Felts Field

{{Further|History of Felts Field}}

File:Boeing Air Transport B-40.jpg

Felts Field, Spokane's historic airfield, is on the south bank of the Spokane River east of Spokane. Aviation activities began in 1913. Then called the Parkwater airstrip, it was designated a municipal flying field in 1920 at the instigation of the Spokane Chamber of Commerce.

In 1926, the Department of Commerce recognized Parkwater as an airport, one of the first in the West. In September 1927, in conjunction with Spokane's National Air Races that Felts Field hosted,{{cite web| url = https://www.historylink.org/File/7924| title = Spokane hosts National Air Derby and Air Races beginning on September 21, 1927. - HistoryLink.org}} the airport was renamed Felts Field for James Buell Felts, a Washington Air National Guard aviator killed in a crash that May.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zAtWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=COIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5999%2C5795838 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |title=Two die when airplane drops |date=May 30, 1927 |page=1}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YKlfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fzIMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3888%2C4672311 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho) |agency=Associated Press |title=Planes claimed lives of six |date=May 30, 1927 |page=1}} Parkwater Aviation Field, later Felts 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 the summer of 1946, the airlines (Northwest and United) moved west 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.{{cite web| title = Felts Field History| url = http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=8464| access-date = 2011-07-19}}{{cite web| title = WASHINGTON - Spokane County| publisher = National Register of Historic Places| url = http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/WA/Spokane/state.html| access-date = 2009-01-15}}

Today the airport is used for general aviation. No scheduled passenger service remains at Felts, though scheduled Part 135 cargo operations remain via UPS and DHL contracting (Ameriflight LLC and previously Merlin Express Airways).

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File:Felts_Field,_general_aviation_(10507739434).jpg

Felts Field covers {{convert|416|acre|km2}} at an elevation of {{convert|1957|ft}} above sea level. It has two runways: 4L/22R is {{convert|4499|by|150|ft}} concrete and 4R/22L is {{convert|2650|by|75|ft}} asphalt. It has a seaplane landing area designated 3W/21W, {{convert|6000|by|100|ft}}. The runways were formerly numbered 3/21.

In the year ending February 28, 2015, it had 54,881 aircraft operations, averaging 150 per day: 93% general aviation, 7% air taxi, and <1% military. In July 2017, 176 aircraft were based at Felts Field: 146 single-engine, 15 multi-engine, and 15 helicopters.

The hangar facilities at the airport house the Historic Flight Foundation aviation museum.{{cite web| url = https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/dec/17/historic-flight-foundation-opens-aviation-museum-a/| title = Historic Flight Foundation opens aviation museum at Felts Field {{!}} The Spokesman-Review}} The museum was opened to the public in 2019 as a second location to the Historic Flight Foundation's Paine Field museum in Everett, Washington.{{cite web | url=http://warbirdsnews.com/aviation-museum-news/historic-flight-foundation-new-museum-space-opens.html | title=Historic Flight Foundation – New Museum Space Opens | date=2 January 2020 }}

{{Airport destination list

| AirPac Airlines[http://airpacairlines.com/ AirPac Airlines] | Portland (OR), Seattle–Boeing

}}

• On the morning of Saturday, November 29, 2003, an Ameriflight LLC cargo (Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner) (N439AF) crashed on approach to runway 22R at Felts Field using the ILS.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZbteAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2DAMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4682%2C4204865 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=Idaho |agency=Associated Press |title=Pilot dies in Spokane Valley crash of cargo plane |date=November 30, 2003 |page=5C}} The pilot's HSI was previously noted as inoperative, deferred, and due for scheduled maintenance. It is unclear whether the pilot was using backup instrumentation as prescribed via the deferral process or using the faulty HSI. The Metro III failed to maintain ILS glide slope and crashed short of the runway into rising terrain and trees. The pilot was killed during the subsequent impact and fire. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.{{cite web| title = Flight 1966 crash| url = http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20031129-1| access-date = 2011-07-19|website=aviation-safety.net}}

• List of airports in Washington
• Washington World War II Army Airfields

{{reflist}}

• {{official website|https://feltsfield.spokaneairports.net/}}
• [https://www.nps.gov/articles/felts-field-historic-district.htm National Park Service] – Felts Field Historic District

• [https://wsdot.wa.gov/travel/aviation/airports-list/felts-field Washington State Department of Transportation] – Felts Field
• {{FAA-diagram|00402}}
• {{FAA-procedures|SFF}}

{{US-airport-ga|SFF}}

{{Airports in Washington}}

{{USAAF 2d Air Force World War II}}

{{Transportation in the Spokane, WA–Coeur d'Alene, ID region}}

Category:Airports in Washington (state)

Category:Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Washington (state)

Category:Buildings and structures in Spokane, Washington

Category:Transportation in Spokane, Washington

Category:1913 establishments in Washington (state)

Category:Airports established in 1913

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Spokane, Washington

Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state)

Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Spokane County, Washington