Beacon Field Airport Runways (Site)

In 1929, Airway Beacon No. 55, a pilot’s navigation aid, was installed on this site owned by W.F.P. Reid. Beacon Field is named for the beacon tower. Under the Civilian Pilot Training Program established in 1938, Ashburn Flying Service trained hundreds of pilots at Beacon Field for military service to support World War II. In 1942, the airport was temporarily closed for security reasons. The Civil Aeronautics Administration Region One Safety Office moved here following the war. Veterans of World War II and the Korean conflict trained under the GI Bill at the Lehman/Reid flying school. Many became commercial pilots. Beacon Field Airport closed 1 October 1959.


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Also see . . .
The History of Beacon Field website. “Initially the airfield was named Groveton Flying Field and was used for recreational flying and U.S. Air Mail pilots. The exact date of airport establishment is not known as W.F.P. Reid owned the pasture land on which a light tower, a beacon for US Air Mail pilots, was installed by the US Government in the late 1920s. The beacon was designated Airway Beacon No. 55 on Mt. Vernon Highway. At elevation of 249 feet, the area commanded one of the highest points in Fairfax County.”


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Here follows an excerpt from the book, “Snake Hill to Spring Bank” which was an oral history project conducted by students at Groveton High School in the mid-1970s. The interviews were transcribed under the direction of their teachers and local historian Edith Moore Sprouse.

From the interview with Kent Crowther:
"The airport was owned by Reid. There was a big white house on it sort of like a mansion. It had a big sun porch, and from that sun porch you could see the river because you were so high. It was built about where the filling station portion of Memco is though it was closer to the road. The Reids had lived there at least two generations and Reid remembered clearly before World War I. They built a road from Alexandria to Fort Humphrey, which is now Fort Belvoir. It was a dirt road about the equivalent of three lanes wide but just mud, and went past Mr. Reid's place where #1 highway is now. Just before World War II, his son became interested in aviation.

He was interested in aviation and so he built him an airport. It was a hill top and it was cleared. During World War II the Navy rented out the airport for pilot trainings, and also the area down in Hybla Valley.

Reid's son came back from the war and started a flying school there. He had hangars and fueling facilities, gasoline, and a small tower that had a beacon light. That's why it's called Beacon Hill. The beacon was on the nautical charts for the ships going up and down the Potomac River. The beacon was timed. They had it timed how long it was white and how long it would show red, so it could be distinguished from others along the river.

Reid leased the airport for a commercial airport after the war. It was approved as a school for the veterans. He had instructed flying for a long time. He flew an awful lot himself.

After Reid died his son closed this airfield and opened up an airfield on the other side of the river. Each morning he would take off and fly to the airport on the other side, and each night he would come back. No landing lights or anything, so he would use Marshall street as a guide.

During the time they were using the airport for pilot training they had a lot of accidents because the people who were learning to fly were not familiar with the airport. When they crossed #1 highway the cement and temperature would create air currents. Very often the planes would misjudge, hit the high power electric lines next to the airport, and flip over. We had one fellow that had just gotten himself a new plane -- he ran out of gas just before he reached the airport and he tried to coast on in. He crashed into the bank and drove the nose back into the cockpit. I don't think the occupants were killed, but it certainly tore the plane to pieces. We had quite a few accidents like that.

They had two runways. One running parallel with #1 highway, the other perpendicular to #1, back where the cemetery is. There was a small plane coming in for a landing parallel to #1 highway. Using this runway they would have to fly right over the school (Groveton Elementary) or right next to the school. The house on the west side was hit by a plane which flew into the second floor and ended up inside the building. Nothing caught fire and luckily no one was up in the bedrooms. There was a lot of commotion about what might've happened because school was in session. But generally speaking, Beacon Hill was a safe airport.

The airport was never torn down. They just stopped using it and started building on to it. First thing was built was the Giant. While the Giant was there Reid was still landing on the strip directly behind the Giant.
Giant was built somewhere around the early 60's."


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Here follows an excerpt from the "Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields" website written by Paul Freeman:

Beacon Field, Alexandria, VA
(Southwest of Reagan National Airport, VA)

According to the book "Virginia Airports" by Vera Rollo & Norman Crabill (published by the VAHS), the aviation use of this property began in the 1920s, when an aeronautical beacon was installed on the site, as part of the Department of Commerce's network of commercial airways which ran along routes between major cities. Aubrey Burdette rented some open land at the site from the Reid family to begin giving flying lessons & rides. Burdette Flying Service quickly became quite busy, and also employed Sanford Gulick as an instructor. Bob Ashburn eventually joined the staff, and in time the Ashburn Flying Service took over from Burdette Flying Service.

