Pearson Field Lands Manager From Cape Cod

The former manager of a Massachusetts airport is now running Pearson Field, the city-owned airport that is part of the Vancouver National Historic Reserve.

Frederick “Willy” Williamson started working at Pearson on Feb. 4. His salary is $50,000 a year.

Williamson is the former manager of Falmouth Airport, on the southwestern part of Cape Cod about 50 miles from Boston.

The Pearson vacancy was created when Sean Loughran, the airport’s former manager, took a job working as aviation planner for Portland International Airport, said Colleen Kawahara, Vancouver special projects coordinator.

Ernie Vande Zande, a former Pearson manager, served as interim airport manager during the transition and is helping Williamson get situated in his new job, Kawahara said .

Williamson spent 25 years in the U.S. Coast Guard in a variety of roles and also worked as emergency planning coordinator for California’s Contra Costa County, she said.

“He came from Falmouth,” Kawahara said. “But he has family here, so he is happy to be here.”

Pearson often is called the nation’s oldest continuously operating airport, a title also claimed by Maryland’s College Park Airport.

Pearson’s history dates back to Sept. 19, 1905, when 18-year-old Lincoln Beachey piloted a dirigible from Portland across the Columbia River to the polo grounds at Vancouver Barracks.

Originally published by The Columbian.

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