(Photo courtesy of Bill Bartlett)
Driving past Sisters Eagle Airport, it is easy to assume that it is a general aviation airport, meaning smaller planes, private in nature, not commercial. And you’d be right. But it is much more than that, as you’d see if you looked past its single 3,560-foot runway.
Located on the airport grounds are innovative businesses in addition to the airport. Chief among them is Energyneering Solutions, Inc. one of Sisters four largest employers and by far the most high-tech in all of Sisters Country.
Others include Environmental Energy Solutions, LLC known as Evensol. Environmental Energy Solutions was established to create development of renewable fuels-based energy assets, with particular focus on the biomass, biogas and biofuels sectors throughout the US and abroad.
Another key tenant is EDM who perform precision prototype machining. They can handle wire EDM from .010 to .004 diameter. The shop excels at micro precision parts with CNC machining utilizing end mills and sic drills as small as 0.02 mm. Tooling incorporates System 3R vises and rails.
The range of technical know-how housed at Eagle Airport is impressive by any standard. Energyneering are experts in renewable natural gas providing solutions for the biogas marketplace, converting harmful environmental emissions into clean energy. They specialize in design, construction and operations for biogas utilization projects.
With over 90 projects on the books, to date those programs collectively produce over 1 million MWh (megawatts/hour) of renewable electricity and over 50 million gallons of renewable fuel per year.
Based out of Sisters Eagle Airport, a flight science program provides an opportunity for Sisters high school students. This class introduces students to the science and wonder of flight, and prepares them to take the FAA Private Pilot written exam. The Flight Science class at Sisters High School is co-sponsored by the school district, Energyneering Solutions, and the Sisters Science Club.
The Flight Science class meets every day during the school year. Sheryl Yeager, a certified flight instructor and teacher at Sister’s High School, is the faculty monitor for this program.
The class is a feeder program into the COCC two-year degree in aviation. And, if they take the Flight Science Program, and finish their private certificate by the time they graduate, they will receive credit for the classes: intro to aviation, private pilot ground school, and the labs associated with the private pilot flight training.
Eagle Airport is a critical component of wildfire suppression often serving as a base for forward command and spotting operations and refueling. It’s a hub for air ambulance and aerial search and rescue in a 500,000-acre coverage area.
Sisters Community Garden is located on the airport grounds. They’ve been working since 2006 to grow local and healthy produce in an open space that enables residents to be involved in planting, growing, and maintaining a garden.
It has 49 raised beds, plus two elevated beds at wheelchair height. There are six shared plots for fruit, herbs and flowers.
One of the services the airport garners the most positive comments about is its campgrounds near the tie-down ramp. It comes with views of the Cascades and close proximity to stores and restaurants in Sisters. Both courtesy cars and bikes are available for short-term use to pilots.
Last year, Eagle added Jet-A on site having had only 100LL Avgas. This increases the number of aircraft types the field can handle as well as aiding wildfire fighting crews who used to have to truck Jet-A to the airport to support operations.
By standards, Eagle Airport is a bargain. Overnight tie-down is only $10 as is overnight camping. Monthly rates are $30 on dirt and $50 on asphalt.
In 2024 the lighted runway with parallel taxiway was repaved and construction completed on eight new hangars.
Adjoining the airport are two residential subdivisions — Eagle Air Estates and Hawks Flight Airpark, a dozen plus homes with hangars and private access to the airport’s taxiway.
A Century of Flight in Sisters
Sisters began its love affair with flying in the late 1920s when a plane landed in the fairgrounds behind the school. Many of the children had not seen a plane before so the teachers took them for a look. When the barnstormer took off for a scenic flight with two local citizens, the children were in for another first.
The plane failed to get enough altitude and crashed in the trees at the end of the field. Luckily no one was hurt, but the seed was planted.
In 1933, Ted Barber, a veteran of WWI, took passengers on one-dollar, ten-minute rides from the fairgrounds. In 1935, George Wakefield purchased the land just North of the fairgrounds and built a narrow runway with the help of Forest Service employees who were interested in flying.
The aviators joined the Bend Flying Club in 1939 and learned to fly the club’s two aircraft, a 50-horsepower Piper Cub aircraft and a 75-horsepower Piper Cruiser. World War II brought a halt to civilian flying. In the Early 40s, Maurice Hitchcock bought the ranch across the road from the airfield, along with the airfield itself, and built a larger runway.
In 1946, the first aircraft to be based out of Sisters arrived in the form of Harold Barclay and George Wakefield’s Fairfield. In a twist to the story that is all too familiar to private plane owners, Harold sold his interest in the plane to George early the next year.
Barclay bought the ranch and the airport from Hitchcock in 1951 and then donated it to the State of Oregon in 1967 which used it to support the firefighting flights of old Navy dive bombers.
Benny and Julie Benson purchased the airport in 2011 as a home for their growing engineering firm Energyneering Solutions, Inc. The airport is now home to several businesses with some 50+ employees. Following an overwhelming majority vote by the citizens of Sisters in support of the City annexing the airport property, the development began.
After a nearly three-year process of annexation, work began in earnest in 2014 to start restoring the airport to what it is today.
