This month, Long Beach Airport (LGB) celebrates its 90th anniversary—and the small-but-mighty airport marked the achievement this past weekend with a plethora of planes and helicopters on display along the west side of its tarmac.

In 1923, 80 acres of land—where Cherry Ave. meets Spring St.—were dedicated as the first municipal airport in Southern California, or what is now LGB. Over the years, it has expanded to cover over 1,000 acres and harnesses over 365,000 annual aviation operations.

As noted in the historical book Early Aviation in Long Beach, the namesake for the tarmac, Daugherty Field, comes from Earl Daugherty, largely considered Long Beach’s aerospace godfather. He was tragically killed in a plane crash in 1928, along with then-editor of the Press-Telegram Warren Monfort, after serving on the city’s first Aviation Commission. To honor his memory at the fly-in, an actor portraying Daugherty traipsed around the open space offering tidbits of history.

The fly-in event is set to become an annual tradition every November to mark the airport’s birthday.

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