Meadows Field Airport

Meadows Field is a public airport in Kern County, California, three miles northwest of Downtown Bakersfield, California. It is the main airport for the Bakersfield area, and one of two international airports in the San Joaquin Valley. Also known as Kern County Airport #1, it is in Oildale, California.Federal Aviation Administration records show 141,847 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 103,067 in 2009 and 111,699 in 2010. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a primary commercial service airport (more than 10,000 enplanements per year).HistoryAviation has been linked to Kern County almost as long as the existence of the industry. In 1891 Charles Howard ascended in a hot air balloon to 1000ft. He then proceeded to jump and landed safely with a parachute he designed and constructed. By 1910, only seven years after the Wright Brothers first airplane flight, aircraft began arriving in the county. They were brought in by Glenn Curtiss (in conjunction with the Kern County Board of Trade). The first flight in the area was flown by Charles Hamilton.Bakersfield then had two airfields. The more prominent field was at Sacramento and Monterey streets in East Bakersfield (at the time, primarily empty fields). It was named Bernard Field and was run by the Pacific Aero Club. The field would be a stop for US Air Mail from 1923 to 1926 (when that was moved to Meadows Field). Another airfield was on the Panorama Bluffs in Northeast Bakersfield where Greenlawn Mortuary is today.