Cecil B. DeMille's Air Field # 3

From September in 1919 to when they closed their doors in 1921, Mercury Aviation flew into the "Altadena Airport" or Cecil B DeMille Field No. 3, the first municipal airport in the United States. It was ahead of its time but for a brief period in time, players could fly in to play a round of golf and then stay in one of the bungalows of the club and leave the next morning by air. World War 2 has just ended and aviators in bi-planes and and the newer at the time mono-planes are in the early stages of advancing design.

Gloria Swanson, Charlie Chaplin and other movie stars of the early film age are shown in photos of the times. Although it only operated for two years, it was the first municipal airport in the United States. The gentle slope of the bottom and southeast corner of the property combined with a reliable afternoon breeze made landing and taking off easy, especially for pilots returning from the war and not having people shooting at them for a change...

On a dare, there was a pilot challenged to land on Hill Street, one of the widest around and close to the west edge of the golf course. He easily and gracefully landed the plane but was hesitant to take off so he "taxied" down Mendocino to the Golf Course and Airstrip and took off again from there!

The timing being just after the end of World War 1 placed it at the forefront of the great age of aviation. They offered free hangar spice for private planes to encourage passenger aviation, a new concept that was before its time. The space of the airfield is now the foundation of the foundations of the rolling neighborhood branching off sinaloa avenue in the modern day. The same gentle afternoon breeze that once lifted bi-planes to the sky now rustle the sycamore leaves of tidy yards in a quiet neighborhood.