Bob Maxwell Memorial Field

Bob Maxwell died in August 2010 a the age of 88, but his legacy lives on as an aviator and a community leader. He was so influential a supporter of Oceanside’s little airport, that in 2013, Oceanside Municipal Airport was renamed in his honor. Now Oceanside Municipal Airport is officially called the Bob Maxwell Memorial Field.
The general aviation airport is located on 43-​acres in the community of Oceanside in San Diego’s coastal north county. It features one runway and fuel services. According to their website, the Bob Maxwell Field «provides tie-​downs, hangars, transient parking, restrooms, coffee, and snacks daily from 9:00AM –5:00PM.»
While this is considered a smallish-​landing place, I gave the airport, in which I stopped at on my way home from LA last week, 4 Unilocal STARS. 1 Unilocal STAR was deducted for some noise issues. According to a story in the Coast News, over the years, «noise mitigation has been a problem.» The airport has received complaints about small aircraft that don’t follow the designated take off and landing path and veer over nearby houses.” The airport is mostly utilized by local private pilots and small businesses, with about 12,000 total operations per year. The majority of traffic here is small planes while the corporate jets and bigger planes will utilize nearby McClellan-​Palomar Airport in Carlsbad.
But what is so fabulous is that this Oceanside airfield honors the memory of a former Tuskegee Airman & aviation enthusiast who was instrumental in saving Oceanside’s Airport when it was slated for closure, as part of a shady land grab back in 2006. Maxwell joined the Army Air Corps during World War II and was trained as a bomber pilot. He was an esteemed member of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen – the first group of African-​American fighter & bomber pilots ever in our country’s history. The group was collectively honored with a congressional Gold Medal for service in 2007.
Oceanside’s small airport in the city’s San Luis Rey Valley just north of Highway
lucky to be renamed after such an honorable and beloved aviation figure as Bob Maxwell.