Arkansas' Rich History in Advanced Aerospace Manufacturing & Defense By the Arkansas Economic Development Commission Arkansas’ first well-documented flight took place in Fort Smith on May 21, 1910. James C. “Bud” Mars was the pilot of the Curtiss biplane that reached an estimated speed of 60 mph. The entry of the United States into World War I propelled aviation forward rapidly. In 1917, Eberts Training Field was established near the town of Lonoke to meet the growing need for qualified pilots. During the war, Eberts Field ranked second among aviation training fields maintained by the U.S. government, and it was one of the leading training centers for aviators during the war. It had about 1,000 cadets being trained in aviation, and nearly 1,500 enlisted men and officers were stationed at the field. In 1925, the 154th Observation Squadron was established in the Arkansas National Guard.The squadron originally flew out of the Little Rock Municipal Airport and helped locate stranded citizens after the flood of 1927.The unit served in combat during World War II and is still active today as the 189th Airlift Wing, flying C-130s out of Little Rock Air Force Base. As air traffic grew and commercial uses developed, it became necessary to create formal airfields.Amendment 13 to the Arkansas Constitution authorized funding such projects. Little Rock built the first one in 1926, which is now the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport. Pine Bluff followed, opening Toney Field in 1927. Fort Smith’s Alexander Field opened in 1927. In 1928,Arkansas
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Air Tours began, supported by local enthusiasts who organized flying clubs. During World War II,Arkansas was home to six ordnance plants.The sites were located near Jacksonville, Marche, Hope, El Dorado, Pine Bluff and Camden.These plants were the location for the manufacture of detonators, fuses, primers and bombs; proving grounds for testing munitions; rocket loading, testing and storage; and producing chemical agents needed in bombs and explosives. Four of the plants were government owned and contractor operated (GOCO).The Southwestern Proving Ground and the Pine Bluff Arsenal were government owned and operated.All the plants depended heavily on civilian workers for their main work force.The wartime industries brought needed money and jobs for Arkansas citizens, particularly women, and contributed greatly to the economy of Arkansas. After the war, the state never returned to heavy agricultural-based economy that had been present before World War II, developing instead a more industrialized economy. The end of the Second World War left some Arkansas communities with extensive airfields.The Walnut Ridge Army Flying School was chosen to serve as an airplane graveyard, and newly finished airplanes were flown in and converted into scrap. A different scenario unfolded at Fayetteville, where the municipal airport, named Drake Field in 1949, predated the war. Raymond J. Ellis’s Central Air Transport flew 5,000 baby chickens in 1946 for