It wasn't until 4/11/32 that a license was granted for Beacon Hill Airport (according to the book "Virginia Airports"). No airfield at the location was yet depicted on the May 1932 J-18 Washington D. C. Airway Map (courtesy of Chris Kennedy). The earliest official listing for Beacon Field which has been located was in the 1934 Department of Commerce Airfield Directory (according to Chris Kennedy). It described the field as consisting of an irregularly-shaped sod landing area, measuring 1,200' north/south x 1,500' east/west.

The January 1, 1936 Department of Commerce Airway Bulletin described Beacon Field as a commercial field, consisting of an irregularly-shaped sod field, measuring 1,500' east/west by 1,200' north/south. It was said to be operated by the Department of Commerce, and to offer facilities for servicing aircraft, day & night. The Airport Directory Company's 1937 Airports Directory (courtesy of Bob Rambo) described Beacon Field as consisting of an irregular sod landing area, measuring 1,500' x 1,200'. The aerial photo in the directory depicted a hangar at the north edge of the field.

A circa 1939 photo of Charles Duggar in front of a 1938 Aeronca NC27783 Model K (2 cylinder) chocked & running at Beacon Field. A hot summer day – the windows fully extended in the upstairs airport office in the building on the left.

According to the book "Discovering Loudoun", radio celebrity Arthur Godfrey learned to fly at Beacon Field, and later named his estate Beacon Hill in honor of the airport. Godfrey also later bought the George Farm airfield in Leesburg, which later became Godfrey Field. Prior to World War II, Beacon Field hosted the Civil Aeronautics Administration Region 1 Aviation Safety District Office. In 1940, a group of African-American pilots incorporated the Cloud Club in Washington, DC. They began flying at Beacon Field in their own airplane, a 1939 Piper Cub Coupe. Things did not go smoothly for the Cloud Club in Alexandria, though. Very soon they were accused of violating airfield rules, and were soon kicked out of Beacon Field. They moved to Croom Field in MD.

According to the book "Virginia Airports", as WW2 began, Beacon Field was closed to civilian flying, and was used by the military as a Civilian Pilot Training Program base, and later for training women ferry pilots as part of the WASP program. In 1942 the US Navy took over Beacon Field as a primary training base for Naval Aviation Cadets. When a Navy Hellcat landed at Beacon Field, 2 furrows were left in the macadam from the main gear, but hardly anyone noticed the damage due to the excitement.

The April 1944 US Army/Navy Directory of Airfields (courtesy of Ken Mercer) described Beacon Field as having a 2,000' runway. The 1945 Haire Publishing Company Airport Directory (courtesy of Chris Kennedy) described Beacon Field as having 4 sod runways (with the longest being a 3,000' northwest/southeast strip), and said that the field also had 2 hangars. However, that description of a 3,000' runway was doubted by Merton Meade, who recalled, “There just wasn't that much room there.” The 1945 USGS topo map depicted an Airway Beacon & several buildings at the site of Beacon Field, but did not label the airport.

According to the book "Virginia Airports", "Following the war Harry Lehman took over the airport business with his family. For a time business boomed. Sixty planes were hangared there & many others were tied down outside." Merton Meade recalled, “Harry Lehman... was vice-president; Franklin Reid, his brother-in-law, was president, and Franklin's sister & Harry's wife, Mary Lewis Lehman nee Reid, was also on the masthead.”

A 1949 aerial view depicted Beacon Field as having 2 unpaved runways, with 5 hangars & numerous other buildings on the east side of the field. A total of 28 light aircraft were visible parked on the east side of the field. The 1949 USAF Target Complex Chart depicted Beacon Field as having two 2,000' runways.

A 1949 photo by Art Brown (courtesy of Robert Brown) of a Schweizer 1-23 at a 1949 glider meet at Beacon Field. A Beacon Field hangar & light beacon tower are in the background at right. A 1949 photo by Art Brown (courtesy of Robert Brown) of a Laister-Kauffman LK-10A (identified by Norman Kellman) at a 1949 glider meet at Beacon Field. A Beacon Field hangar & light beacon tower are in the background at right.

