Bernard's Airport
Encyclopedia
Bernard's Airport was a non-commercial airfield in Beaverton, Oregon
, USA. The airfield was originally named Watts Airport.
became concentrated in Hollywood this 32 acres (129,499.5 m²) film
studio site was converted into an aircraft
hangar
factory. Dr. G. E. Watts, the financier behind the film venture in Beaverton, was also an aviation
enthusiast, who founded Watts Airport. The original hangar at Watts Airport was on the west side of Erickson, along what is now Sixth Street. Before long, airplanes were being built and tested in Beaverton and many pilots were using the Watts airstrip.
Air Space Magazine, which is affiliated with the Smithsonian, states that the real history of grassroots
aviation in Oregon began in "the hayfields of Beaverton" (i.e. Bernard's Airport), where aircraft innovation design achieved a wide circle of inventors and pilots.
Certain experimental and one-of-a-kind aircraft were based at Watts Airport. For example, Alley reports on one unusual plane based at Watts Airport in 1929, that was an experimental one-of-a-kind model. In this aircraft the pilot sat in an open air compartment, behind a roomy enclosed passenger cabin; the aircraft, nicknamed the "Flying Pickle" is now in the Pearson Air Museum
.
Having outgrown the site, Charles Bernard
was approached to assist with expansion of the airport. Bernard built additional wood frame hangars along an alignment parallel to the what is now Cedar Hills Boulevard. The wooden hangars were designed by George Edward Moshofsky, a Beaverton builder whose home was across the street from the airstrip. The unusual design, which accommodated the aircraft wings, was later depicted in a mural at the Salem Airport. The home-built airplane industry in Beaverton thrived. Bernard Airport was once known as the oldest continuously-operated airport in Oregon. On September 11, 1938 the Oregonian reported that Bernard Airport was "perhaps the busiest non-commercial airport in the United States." In the case of Bernard's Airport there exists the added distinction that most of the planes are amateur built." The airfield was converted into the Beaverton Mall shopping center in 1969.
Beaverton, Oregon
Beaverton is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States, seven miles west of Portland in the Tualatin River Valley.As of the 2010 census, the population is 90,267. This makes it the second-largest city in the county and Oregon's sixth-largest city...
, USA. The airfield was originally named Watts Airport.
History
The site of Bernard's Airport was originally developed as a motion picture studio in the 1920s. After film making on the West CoastWest Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
became concentrated in Hollywood this 32 acres (129,499.5 m²) film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
studio site was converted into an aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
hangar
Hangar
A hangar is a closed structure to hold aircraft or spacecraft in protective storage. Most hangars are built of metal, but other materials such as wood and concrete are also sometimes used...
factory. Dr. G. E. Watts, the financier behind the film venture in Beaverton, was also an aviation
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
enthusiast, who founded Watts Airport. The original hangar at Watts Airport was on the west side of Erickson, along what is now Sixth Street. Before long, airplanes were being built and tested in Beaverton and many pilots were using the Watts airstrip.
Air Space Magazine, which is affiliated with the Smithsonian, states that the real history of grassroots
Grassroots
A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
aviation in Oregon began in "the hayfields of Beaverton" (i.e. Bernard's Airport), where aircraft innovation design achieved a wide circle of inventors and pilots.
Certain experimental and one-of-a-kind aircraft were based at Watts Airport. For example, Alley reports on one unusual plane based at Watts Airport in 1929, that was an experimental one-of-a-kind model. In this aircraft the pilot sat in an open air compartment, behind a roomy enclosed passenger cabin; the aircraft, nicknamed the "Flying Pickle" is now in the Pearson Air Museum
Pearson Air Museum
The Pearson Air Museum is an aviation museum at Pearson Field in Vancouver, Washington, USA. The museum specializes in aircraft made before or during World War II. The displays are housed in the U.S.'s second oldest wooden aircraft hangar, built in 1918 and used as a hangar since 1921. During World...
.
Having outgrown the site, Charles Bernard
Charles Bernard (aviator)
Charles Bernard is an aviation pioneer who developed Bernard's Airport in Beaverton, Oregon, USA.Bernard ran a hayfarm in Beaverton amounting to in size at least as early as the mid 1920s. By 1929, he allowed of this agricultural holding into a private airfield catering to aircraft inventors and...
was approached to assist with expansion of the airport. Bernard built additional wood frame hangars along an alignment parallel to the what is now Cedar Hills Boulevard. The wooden hangars were designed by George Edward Moshofsky, a Beaverton builder whose home was across the street from the airstrip. The unusual design, which accommodated the aircraft wings, was later depicted in a mural at the Salem Airport. The home-built airplane industry in Beaverton thrived. Bernard Airport was once known as the oldest continuously-operated airport in Oregon. On September 11, 1938 the Oregonian reported that Bernard Airport was "perhaps the busiest non-commercial airport in the United States." In the case of Bernard's Airport there exists the added distinction that most of the planes are amateur built." The airfield was converted into the Beaverton Mall shopping center in 1969.