08/25/2026
In 1939 Navy officers approached Roy Pickering about using a pasture on his dairy farm as a pilot-training field. He’d get nothing in return—they’d take it if he refused. His cows could stay, but he’d have to move them when planes were flying. Six weeks later the officers returned with a problem: airplane wheels were hitting cow pies, splattering pilots and drying on planes. Fencing the grass runway solved it.
By 1948 the military had abandoned the field, and Ab Davies and Al Lockwood established Seattle Sky Ranch. After WWII, former enlisted men used the GI Bill to learn to fly, and about 125 trained there monthly. A huge Quonset hangar held the popular Sky Ranch Tavern—a BYOB bar with Saturday night dancing.
As the GI Bill tapered off, the partners moved on. Art Banko took over in 1955, keeping it a private strip. In 1961, LInn Emrich reached an agreement with Roy Pickering and turned the field into a parachuting center with a mission of using the sky as a playground. Seattle Sky Sports thrived and in 1963 hosted the National Parachute Championships—bringing national TV to Issaquah. Sailplanes arrived, and the old tavern became a jump clubhouse. Jamey Woodward joined as a sub-letter in 1970, and Sky Circus drew thousands—the biggest show ever held on the field.
Weekends brought crowds for mock dogfights, Easter Bunny jumps, and airshows. Training expanded to gliding and ballooning, and your first jump cost $20—men only. Women trained for free but couldn't jump. With 10,000 to 15,000 jumps per year, Skyport became the biggest flight school in the state and a nationally recognized jump site. Parachutists, like the Navy pilots before them, still landed in cow pies.
In 1980 the land was sold to developers. Legal battles ensued, residents divided. A ballot measure to save it failed and development began on what is now Pickering Place. The last jumps took place on July 8, 1987.
What began during WWII, grew into a lively center of flight and tourism. Though Skyport is gone, its spirit lives on as hang gliders soar from Tiger Mountain’s Poo Poo Point.
[Skyport jumpers c.1960s / IHM: 2001.017.017]
