In February, 1910, Lt. Benjamin Foulois arrived in San Antonio, Texas. He brought with him a team of enlisted men and the Army's only airplane. This was built by the Wright Brothers in answer to an Army specification, and had been accepted on August, 2, 1909 as Army Aeroplane Number One. Although the initial demonstrations and flight training provided by the Wrights had taken place at Fort Meyer, Virginia, the onset of winter had severely curtailed flying operations. Lt. Foulois was ordered to take the airplane and a group of eight enlisted men to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.
The first order of business was to build a hangar at the edge of the mounted drill field to house the aircraft. Next, Lt. Foulois set about teaching himself to fly. On March 2, the Lieutenant climbed aboard the airplane and revved up the engine. Shortly thereafter he was airborne, and circled the field until a broken fuel pipe put an abrupt end to the flight. As he put it, this was not only the first airplane flight in San Antonio, it was also his first solo flight, takeoff, landing, and crash! After repairs, he carried on with the self-instruction, getting tips and additional information from the Wrights by mail. Foulois is probably the only pilot ever to learn to fly by mail!
During the next year or so, the Lieutenant and his crew continued flying, and also modified the airplane to improve it. They added wheels, so that it could take off and land without the need for the track and catapult used by the Wrights. They also experimented with ground-air cooperation, working with troops on the ground and developing methods for the airplane to reconnoiter and report its findings to ground forces.
In April of 1911, three more pilots (who had been trained at Glenn Curtiss' flying school in San Diego) arrived at Ft. Sam Houston. Their arrival prompted the local Signal Corps commander to establish a provisional aero company. At about the same time, the first of the new Curtiss Type IV military pusher aeroplanes also arrived. These were single-seat pusher-type aircraft with a tricycle undercarriage. The San Diego-trained pilots, being somewhat familiar with the type, promptly began to fly the new Curtiss.
With no room for an instructor, there was no easy way for other pilots to point out mistakes that the Curtiss pilots might make. As a result, the pusher was subject to some hard landings and finally a crash that severely damaged it. The plane was repaired, although Lt. Foulois was not very happy with the repair work. On May 10, 1911, the repaired airplane was ready to resume flying.
Lt. George Kelly had been eagerly awaiting a chance to fly the plane, and quickly took off to try out the Curtiss. After flying around the field for five minutes or so, he returned for a landing. His first attempt was too steep and fast, and he hit hard and bounced. Recovering, Kelly took the plane around for another try. This second attempt was at a better angle, but Kelly again hit hard and bounced. This time, as he recovered, the plane banked steeply to the left, hooked a wingtip on the ground, and cartwheeled. Lt. Kelly was thrown a considerable distance from the plane, fracturing his skull. He died two hours later in the base hospital. George Kelly became the first American military aviator to die in the crash of a military aeroplane. The accident investigation was unable to tell if the crash was due to a mechanical failure (possibly due to the earlier repairs) or Lt. Kelly's inexperience.
The immediate result of this crash was that the base commander, General William Carter, forbade all flying at Fort Sam Houston and banished the aviation section from its grounds. The pilots and men returned to College Park, Maryland, where a training school was established. In the winter, the group moved to Augusta, Georgia, and then returned to Maryland when the weather improved.
In Febuary, 1913, the five officers and seven aircraft that comprised the entire Aeronautical Section were ordered to report to Texas City, Texas, where the same General Carter who had banished them in 1911 now needed them to help patrol the border with Mexico. It shortly became clear that there would be no need for airborne patrols, and the group once again left Texas, this time for San Diego. There Foulois took command of the 1st Aero Squadron. In 1915, a detachment from the Squadron began operating out of Brownsville and Mission, Texas, and in November 1915 the 1st Aero Squadron moved en masse to the former Remount Depot at Ft. Sam Houston. Military flying had returned to San Antonio, this time to stay.
In March of 1916, a Mexican revolutionary and/or bandit (depending on who you ask) named Francisco ``Pancho'' Villa crossed the border into the United States. He and his men attacked the town of Columbus, New Mexico, burning some buildings and killing several men. This attack enraged the United States, and President Wilson ordered General John J. Pershing to follow Villa and disperse his forces.
The 1st Aero Squadron was ordered from its Ft. Sam Houston base to assist the punitive expedtion. They travelled by train to Columbus, and assembled the airplanes for the push into Mexico. The Curtiss JN-3 aircraft were not well-suited to flying in the heat, winds and mountains of northern Mexico, and a quarter of the squadron's aircraft were damaged or destroyed on the first flight from Columbus to Casas Grandes, about 90 miles south of the border.
The Aero Squadron's mission was to provide reconnaissance and courier work, since they could cover a day's march by the ground troops in only half an hour or so. The aircraft were able to perform this task, for the most part, although they weren't able to operate in the higher mountains of the region. Although not glamorous, this work was essential, since it was the fastest way Pershing had of communicating with his outlying troops and columns. The aircraft were also useful in locating enemy forces. In late March, they were able to confirm reports of a large force of Villistas in a particular village, which enabled the U.S. troops to make a forced march and successfully attack them.
