Publisher's Synopsis
Call Field Aviation Base was built in Wichita Falls, Texas in response to the U.S. entry into World War I. On June 16, 1917, the Southern Aviation Department in San Antonio chose Wichita Falls as the site for an air-training field. The name of the field would be Call Field, named after 1st Lt. Loren Call, who had died in a plane crash on July 9, 1913 in Texas City, Texas.After the announcement, the City of Wichita Falls began preparations for the location of the field by filling two small ponds on the grounds and cutting trees and fences. The field was a boon to the economy of the area, providing money and jobs to a growing city. By November 18, 1917, Major George Krapt, the acting commandant, reported that the field was 95% complete. By the middle of the month, officers began arriving at the post, followed soon by aviators and signal corps personnel. Three squadrons, the 164th, the 165th, and the 198th arrived in December; and the stage was set for the start-up of training aviators for the war effort.Pilots trained on both the Curtiss-Jenny and Standard biplanes. The Curtiss-Jenny was powered by a Hall Scott engine and was capable of flying 75-100 miles per hour. However, it would not run for any length of time and was unreliable in cold weather. The Standard biplane was more reliable but was clumsy and slow and was controlled entirely by the rudder. Pilots could take off from one of two dirt runways, one or both, filled with prairie dog holes. They would fly over Lake Wichita and then continue in flight for 60 to 75 miles, or an hour and a half, whichever came first. Several area communities had designated fields where the pilots could land. Pilots were regarded as colorful figures, and many towns competed for playing host to them on cross-country flights. Runway at Call FieldInsight into these men who became pilots reveals the typical mentality of young men, aged 20 and slightly older, from whatever century you select them. They are ten feet tall and bullet proof, then or now. A letter written back home to a Mansfield, Ohio newspaper by a young cadet named Roy "Mud" Gardner and discovered by a researcher, takes us inside their thoughts."At last I am at a real American aviation field where there are lots of aeroplanes and instructors. After graduating at Columbus from Ground School, I was sent out to Garden City, N.Y. to go 'overseas' for training, but before our bunch was sent, the government found they had too many cadets 'over there, ' so we were sent to the different schools in Texas for training, and I landed here. (Call Field)I have been here since Jan. 2 and was given my first flight the following morning. The first flight is mostly a joy-ride and to test you out. The instructor assigned to me pointed out to me a Curtiss J.N. 4 and told me to get in the rear seat, which I did, and fastened the safety belt around my waist. Then he got in the front seat, and after testing the motor the mechanic removed the blocks, and my instructor opened the throttle wide open, and the machine started along the earth.You leave the ground so lightly and fast that you hardly realize you are off until about 50 feet up. The first flight lasted for 52 minutes. We went up until the altimeter read 5,200 feet. The earth by now was far below, and houses looked like cigar boxes and telegraph poles like toothpicks. A small stream looked like a long, thin snake; and well, everything looked so different.
