The 1940 Air Terminal Museum - Houston Aviation

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of Aviation

HOUSTON AVIATION

On the morning of December 17, 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright completed their historic first controlled heavier-than-air powered flights at Kill Devil Hills in the Kitty Hawk area of the North Carolina Outer Banks. A telegram sent later that day by the brothers to their father read: Success four flights thursday morning all against twenty one mile wind started from Level with engine power alone average speed through air thirty one miles longest flight 57 seconds inform Press home Christmas. (Library of Congress.)

ON THE COVER: In 1940, the City of Houston opened its newest terminal (now the 1940 Air Terminal Museum) at the Houston Municipal Airport. The Douglas DC-3 pictured in Pioneer livery was the primary aircraft used by the airlines serving Houston in the 1940s. In the 50 years following its introduction in 1935, over 350 civilian airlines and corporations in the United States had used the DC-3. Pioneer was one of the various airlines that operated out of Houston in the 1940s. Started as Essair, it changed its name to Pioneer Airlines only to be bought out by Continental Airlines in 1955. United Airlines and Continental then merged in 2010. (Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas.)

IMAGES
of Aviation

HOUSTON AVIATION

The 1940 Air Terminal Museum

Larry Karson, editor

Copyright 2015 by The 1940 Air Terminal Museum
ISBN 978-1-4671-3378-4
Ebook ISBN 9781439652695

Published by Arcadia Publishing
Charleston, South Carolina

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015903574

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Dedicated to Captain A.J. High, former chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the 1940 Air Terminal MuseumOur leader, our mentor, and our friend.

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many people contribute to a work of this type, but first among many for this book is John L. Graves, former president and a current director of the 1940 Air Terminal Museum. Johns vision of a representative work centered on the historical museum became the foundation of this book. With the energy and support of his fellow directors, in particular Eric Speck, who best articulated the concept of this work as an extension of the educational mission of the museum to promote and preserve the rich aeronautical heritage of Houston and Southeast Texas, Johns vision was realized.

Story Sloane gave much of his time, his expertise, and his collection of historical aviation photographs to the project. I have no doubt that this book would never have moved past its formative stage without his assistance and guidance.

The archivists and staff of numerous library collections offered content and their time including Gregory Yerke of the University of Houston Libraries; Joyce Kleimann of the Hitchcock Public Library; Tim Ronk of the Houston Metropolitan Research Center; Kimberly Johnson of the Texas Womans University Libraries; Travis Bible of the Rosenberg Library, Galveston; Don Carleton, Amy Bowman, and Aryn Glazier of the Dolph Briscoe Center of American History, University of Texas at Austin; Steve Hersh of the Richter Library of the University of Miami; Tom Blake at the Boston Public Library; Dawn Hugh at HistoryMiami; and Jean Gates of the Texas Military Forces Museum. These collections allow us to better understand our history, and without them, much would easily be forgotten in the headlong rush to an unknown future. What they offer us is a window to that future, if suitably viewed.

Amy Rogers, the 1940 Air Terminal Museums managing director, was always available to address the paperwork, Michael Bludworth committed to reviewing the photographs and captions for accuracy (his expertise was invaluable), and Geoffery Scripture was always gracious and patient in his assistance in accessing the museums archives and displays.

Ginny Rasmussen, Laura Bruns, and Jim Kempert chaperoned this project at Arcadia Publishing.

The University of HoustonDowntown was kind enough to allow the time to work on this project for the 1940 Air Terminal Museum, and finally, the never-ending support of my wife, Cindy, kept the gremlins at bay for many a day.

My thanks go to all and my love to one.

Larry Karson, editor

If any inaccuracies are noticed, please forward corrections to for appropriate amendment of later editions.

INTRODUCTION

Since shortly after the first airplane flew over south Houston in 1910, the business community, the military, and eventually, the developing commercial airline industry have been in a symbiotic relationship that has contributed to the continuing growth and development of aviation in Houston and Southeast Texas.

With the start of war in Europe in 1914, the business communitys influence led to the establishment of Ellington Field as an Army base three years later. As part of the original purchase arrangement, the Houston Chamber of Commerce agreed to deposit $25,000 in a local bank to be spent toward deepening and straightening a local bayou to allow the new airfield to effectively drain, as it was underwater when originally purchased. With over 5,000 personnel on the airfield when the Great War ended, federal dollars for construction and salaries had guaranteed economic development to the greater metropolitan community well beyond that original investment in drainage.

By the 1920s, American business recognized the successand profitabilityof the US Air Mail Service, and Congress authorized the creation of subsidized commercial airmail routes through the passage of the Air Mail Act of 1925 (the Kelly Act) followed by the Air Commerce Act of 1926. With guaranteed government funding, a variety of business interests obtained Contract Air Mail routes and initiated nationwide airmail service, including to Houston and Galveston. By 1932, Walter Brown, the postmaster general under the Hoover administration, had used his authority in granting airmail contracts to create an integrated, transcontinental commercial airline system. By eventually offering a subsidy based on available space per mile, commercial carriers were compensated by the capacity of their aircraft, contributing to the development of larger passenger planes. The postal contracts offered the opportunity for the airlines to establish a level of financial stability that allowed for both technical development and industry growth. Pan American Airways, one of many airlines that serviced Houston over the years, alone received $47.2 million between 1929 and 1940 in airmail subsidies. As the airline historian R.E.G. Davies stated, Postmaster General Brown, in effect, created the necessary environment to stimulate the development of a new breed of aircraft. He went into office with a dream of an airline network to surpass the world. When he left office, this had been achieved handsomely.

Along with the growth in the airlines, cities across the country, including Houston, developed modern airports to attract the aviation industry. Houston bought a private airfield south of the city and developed it as the Houston Municipal Airport, now known as William P. Hobby Airport. The city turned to the federal government, through a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project, to drain, grade, and build the original runways. When Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker, the president of Eastern Air Lines, later deemed the crushed shell runways unacceptable for DC-3 traffic, the City of Houston paved them. As each terminal became outmoded, a new facility was constructed, including the 1940 Art Decoinfluenced terminal and the later twin-concourse terminal.