By mid-April, the U.S. forces were beginning to withdraw back to the border. The 1st Aero Squadron was down to five airplanes by this time, and this number would be rapidly reduced by accidents and enemy action. By the 20th, only two airplanes remained. The Squadron was detached from service with the Punitive Expedtion and ordered to return to the U.S. to be re-equipped with newer aircraft.
On November 4, 1916, Benjamin Foulois returned to San Antonio. His orders were to find a suitable site for the construction of a new flying field. Although the orders didn't specify that the field be located in San Antonio, Foulois could think of no better place to establish one.
He found a 900-acre tract with good rail and road access and its own water well on the southwest side of the city. Brigadier General George Scriven, the Army's Chief Signal Officer, approved the site. After legislation was passed to enable Air Service funds to be spent on land, a one-year lease was signed in early 1917. At the same time, the 3rd Aero Squadron was formed at Fort Sam Houston. Men from the 3rd Aero Squadron worked with local contractors to prepare the field, and construction was started on two hangars. On April 5, 1917, even though the two hangars were only foundations and piles of steel girders, the first airplanes arrived at the field. The next day, America entered World War I.
The 3rd Aero Squadron was rapidly joined by the 4th and 5th, and 4,400 recruits were also housed at the field. Most were in tents, with wooden mess halls and latrines. The new recruits were under the command of the Provisional Aero Squadron, which was responsible for accepting the crowd of men who arrived daily. In June 1917, Colonel Charles E. Tayman took command, and discovered that he had only 25 officers to command almost 6,000 trainees.
One of Colonel Tayman's first acts was to name the new base. It was originally designated as Camp Kelly, in memory of the first Army aviator to die in the crash of a military airplane. Shortly thereafter, it was renamed Kelly Field. With plans for 27 new aero squadrons, the Army planned to establish a major supply depot at the new field. With all of this activity and growth, Kelly Field was already outgrowing its original boundaries. The Army acquired lease agreements for a further 1,800 acres of land north-northwest and adjacent to the original field, designating the original site as Kelly Field No. 1, and the new site as Kelly Field No. 2.
A standard Army Airfield of the time had 12 hangars, but Kelly Field No. 2 had 24. Even at twice the size of a standard airfield, it was crowded. Planners started looking for other sites in the area that could be used as airfields, to help relieve the crowding at Kelly. These new fields were to be numbered as auxiliary fields from Kelly, and eventually six auxiliary fields were established. Since these were temporary fields, they had few, if any, permanent buildings. The one exception was Kelly Field No. 5, which was expanded into a permanent base and renamed Brooks Field in early 1918.
The construction contractors (Stone and Webster) officially turned Kelly Field over to the Army on October 1, 1917, but the field had been in use for months by that time. Kelly Field No. 2 had become the primary training field, and Kelly No. 1 was used mainly for repair and maintenance work. No. 1 also remained the base for the training and reception center, now formally known as the Recruit Camp. On October 1, it was renamed the First Training Brigade.
As the recruits arrived, they were tested and evaluated to identify their skills. Once this assessment was complete, recruits were assigned to various aero squadrons depending on the test results. As each squadron reached a strength of 154 men, it was transferred to a new location for final training. The first such squadron transferred out of Kelly in August, 1917. By October, 80 squadrons had been formed and transferred, and another 50 left in November. Most of these squadrons would form the initial cadre for the other training fields they transferred to.
Flight training at Kelly started in August, 1917, but it wasn't until September that the Flying Department was actually organized to oversee this training. To save time, the Canadian system of flight training was adopted. In this system, each student began as an aviation cadet. They began with eight weeks of ground training at one of six universities around the country. The curriculum included study of aero engines, observation, signalling, gunnery and bombing, meteorology, aircraft construction, and theory of flight. This being the military, instruction in drill and ceremonies was also included.
Once ground school was complete, the student was given a rating of Junior Military Aviator and sent to a six-to-eight week flight school. Once that training was complete, the student was commissioned and sent to advanced flight school for about a month. This advanced school taught the student in the specialty to which he was assigned - pursuit, bombing, or observation.
With the Canadian system, basic flight training was given in stages. First stage was dual instruction, using Curtiss JN-4 Jennies. The instructor would demonstrate the maneuvers and then guide the student through them. After between four and nine hours, the student would solo. After about 25 hours of solo practice, with some additional dual instruction, the student would continue on to training in cross-country navigation, aerobatics, and formation flying. Ground school continued throughout this period, including subjects such as navigation and the proper conduct of officers.
In 1918, the Air Service phased out the stage system, and introduced the 'Gosport System' of flight training. In this system, one instructor would stay with a particular group of students throughout primary flight training, and the training stages were overlapped. The instructor had a 'Gosport tube' to enable him to talk to the student, which gave this method its name.
By Armistice Day, November 11, 1918, Kelly Field had graduated over 1450 pilots. Almost 300 instructors had completed the advanced course. Although public demand for demobilization was great, Kelly Field remained open, transitioning to border patrol work as primary training was moved to Carlstrom Field, Florida, and March Field, California.
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