Cal Poly Humboldt Airport Day draws crowds to Murray Field in Eureka

A Cal Fire helicopter on the ramp, a Coast Guard flyby overhead and tables of rescue gear turned Murray Field Airport into more than a show-and-tell. Cal Poly Humboldt’s Aviation Club used Airport Day to put students, families and local pilots in the same place, with the clearest question hanging over the runway: can Humboldt turn public interest in aviation into jobs, training and airport activity that stays on the North Coast?

The free, all-ages event ran from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 25 at Murray Field Airport, 4102 Jacobs Ave. in Eureka. Visitors moved among static aircraft displays, a model aircraft display and rescue equipment while talking directly with local pilots. The club also set up a lunch and Q&A session for students and the broader community, making the airport feel less like a closed facility and more like an entry point into a field that is often difficult for local students to access.

That access is the point. Cal Poly Humboldt’s Aviation Club said it organized Airport Day to reduce barriers for students interested in aviation and to create a welcoming experience for everyone who came through the gate. The Humboldt County Department of Aviation supported the event, reinforcing the idea that the county’s airport system is not just infrastructure, but a workforce pipeline tied to training, maintenance and day-to-day operations at Murray Field.

Murray Field gives that effort real weight. The county says it is Humboldt County’s most utilized general aviation airport, home to 56 county-owned hangars, and a key alternate airport when weather turns bad. It also supports regional parcel service carriers and on-site aircraft maintenance, which means the airport already helps keep goods moving and local aviation work in place. For students looking beyond the classroom, those uses point toward careers that can lead from the ramp to the hangar and into regional operations.

The airport’s history makes that future work part of a much longer story. Murray Field was established in 1919 by pilot Dayton Murray, Senior, and later renamed for him after the county acquired the field in the 1930s. Historical accounts say the airfield helped reduce Humboldt County’s earlier isolation, and during World War II the Army operated antisubmarine patrols out of the site. A Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter landing on campus April 11 added to the club’s recent outreach, showing a sustained effort to connect Cal Poly Humboldt with the aviation world that still depends on Murray Field today.