A brief history of Aviation in Nevada

Emigrant trails, the Pony Express and railroads dominate Nevada’s history of transportation. But, Nevada also has a rich aviation history. Historic first flights, famed pilot Charles Lindgerg, and one of Nevada’s worst disasters, Galaxy Flight 203. 

Nevada’s First Flight

On June 23, 1910 Nevada’s first flight occurred in Carson City at the Raycraft Ranch. The flight made national news as it was the first flight at an altitude of 4,675’. Exhibition flights at the Sagebrush Carnival in Carson City followed the historic flight.  

Blanch Field

Reno’s first airport was west of town and used by the Transcontinental Air Mail Service.  

Blanch Field was named after William Blanchfield, an airmail pilot who was killed in a plane crash. The field technically should have been named Blanchfield Field, but someone wisely decided to drop the first “Field.” 

Blanch Field was a municipal flying field beginning in 1918. On September 9, 1920, the first airmail flight landed, piloted by Stanhope Stewart Boggs. At the time, the field was only leveled land with no hangar. 

On September 19th, 1927, famed pilot Charles Lindbergh landed at Blanch Field. After landing and almost hitting a fence and parked cars, Lindbergh pronounced the airfield insufficient for the increased traffic and larger planes he predicted would soon come. 

In 1928, Boeing purchased land east of the airport and created Hubbard Field, named after a Boeing executive. In 1935, the hangar at Blanch Field was dismantled. 

US Airmail ARROWS AND BEACONS

Before the invention of radio and air navigation, pilots flew their course across the United States using visual landmarks. Transcontinental mail services were limited to daylight hours and good weather, and even then, thirty-four pilots died during their service between 1918 and 1927.

The U.S. Congress approved funding in 1923 to create a system of concrete arrows and lighted beacon towers to guide pilots. One thousand-five hundred beacons were located at three to five-mile increments. Arrows were 50-70′ long and painted bright yellow to increase visibility. The center section was square to support a 50-toot tower. Beacons contained rotating lights on top and a second set of green and red lights transmitting Morse code.

The first segment completed was from Chicago, Illinois, to Cheyenne, Wyoming. This section was developed first so pilots could leave either coast during the day and fly through the beacon stretch overnight. As a result, July 1, 1924 saw the first nighttime flight cutting mail delivery time in half.

Sparks Air Park

Over the years, Airfields popped up all over Nevada. Harry Shriver opened The Sparks Air Park in 1946 when the corner of Greenbree and Pyramid Highway was still outside town. After the airpark closed, the buildings were converted into a shopping center and are now occupied by Shelly’s True Valley Hardware and Computer Extreme.

Paradise Flight 901A

Carson Valley, Nevada, is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Ranches with green pastures end abruptly on the valley’s west side, where the Sierra Range soars toward heaven. Genoa, Nevada’s oldest settlement, is nestled at the juncture of pastures and mountains below the 9,000′ Genoa Peak. Sadly, while beautiful, Genoa Peak is also a place of tragedy. Paradise Flight 901A, crashed into Genoa Peak, and 85 people lost their lives. Hampered by the weather and remoteness, the recovery of the victims was a month-long process.

On March 1, 1964, Paradise Flight 901A, bound from San Jose, California, crashed into Genoa Peak after two failed landing attempts at Lake Tahoe. At the time, it was the second worst single plane crash in the US. All 85 passengers and crew were killed as the plane struck the mountainside at over 200 miles per hour.

You can learn more about the Paraside Flight crash at Tradgedy on Genoa Peak: Paradise Flight 901A.

Galaxy Flight 203

January 21, 1985, marked the date for one of Nevada’s worst aviation disasters. Galaxy Flight 203 crashed around South Virgina and Neil Roads in minutes after takeoff. It was a charter flight from Reno to Minneapolis. The cause was found to be airplane handlers not appropriately closing an access hatch and pilot error. 

Seventy passengers and crew perished. Amazingly, one seventeen-year-old boy survived as his seat was thrown clear from the wreckage. 

Galaxy Grove was a memorial dedicated in 1986 at Rancho San Rafael Park. The plaque was stolen in 2013, and a new monument was dedicated this time on a 2-ton granite boulder. 

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