by Dave Konstantin
Did you know there were once airports in Clairemont? I know of 4 airports that were in the Clairemont area over the years. Some of the info is clear and some is fuzzy.
1946 Thomas Bros. Map Shows Air Park in Clairemont |
When I mention that I am a pilot, many long term residents tell me about an airport they remember near the intersection of Balboa and Charger. I can not substantiate this but have heard it many times.
We do have good info on three airports that were in Clairemont long before it was called Clairemont.
The first was near what is now the corner of Dakota and Clairemont Drive. It was called “San Diego Airpark”. It was shown on the 1945 Thomas Brothers map and on San Diego Aviation Charts of the time. It originally had a 2,700 foot unpaved runway but later added a taxiway and an opposing runway. It seems to have been operated between 1948 and 1952. I have heard stories that it was built by a doctor from La Jolla. This airport was graded over to make room for the new community of Clairemont.
The second was called Rosedale and it appears to have been located near where Genesee Plaza is today at Balboa and Genesee. It was one of the Navy’s “Out Lying Fields” attached to the NAS at North Island. It had a 1,500 foot long adobe runway with an east-west orientation to make use of the prevailing wind. This was also shown on aviation charts and topographic maps of the day. It was opened in 1938, used extensively during WWII and closed some time between 1949 and 1951.
There was a 2,600 foot oiled runway, hangers, a cafĂ©, and flight training. The SD Historical Society has some great pictures of it. Peik’s Airport went the way of progress as Mission Bay was developed.
So there you have it. Could Clairemont have been the location of the international airport if it was not developed into what we know it to be today?
I would like to thank Paul Freeman for much of this information. Visit his website about abandoned and forgotten airfields at www.airfields-freeman.com
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