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Hoover Field was an early airport serving the city of Washington, D.C. It was constructed as a private airfield in 1925, but opened to public commercial use on July 16, 1926. It was located in Arlington, Virginia, near the intersection of the Highway Bridge and the Mount Vernon Memorial Parkway, where The Pentagon and its northern parking lots now stand.〔Peck, 2005, p. 8.〕 Considered one of the most hazardous airfields in the United States, Hoover Field suffered from short and unpaved runways, numerous life-threatening obstructions around the field, poor visibility (due to a burning garbage dump to its northwest), and poor drainage. It was purchased by the owner of nearby Washington Airport in early 1929, causing a brief merger of the two fields, but was sold to a new owner just 12 months later. It nearly went bankrupt in 1933, and was sold at auction and merged with Washington Airport to become Washington-Hoover Airport on August 2, 1933. Washington-Hoover Airport closed in June 1941. Washington National Airport (now Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport) was built as its replacement. ==Construction== Hoover Field was built in 1925 by Thomas E. Mitten, president of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company (which held the airmail contract between Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia).〔"Field In Arlington to be Air Terminal." ''Washington Post.'' June 28, 1926.〕〔Crouch, 2004, p. 608.〕〔Goode, 2003, p. 460.〕〔Goode, 1989, p. 7.〕 Hell's Bottom,〔Carroll, 2004, p. 22.〕 a site at the foot of the Highway Bridge in Arlington County, Virginia (formerly a horse racing track) directly across the Potomac River from the city, was selected by Mitten for the site of his new "airport."〔〔 Pioneering aviator Alys McKey Bryant helped clear trees and brush and run the tractor which leveled the land for the airfield.〔Lebow, 2002, p. 269.〕 The single sod runway was long.〔Goode, 2003, p. 460-461.〕 A single hangar, by in size, was constructed.〔Goode, 1989, p. 8.〕 Construction ended in 1925, and at first the field was used only by planes giving sight-seeing tours over the national capital.〔Mitchell, Ewing Y. "Plans to Give City Suitable Field Delayed." ''Washington Post.'' August 27, 1933.〕 The then-unnamed airfield was threatened with competition almost immediately. Because the field was privately owned, civic leaders began a campaign for the city of Washington to build a publicly owned municipal airport. The federal government considered filling in all or part of Kingman Lake and using the lake, Kingman Island, and nearby Heritage Island for a federal airport to compete with the nascent field in Arlington, but this plan died in August 1926.〔"Chances of Airport in Anacostia Fade After Conference." ''Washington Post.'' August 11, 1926.〕 The government's actions and Mitten's desire to fly people between D.C. and Philadelphia for the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence led Mitten to expand his airfield.〔Goode, 1989, p. 7-8.〕 The new airfield was dedicated on July 16, 1926.〔"Arlington's Flying Field Is Dedicated." ''Washington Post.'' July 17, 1926.〕 It was named for then-Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, a major promoter of civil aviation.〔Leuchtenburg, 2009, p. 54; Walch, 2003, p. 255.〕 The roughly trapezoidal airport was built along a north-by-northeast axis, was approximately long and wide, and in size.〔Wood, 1940, p. 141.〕 The only navigational aid was a windsock.〔McQuaid, 1994, p. 13.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hoover Field」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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