American History Books

On July 8, 1929, a Morristown newspaper announced the opening of Morristown Airport on Bernardsville Road. The article stated the airport would be the home of the Country Aviation Club under the supervision of Clarence Chamberlin, the second man to fly across the Atlantic Ocean and the first to take along a passenger. The Great Depression halted any serious development of the airport until 1936, when there was serious talk of the land becoming an East Coast dirigible base for the Hindenburg. However, the destruction of the Hindenburg at Lakehurst, New Jersey, a year later squashed those plans. After World War II, Morristown Airport began to become a reality. General aviation found Morristown convenient and out of the traffic patterns of Newark Airport. The airport grew and prospered, and by July 1966, Morristown Municipal Airport (MMU) was called the "VIP Stop." Today, as a general aviation reliever airport, MMU accepts private, corporate, air taxi, air ambulance, training, and military aircraft and ranks 11th in general aviation operations.

Citizens of Springfield first witnessed human flight, a balloon ascent, on July 5, 1858. In 1861, the capital city's most famous resident, Abraham Lincoln, then residing in the White House, authorized the creation of the first U.S. "air force," a balloon to observe Confederate troops. Springfield's interface with aviation has been a steady stream of hot-and-cold-running enthusiasm since airplanes began flying from the state fair racetrack infield about 1910. Springfield Aviation chronicles that flow and concludes with photographs from Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in early 2008. It presents photographs of memorable airplanes, airships, and prominent aviators from the author's extensive collection, augmented by contributions from Springfield Airport Authority, Lincoln Library's Sangamon Valley Collection, and many others.

The first aircraft heavier than air took to the skies in South Dakota in 1911. Since that time, pilots, mechanics, and dreamers have used aviation in innovative ways to shrink the large distances between the prairies and the mountains of the state. The start of the U.S. Space Program began at the Stratobowl in the 1930s and evolved into today's modern hot air balloons. People have used aircraft, not only for transportation, but also for controlling varmints, from grasshoppers to coyotes. Firefighters routinely use aircraft to put out forest fires, and many a tourist has seen Mount Rushmore from a helicopter. South Dakota has also served the military since World War II with the major bombers of the U.S. Air Force's arsenal. Perhaps best of all, South Dakotans enjoy flying for pure enjoyment.

San Diego's North Island is one of the most significant venues of aviation in the world. Starting in 1911, it was the home to one of the nation's first aviation schools, founded by Glenn Curtiss, who pioneered seaplane flight. He trained the nucleus of America's future air forces there, including Lt. Theodore Ellyson, the first naval aviator. When the United States entered World War I, the government took over the island with plans to build a training center for the nation's armed forces. The new army base was named Rockwell Field, and the navy portion was named Naval Air Station San Diego. By 1937, the army had moved out, and the navy became the sole tenant. Today NAS North Island is part of the largest aerospace-industrial complex in the navy and is headquarters for the Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet.