🇺🇸 Brown Field Municipal Airport

Brown Field Municipal Airport (KSDM) is a public general aviation airport located in San Diego, California, approximately 13 miles southeast of downtown San Diego and 1.5 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border in the Otay Mesa community,,.

Type of facility and operations:

• It is a civilian reliever airport for San Diego International Airport-Lindbergh Field, serving general aviation aircraft that might otherwise use the more congested air carrier airport.
• Operations include private, corporate, charter, air ambulance, law enforcement, fire rescue, flight training, cargo, skydiving, banner towing, and airships.
• It is open to the public and has a control tower.
• Brown Field is also a customs landing rights airport, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection staffing available upon request for incoming pilots,,.

Notable features or history:

• Originally named East Field, it opened in 1918 when the U.S. Army established an aerial gunnery and aerobatics school,.
• In 1943, the U.S. Navy took over the airfield, renaming it Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS) Otay Mesa, and later that year, NAAS Brown Field, in honor of Navy Cmdr. Melville S. Brown, who died in a plane crash in 1936,.
• Between 1943 and 1946, it was used for training various aircraft, including the P-38 Lightning, F4F Wildcat, TBF Avenger, F6F Hellcat, and PB4Y Privateer,.
• The Navy reopened Brown Field NAAS in 1951 due to the Korean War and transferred ownership to the City of San Diego in 1962, with the condition that it remain an airport for public use.
• Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) trained its pilots at Brown Field Municipal in the mid-to-late 1960s, and also had a contract to train Lufthansa pilots there.
• The main runway is 7,972 feet (2,430 m) long.

Current status:

• Brown Field Municipal Airport is a busy general aviation airport.
• Development plans announced in 2022 include a new FBO terminal building, individual airplane hangars, and potentially retail, industrial buildings, and a hotel.
• It is publicly owned and managed by the City of San Diego.

*Sources researched: sandiego.gov, airnav.com, cbp.gov, ceqanet.lci.ca.gov, en.wikipedia.org*