonderful flier I ever saw — the greatest aviator of all." As for the polo grounds, which eventually would be renamed Pearson Field after a local pilot who achieved national fame, many more historic events would follow as the decades flew by.
The air age
By 1910, airplanes were becoming more common at the polo grounds. The increased activity kept aviation in the news, as noted aviators, such as Charles Hamilton of the Curtiss flying team, visited the field. But it was another local pilot who captured the headlines nationwide. Silas Christofferson, a local aviator who had designed and built several types of airplanes, including their engines, completed construction of a Curtiss-style pusher biplane. On June 11, 1912, the aircraft was lifted in pieces by crane to the roof of the nine-story Multnomah Hotel, in downtown Portland. Using a 170-foot-long wooden ramp, Christofferson launch-ed over the city and a crowd estimated at 50,000 persons, flying for 12 minutes and landing at Vancouver. Before the flight, Portland's The Oregonian opined, "Aviators have made ascents from the decks of large battleships, but there is no record that any of the large army of intrepid birdmen has to date undertaken to fly from a building the elevation of the Multnomah, estimated at 120 feet." It is believed that Christofferson achieved an altitude of 900 feet that afternoon.
Like Beachey, Christofferson became a well-known aviator, setting the world's one-day distance record, 302 miles, in February 1914 and an altitude record, 14,496 feet, in June of the same year. He also was the first person to fly passengers out of Vancouver. In what must have been the result of one of the greatest bureaucratic ballets of the modern age, Christofferson's Multnomah Hotel flight was reenacted in 1995 by Tom Murphy, who flew a 1946-built replica of a Curtiss Pusher off a 200-foot-long ramp on the same rooftop. The replica aircraft now resides at the Pearson Air Museum.
Going to war
The polo ground's use as an airfield was overshadowed by the country's entry into World War I. To build new airplanes for the war effort, the Army suddenly had a great need for straight-grained spruce, the best of which was to be found in the vast forests of the Pacific Northwest. The Army organized its new Spruce Production Division under the Signal Corps and in just 45 days constructed the world's largest cut-up plant on the site of the polo grounds, assigning military personnel to work alongside local residents. The 358-by-288-foot building, part of a 50-acre complex, held six complete sawmills, which operated continuously, day and night. In operation for only nine months and six days, the mill produced an incredible 76,653,429 feet of lumber. A remnant of that time still exists: the country's oldest wooden hangar. Built in 1918, the sturdy building has been used as an airplane hangar since 1921.
Despite all that was happening during this period, it was a local boy who captured the attention and admiration of the region's residents. In 1919, a young Army lieutenant by the name of Alexander Pearson Jr. won an air race from New York to San Francisco and back. Pearson, who had attended high school in Vancouver and college at the University of Oregon, triumphed over 73 other pilots, completing the route with a flight time of 48 hours, 14 minutes, 8 seconds in a de Havilland DH-4.
Pearson was an exceptional pilot and was assigned to some exceptional missions, including one to carry out the first aerial survey of the Grand Canyon. Although he was one of three aviators chosen to fly in the 1924 Pulitzer Races, he never got the opportunity. He was killed when a wing strut collapsed during a practice run in his Curtiss R-8. In 1925, by decree of the secretary of war, the U.S. Army's aerodrome in Vancouver, Washington, was named Pearson Field. More than 20,000 people attended the dedication services.
By this time, the Vancouver Chamber of Commerce had established a commercial airport adjacent to the military airfield. Instrumental in this endeavor was Lt. Oakley Kelly, who with Lt. John McCready had made the first nonstop transcontinental flight, in 1923, and who commanded the 321st Observation Squadron at Vancouver from 1924 to 1928. The city of Vancouver began operating the commercial side, Vancouver Municipal Airport, in 1928, but it would not be until after World War II that the two parcels would be merged to create the airport that exists in its present form. Pearson Airpark, as the facility was — and, to many, still is — known, was a stop for the original West Coast airmail service. The field was used by Pacific Air Transport and by Varney Air Lines; the two companies later joined with two others, Boeing Air Transport and National Air Transport, to become United Airlines.
Throughout its history, legendary pilots and momentous flights have made use of Pearson Field. Charles Lindbergh, Jimmy Doolittle, Eddie Rickenbacker, T. Claude Ryan, and Chuck Yeager have flown in and out of Pearson, as have hundreds of aviators from around the world. Some of the most interesting stories, however, involve John G. "Tex" Rankin, whose colorful career as an airshow performer went hand in hand with his accomplishment as a flight-training entrepreneur. Based at Pearson on several occasions, Rankin turned out dozens of pilots who used his, shall we say, groundbreaking, course — one of the first complete training systems to be published — to earn their wings. One of Rankin's instructors was a young man by the name of Elrey Jeppesen, who, after becoming an airline pilot, went on to found the aviation publishing company that bears his name.
