FIRST -- Airplane Landing at Del Rio, Del Rio TX
N 29° 22.067 W 100° 47.926
14R E 325409 N 3250078
In a small roadside pullout on the eastbound US 90 near the entrance to Laughlin Air Force Base, historic marker preserves the history of the first airplane landing in Del Rio
Waymark Code: WMPN9R
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 09/25/2015
Views: 2
A state historic marker along the US 90 near Laughlin Air Force Base recalls the day in 1911 when pilot Galbraith Perry Rodgers landed his flying machine at Del Rio, Texas.
This was the first-ever aircraft landing in Val Verde County, which during World War II would become an important aviation training base for the United States Air Force, and, in 1952, the site of Laughlin Air Force Base.
The state historic marker reads as follows:
"MILITARY AVIATION IN VAL VERDE COUNTY
In 1911, eight years after the Wight Brothers' historic flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Galbraith Perry Rodgers landed his plane at Del Rio while on the first transcontinental flight across the United State. The arrival of a plane in Del Rio was a major event then, but it became a common sight in later years. During World War I, the town was a center of aerial patrols along the United State-Mexico Border. In 1919 planes were dispatched to the area in reaction to Pancho Villa's border raids. One pilot stationed here to fly border patrols was Lt. James H. Doolittle, who later gained international attention in World War II.
In the 1940s Del Rio was chosen as the site of an Air Base because of the flat terrain and the mild climate. Opened as the first B-26 bombardier school, Laughlin Air Force Base was named in honor of Lt. Jack T. Laughlin, the first pilot from Del Rio killed in action in World War II. Later a pilot training school, it closed after the war. In 1952, through the efforts of local residents, it was reopened. Laughlin has been utilized for Astronaut Training, strategic Air Command U-2 reconnaissance missions, the development of Air Training Command's undergraduate pilot training mission, and other important innovations. (1981) AND"
FIRST - Classification Variable: Item or Event
Date of FIRST: 01/01/1911
More Information - Web URL: [Web Link]
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