The Washington Soaring Club held the first Mid-Atlantic Soaring Contest at Beacon Field in 1949. Due to its close proximity of Washington, the meet received unequaled newspaper coverage. Kim Scribner won the meet, after he thrilled the crowd with low-level glider aerobatics such as slow rolls on tow & outside loops in his Schweizer 1-23 sailplane. The second Mid-Atlantic was held again at Beacon Field in 1950. The club moved to Martinsburg, WV the next year.

Beacon Field was described on the 1951 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe) as having 2 runways, with the longest being a 2,313' hard-surface strip. The 1951 USGS topo map depicted Beacon Field as having 2 paved runways & a cluster of buildings on the east side. The 1956 USGS topo map still depicted Beacon Field as having its namesake beacon tower on its east side. Beacon Field's namesake beacon tower was was repossessed by the Federal Government in 1957.

An interesting sidebar to the Beacon Field story concerns an unusual prototype aircraft which resided at the field late in the airport's history. The Canadian Car & Foundry company built eight examples of the Loadmaster 1, which was an aircraft of the Burnelli concept, in which the fuselage was configured as an airfoil, in an attempt to maximize lift & reduce drag. A Loadmaster made a demonstration at nearby Fort Belvoir VA in 1957, when the US Army was exploring potential for a new troop carrier. During the demonstration, the Loadmaster made a forced landing, and was removed to Beacon Field. It remained at Beacon Field for the next 2 years, until an inspection revealed that it had suffered only minor damage: a bent propeller & skin tearing from the belly-landing.

In 1959, as Beacon Field was closing down to make way for a housing development, the Loadmaster, after an unusually short takeoff run, took off from Beacon Field. According to Tom Beamer, the Loadmaster flew to Baltimore’s Friendship Field (now BWI), where it was parked in the mid to late 1960s never to fly again. Craig Lynch recalled of Beacon Field, “I grew up behind the airport & saw it torn down as a young boy. The Reid family owned the land the airport was on & the Reid mansion was on the airport property. I played in the Loadmaster & saw it leave the airport.”

Merton Meade recalled, “The Burnelli aeroplane: I can recall sitting in my 10th grade science class at Mount Vernon High School on US 1 several miles south of Beacon Field and looking out the window... not an unusual thing... and saw this 'thing' being towed up the highway. When I got to the airport that afternoon, there was the Burnelli sitting there after it's minor crash at Ft. Belvior. It sat there for a couple of years whilst Paul Zimmer's shop did repairs on it. The cockpit of the Burnelli was laid out as an almost carbon copy of the DC-3. Beacon actually closed in the autumn of 1959, but it was some time after that when Paul Zimmer & Marvin Heintzel actually flew the thing over to Friendship in Baltimore. It sat there for quite a few years & is now at the museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.”

Before Beacon Field closed, one of the masonry buildings that had housed a Link Flight Simulator was moved to adjacent family land. According to the book "Virginia Airports", "On 9/30/59 the Beacon Field hangar doors closed for the last time and another historic airport disappeared." The Reid & Lehman families closed the airport on 10/1/59. The City View antebellum mansion on the airport grounds was torn down in a day in the fall of 1959. When Beacon Field closed, many of its resident aircraft moved to nearby Washington-Virginia Airport. Harry & Mary Lehman moved his flying business across the Potomac River to Hyde Field, MD.

The last photo which has been located showing Beacon Field still intact was an 11/9/59 USGS aerial view, taken only a month after its closure. Beacon Field was no longer depicted on the 1961 USGS topo map. A 1962 aerial view showed that the southeastern portion of the Beacon Field property had been cleared for construction, with one building of the new shopping center having been erected. All of the north/south runway still remained intact, along with the western half of the northwest/southeast runway. A 1979 aerial view showed that the western portion of the former airport property had been covered by apartment buildings, erasing any trace of the former airport.

The 2002 USGS aerial photo of the site of the former Beacon Field showed that the property was occupied by the Beacon Hill Mall. No trace remains of the former airfield. As of 2008, the masonry building which had previously housed a Link Flight Simulator reportedly still stood on adjacent family land. Beacon Field's address was 2013 Richmond Highway. The site of Beacon Field is located at the intersection of Beacon Hill Road & Richmond Highway (Route 1).