Falls Church Airpark (Site)

These coordinates mark the exact location where the main building once stood. The runways stood just to the south. No visible remains exist. The 7/7/46 photo above shows 9 single-engine taildragger general aviation aircraft at Falls Church Airpark (from the Falls Church Public Library, courtesy of Derek Rowan), including a surplus Vultee BT-13 military trainer. Note the uncomfortable proximity of the Jefferson Village apartments in the background – a sign of the pressures which would eventually doom the little airport.


<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>

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

Falls Church Airpark, Falls Church, VA
(West of Washington, DC)

Falls Church Airpark was not yet depicted on a 1937 aerial photo (from the Fairfax County Historical Imagery Viewer). According to the book "Virginia Airports" by Vera Rollo & Norman Crabill (published by the VAHS), "The Falls Church Airpark Inc. airport license was granted on 7/25/45." Falls Church Airpark was not yet depicted on the April 1949 Washington Sectional Chart. According to Falls Church resident Mark Sublette, “The Falls Church Airpark... opened in 1946 as 3,000' grass strip and I don't believe it was ever paved.”

The earliest depiction of the Falls Church Airport which has been located was a 1946 aerial view looking southeast (from the Falls Church Public Library, courtesy of Derek Rowan). It depicted Falls Church Airport as having an unpaved east/west runway, with 1 light single-engine taildragger next to a house. This was on the October 1946 Washington Sectional Chart. It depicted Falls Church Airport as a commercial/municipal airport. The 1947 Washington Sectional Chart depicted Falls Church Airpark as having a 2,500' unpaved runway.

The Falls Church Airpark "tract was located on 60 acres of the Eisenhower Farm" (according to the book "Virginia Airports"). A circa late 1940s photo by Frank Beck (courtesy of Tony Beck) looking northeast from near the south end of the Falls Church Airpark hangar. Tony Beck observed, “It has to be from the late 1940s, as there is nothing built on the far side of Arlington Boulevard. The fellow in the tree is Joe Anderson & the man in white on the lower right is Ray.”

A 1949 aerial photo depicted Falls Church Airpark as having a single east/west grass runway, with signs of a crosswind runway. A closeup from the 1949 aerial photo, showing the hangar on the north side of the field with “Falls Church Airpark” painted on its roof, and a total of 11 light aircraft parked on the field.

Ralph Hooverra recalled, “My father learned to fly at Falls Church Airpark, 10/11/1949, 6 weeks before my birth. We went to school at Graham Road Elementary just across the street & would pretend to be flying while watching the airplanes from the swing-set. My father obtained a commercial license before his young family stopped his flying in 1952.”

The January 1951 Washington Local Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Tim Zukas) depicted Falls Church Airport as having a 2,500' unpaved runway. The 1951 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe) depicted Falls Church Airport as having 2 runways, with the longest being a 2,800' unpaved strip. A 7/5/51 USGS aerial view depicted Falls Church Airpark as having 2 unpaved runways, several buildings, and a total of 17 light aircraft parked on the northeast side of the field. A closeup from the 7/5/51 aerial photo, showing the hangar on the north side of the field with “Falls Church Airpark” painted on its roof, and several of the light aircraft parked on the field.

David Farrell recalled, “I was in the Civil Air Patrol. [In] the Civil Air Patrol building I flew the BLUE BOX [Link Trainer]. The J-3 Cub behind the building [in the photo above] was my first airplane to fly at 16. I checked out in an L-16 which I believe is the other aircraft in the aerial photo next to the building. That J-3 finally 'bit the dust' & I joined a flying club that had a Taylorcraft (1st aircraft to the left, 1st row from the hangars) and that is the aircraft that I flew up to getting my private [pilot's license]. I had a girlfriend in Hanover PA & used to fly up to visit her in that plane. I taught her how to prop it as it had nothing electrical but a magneto.”

Merton Meade recalled, “I went to Falls Church Airport many times. It never was paved & had 2 runways which were nearly parallel. There indeed was a Mooney dealer at Falls Church & they actually rented the single seat Mooney Mite. After a couple of wheels up landings, they attached a cowbell to the wee flag that waved back & forth in front of the pilot's face as a gear warning device. THAT got your attention! Seems to me a man called Ash Rossen was the operator there.”

Lifelong Northern VA resident Mike Keefe recalled, "In 1953, I joined the Civil Air Patrol at that airport [Falls Church]. It had a 2,800' dirt runway, grass tie downs, a couple of flimsy hangers, and a small wooden building that housed an Army Air Force Link Trainer. My very first airplane ride was in that Link Trainer."

Former air traffic controller Andrew Pitas recalled, “In the mid-1950s I had a Navy Twin Beech take off from NAS Anacostia in IFR weather who encountered engine trouble. He was several miles west of National Airport when he declared an emergency with a request we get him to the nearest airport. I radar-vectored him into the Falls Church Airport for a safe landing. They had to take the wings off in order to get the airplane onto a trailer to get it out of there.”

