We fly near consecrated ground. . . There once was an airport located just slightly East of our flying field called Peik’s Airport. It was located South West of the intersection of the I-5 and Sea World Drive and existed from 1934 till 1957. Although it changed in appearance over the years, it was an important part of San Diego’s aviation history. Before mission Bay was a gleam in the San Diego’s planner’s eye, this little airport served many roles including flight training and military. The air safety advocate John Nance’s father was a part owner of their flight school, Nance & Cooper Flight Academy. The airport’s demise came in 1957 as a result of the expansion of Mission Bay.
Past SEFSD member Doug Nichols showed me a wonderful website called Abandoned & Little Known Airfields. On that site are references to all the old airfields in San Diego. Peik’s Airport is shown with plenty of documentation. Please take a few minutes and peruse this interesting story about some of the true aviators who came before us and helped usher in aviation as we know it today.
One of the planes used at the Nance & Cooper Flight Academy was a 1947 Cessna 140. Amazingly this same plane is still flying today. You can read the history of this little plane here.
Finally, here is a reprint of an article published in 1967 about the airport. This was also published in Peak Charge some time ago. I thought it was a good idea to include it here.
If anyone has more information or stories about Peik’s airport, I would love to print it, thanks.
