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History of Felts Field

Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Washington (state)Airports in Washington (state)Buildings and structures in Spokane, WashingtonTransportation in Spokane, Washington

Felts Field is an historic active airfield in the northwest United States, located on the south bank of the Spokane River, just east of Spokane, Washington.Aviation activities began there 110 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.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

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article History of Felts Field (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

History of Felts Field
East Montgomery Avenue,

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N 47.683 ° E -117.323 °
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Felts Field Airport

East Montgomery Avenue
99212
Washington, United States
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Historic Flight Foundation
Historic Flight Foundation

The Historic Flight Foundation (HFF) is an aviation museum located at Felts Field in Spokane, Washington. The museum collects, restores, and flies historic aircraft from the period between Charles Lindbergh's solo Atlantic crossing in 1927 and the first commercial flight of the Boeing 707 in 1957, a 30-year period when airplanes evolved from relatively simple wood and fabric biplanes to commercial jets. The museum was previously located at Paine Field in Mukilteo, Washington, but was relocated to Spokane during the spring of 2020 due to the presence of commercial air service at Paine Field. The collection's Douglas DC-3 was manufactured at the Douglas Aircraft Company's Long Beach plant as one of only 300 DC-3s specifically designed to "fly the hump"—the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains—during World War II. The aircraft have been fully restored to flying condition, and fly regularly at monthly summer Fly Days, HFF's September Vintage Aircraft Weekend, and Paine Field's Aviation Day in May. The aircraft also fly at air displays throughout the Western United States and Canada. HFF hosts educational programs throughout the year. This includes a STEM program for primary through high school students, historic airplane ground schools, and flight training in historic aircraft. Speakers from HFF's Speaker's Bureau regularly present educational programs about aviation topics and airplanes in the collection. HFF also restores historic aircraft to flying condition. Some of this restoration work is done in-house at HFF's hangar where visitors can watch as the work is performed. Other restoration work is done by outside organizations that specialize in restoration of specific aircraft types. Two of Historic Flight's aircraft won awards for their restoration work at the National Aviation Heritage Invitational at the California Capital Airshow in September 2017.