AVIATION ON THE TEXAS HIGH PLAINS Installed at Lubbock International Airport Curated by Steve Bogener

AVIATION ON THE TEXAS HIGH PLAINS
Installed at Lubbock International Airport
Curated by Steve Bogener, Fabricated by Lyn Stoll, January 2000

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WINGS ABOVE THE LLANO:
AVIATION ON THE TEXAS HIGH PLAINS

Aerial circuses reached the Texas High Plains in the 1920s, as barnstorming daredevils
marked the beginning of a rich legacy of adventure and aviation history for Lubbock
and the South Plains. In 1927, Charles Lindbergh, on tour following his historic flight
from New York to Paris, visited throngs of West Texas admirers. The wide-open spaces
of the Llano Estacado provided an immense 10,000,000-acre landing field for
thousands of civilian and military pilots who trained here. Soaring above historic ranch
and cotton country, pioneer aviators like Clent Breedlove filled the skies with students
eager to fly.

In the late 1920s, Lubbock officials pursued a permanent airport for the city. Upon its
completion in October 1930, Lubbock Municipal Airport was the largest facility of its
kind in the Southwest. Further efforts focused on attracting commercial airlines, air mail
service, and military aviation to the region.

In the 1930s, Lubbock encountered difficulty in securing a military airfield because of the
War Department’s policy of locating aviation schools at elevations no greater than 2000
feet above sea level and the region’s reputation as part of the “dust bowl”. However, on
June 13, 1941, the War Department announced Lubbock as the site for an advanced twin
engine training school. Located ten miles west of the city, Lubbock Army Flying School
welcomed its first class of seventy-four cadets in February 1942, and in April, the base was
formally dedicated before a cheering crowd of 35,000. In 1943, the installation’s name
changed to Lubbock Army Air Field, and finally to Reese Air Force Base following World
War II.

In 1942, the military established a glider school in Lubbock. The Army’s glider training
program began in Elmira, New York but shifted to a single advanced facility on the site of
the current Lubbock International Airport. Known as whisper ships, gliders were used
extensively in the airborne invasions of Burma and Normandy, carrying as much as 4200
pounds of men and equipment. From beginnings in a pyramidal tent city located near what
is today Interstate 27, Army Air Forces Glider School grew rapidly, gaining a new name, South
Plains Army Flying School in May, 1942, and South Plains Army Air Field in May 3, 1943.

Learning to fly in West Texas during the 1930s and 1940s offered the challenges of
unpredictable weather and the occasional tornado. Nonetheless, thousands of pilots including
many from nearby Texas Technological College honed their craft above the landscape of the
Llano Estacado, adding to the rich tradition of flight on the High Plains.

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