Jeppesen had a student who was quite different than all the others in Rankin's school. A mere teenager, her name was Dorothy Hester, and because of her gender, Rankin had no interest in her as a student. It took Jeppesen a while to convince Rankin to fly with her, and when he finally did, he realized that this young woman had talents that surpassed nearly all of his previous students. Dorothy Hester soon became the era's best-known aviatrix. She was the first woman to perform an outside loop and held a world record by performing 19 consecutive outside loops.
In 1924, Pearson Field was the last stopover in the Army's Round-the-World flight. Five years later, Land of the Soviets, a Tupolev ANT-4, touched down at the field during its around-the-world flight. But it was another Soviet mission that captured world attention. On June 20, 1937, a Soviet ANT-25, piloted by Valery Chkalov and his crew, copilot George Baidukov and navigator Alexander Beliakov, completed its transpolar flight from Moscow to Vancouver, landing at Pearson Field after 63 hours, 16 minutes.
Fast forward
Today, pilots visiting Pearson Field have the benefit of a published instrument approach and, upon arrival, a full-service fixed-base operation, Aero Maintenance Flight Center. Pearson has a single, paved runway, 8/26, which is 3,275 by 60 feet.
In addition to its prized location adjacent to the National Park Service's Fort Vancouver complex — a re-creation of the Hudson's Bay trading post that existed from 1825 through part of 1860 — and the beautifully refurbished buildings and pristine parade ground of the Vancouver Barracks and Officer's Row, Pearson Field is within walking distance of downtown Vancouver and to river-front hotels and restaurants. Moreover, the field is the closest general aviation airport to downtown Portland, one of America's most cosmopolitan cities.
The Pearson Air Museum, part of the Jack Murdock Aviation Center, is home to the Pearson Field Historical Society. Its picturesque buildings re-create the look of the Army Air Corps field that existed in the 1920s and 1930s. The complex is adjacent to the FBO and is open Wednesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Outside in front of the museum's main hangar is a Douglas DC-3 that is said to be the highest-time piston airplane on Earth. First flown in 1937 by Eddie Rickenbacker, who took delivery of it on behalf of Eastern Airlines at the Santa Monica, California, factory, the aircraft was last operated in revenue service by Provincetown-Boston Airlines. It has roughly 91,400 hours on the airframe and was featured in the PBS Nova documentary The Plane That Changed the World (1985) and in the classic 12-hour aviation history video anthology Reaching for the Skies (1989).
Pearson Field has the distinction of being included on the National Air Transportation Association's list of America's 100 Most Needed Airports and is the only airfield in the nation to be located entirely within the boundaries of a national historic site. This September, the city of Vancouver will commemorate the airfield's centennial with a birthday celebration to honor the many men and women who secured a place for this legendary field in the annals of aviation history.
Mark T. Masciarotte, AOPA 602336, of Vancouver, Washington, received his private pilot certificate in 1977 and first contributed to AOPA Pilot one year later.
Will the Past Ruin the Future?
Although there most certainly will be a large measure of good cheer during Pearson Field's centennial celebration, there likely will be a slightly different mood among the pilots and friends of this historic place.
As is the case with many general aviation airports in America, Pearson's survival is uncertain, and in large measure, it is the site's rich history that is contributing to the airport's difficulties. A 1994 agreement between the National Park Service and the city of Vancouver gave the NPS ownership of the western half of the runway, and because the agreement addresses the airport's status only until the year 2022, grant applications through the FAA's aviation trust fund can no longer be sought. In addition, there is development pressure at both ends of the runway. To the west, there is construction of new buildings in downtown Vancouver and an emerging plan to enlarge the Interstate Bridge to handle the ever-increasing traffic needs on Interstate 5. To the east, rezoning of industrial property on the approach end of Runway 26 has laid the groundwork for structures to be built that potentially will increase the number of people beneath the approach path.
Despite these political encumbrances, Pearson Field remains a unique destination, steeped in history. Through the efforts of pilots, friends, and aviation interests, such as the FAA, the Washington Aviation Division, the Civil Air Patrol, and AOPA, it is hoped that Pearson will stay on track to celebrate yet another centennial on the old polo grounds beside the great Columbia River.— MTM
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