History of Felts Field
Airfield in the United States / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Felts Field is an historic active airfield near Spokane, Washington, United States, on the south bank of the Spokane River.[1][2]
Aviation activities began there 111 years ago in 1913. In 1920, then called the Parkwater airstrip, was designated a municipal flying field at the instigation of the Spokane Chamber of Commerce. In 1926, the U.S. Department of Commerce officially recognized Parkwater as an airport, one of the first in the West.
Parkwater Aviation Field was the location for flight instruction, charter service, airplane repair, aerial photography, headquarters of the 116th Observation Squadron of the Washington Air National Guard, and eventually the first airmail and commercial flights in and out of Spokane.
In September 1927, in conjunction with Spokane's National Air Derby and Air Races, the airport was renamed Felts Field for James Buell Felts (1898–1927) of Opportunity. A Washington Air National Guard aviator and publisher of the Spokane Valley Herald, Lieutenant Felts and his passenger were killed in a crash of a Curtiss Jenny near the field that May.[3][4][5][6]
After World War II, commercial air traffic moved to Geiger Field (later Spokane International Airport). Felts Field remains a busy regional hub for private and small-plane aviation and related businesses and services. In 1991 it was designated Felts Field Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places[7]