Jim Crabtree recalled, “In 1954 the Falls Church Airpark was quite busy with weekend pilots. They had turkey shoots there & other fundraising activities. There was a scrapped military plane (something like a twin Beech) we played on. It was parked by the wooded south side of the runway. Great fun.”

Jon Eckert recalled, “I was in the Civil Air Patrol Squadron at the Falls Church Airpark. It was a great squadron to be in & Fall Church Airpark was a great place to learn to fly. I can attest to that as my father soloed me out there in a J-3 owned by the CAP on 5/17/55. All landings were full stop because of the trees on both ends, runway length & runway slope. The Blue Box (Link) was great too. It was not certified for instruction so we all could play with it & learn about instrument flying. Many days we spent the whole day flying the Link. We also had an unlicensed Stearman. It ran like a top & we would sneak a taxi ride when no one was around. When we got tired of that & had 25¢ for a gallon of gas, we'd take turns flying the Cub.”

Tony Beck recalled, “Falls Church Airport... Dad (Frank Beck) and a friend of his (Clarence 'Pappy' Fathergill) based their 1939 Cub there. They bought it roosting in some trees, cheap, and rebuilt it. Dad also had a Waco UPF-7 at Falls Church. Dad's parents & Pappy's mom lived on Graham Road, practically right at the east end of the runway. Dad said that Ash Rossen looked at becoming a dealer for the new Johnson Rocket, but they needed more runway than he had, so he picked up Mooneys instead. My first flight was out of Falls Church, in a Cub. I couldn't have been more than 3 years old. Dad put my brother & me in the back seat (my brother is 11 months younger) and we went flying up the Potomac with the door open. I remember that flight, which would have been about 1955. Falls Church was a neat place. I remember there was the skeleton of a big Stinson sitting out beside the office, which was an excellent Jungle Gym.”

In the late 1950s, several aircraft 'orphaned' by the closure of nearby Beacon Field & Alexandria Hybla Valley Airport were relocated to Falls Church. The last aeronautical chart depiction which is available of Falls Church Airpark was on the July 1958 Washington Sectional Chart. It depicted Falls Church Airpark as having a 2,800' unpaved runway.

Robert Everett recalled, "I worked at Falls Church Airpark as a line boy in 1958-59 before going into Air Force. I was also in the Civil Air Patrol there 1957-59. CAP had a small building on the right of the road as you entered and had a couple of L-15s of L-16s & a Link Trainer."

"The CAP squadron was good to belong to as many of the kids' fathers were flying officers in various services and when we wanted to go anywhere all the dads needed to do was go check out a C-47 and take the entire cadet squadron anywhere we needed to go. I went to England AFB for the 1958 Fire Power Demonstration, to summer encampments & to Loch Haven, PA to the Piper factory."

"There was also an old house that served as both an office & snack bar. The airport manager was named Bruce Walton & he had told me in 1959 that the field would be closing & soon be developed. I remember the cheeseburgers & beer after work."

"There were about (it seemed) 75-80 planes based there including 'Little Butch', the clip-wing monoplane that won all of the aerobatic awards & is now in the Smithsonian."

"There were 2 runways & if you consider the main to be a 9/27, then the auxiliary runway would be about a 13/21 intersecting Runway 27 between 1/2-3/4 down the field & terminating at the intersection. They had a gas pump & several mechanics working there & also did some painting. I think that they had a Mooney dealer there also. The 27 runway had a nasty down slope & on hot summer days the Cubs & Taylorcraft had to do downwind landings as they would float too bad to land. I remember that Author Godfrey landed his DC-3 there once."

The Aerodromes table on the 1960 Washington Sectional Chart described Falls Church Airport as having 2 turf runways, with the longest being 2,800'. The remarks also said "Hazardous - use at own risk. Strips muddy. East blocked trees."

The last photo which has been located showing Falls Church Airpark was a 1/26/60 USGS aerial view (from the Fairfax County Historical Imagery Viewer), showing the 2 unpaved runways & several buildings and depicted 20 light single-engine aircraft parked on the northeast side of the field. Falls Church Airpark was apparently closed within the next year, as it was no longer depicted on the 1961 Washington Local Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe). It had been crowded out of existence by the surrounding suburban development. A 1962 aerial photo showed that the hangar had been removed. The east end of the former airfield was still clear, but apartment buildings had been constructed over the west side of the property.

Falls Church resident Mark Sublette recalled, “It was being converted into the Loehmann's Plaza Shopping Center in the mid-1960s. I recall it just before [the shopping center] opened in 1967. We went go-karting there one Saturday afternoon with the parking lots just empty of vehicles.”

A 1976 aerial photo (from the Fairfax County Historical Imagery Viewer) showed all traces of Falls Church Airpark had been removed. A 2016 aerial view of the site of Falls Church Airport, now Loehman's Plaza Shopping Center. Not a single trace appears to remain of the former airport. A 2017 photo by Antonio Chaves of a “a sign that is supposed to be from the Falls Church Airpark. It is 48 x 72 & weighs a ton. The provenance is impeccable. I bought it from the Dunn family. It is indeed intriguing.” The site of Falls Church Airpark is located southeast of the intersection of Arlington Boulevard & Allen Street.