DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Fort Worth's First Flight. Now, let me set the scene for you. December 1903 — the Wright Brothers pull off powered flight.
History-making, no question. But here's the thing: by 1910, most people on this earth had still never laid eyes on an airplane. Not once.
Seven years after Kitty Hawk, and flight was still more rumor than reality for the average person. Then along comes John Moisant of Chicago. October 1910, he pulls together a touring aerial demonstration team — the Moisant International Aviators.
A traveling show of the most astonishing kind. And word gets around. Out in Fort Worth, a group of aviation enthusiasts led by a man named Amon G.
Carter, Sr. hears about this outfit and does what any self-respecting Texan booster would do — they pay the Aviators to come to town. January 12, 1911. The Fort Worth Driving Park, a racetrack sitting near Carroll and West Seventh Streets.
A man named Roland Garros — flying for the Moisant International Aviators, at the controls of a Bleriot XI — becomes the first person to perform a powered flight in Fort Worth. Right there at a racetrack. The crowd that day saw something most of the country hadn't.
Now, a lesser city might've just called that a good show and gone home. Fort Worth did not go home. Encouraged by Amon Carter, along with Ben E.
Keith and Louis J. Wortham, the U.S. Army Service constructed three World War I pilot training airfields — near Saginaw, near Benbrook, and near Everman — and had all three up and running by October 1917.
The Royal Flying Corps Canada even used those fields for pilot training during the winter months. And after the war wound down, Everman Field didn't sit idle — it became Fort Worth's first municipal airport. But the sky over Fort Worth was about to get even more interesting.
Helium was discovered in Texas during World War I, and the Navy built a large extraction plant right there in Fort Worth. Then the Navy went further — they built a dirigible mooring station nearby. From 1924 to 1929, Fort Worth became a stop on transcontinental airship flights.
Think about that. Giant airships threading across the continent, and Fort Worth was on the route. Through the 1930s, Fort Worth grew into a flight-training center for the Civilian Pilot Training Program.
And Amon Carter — that same man who helped bring Roland Garros to a racetrack back in 1911 — kept pushing. He convinced the Navy to use Lake Worth as a seaplane base. He was instrumental in securing a large defense plant to build B-24 bombers during World War II.
That site became known as Air Force Plant Number Four, and it has been in continuous use since 1942. All of it — the airfields, the airships, the bombers, the seaplanes — traces a long, unbroken line right back to one man in a Bleriot XI, lifting off over a Fort Worth racetrack on a January day in 1911.
What the marker says
FORT WORTH'S FIRST FLIGHT IN DECEMBER 1903, THE WRIGHT BROTHERS ACHIEVED POWERED FLIGHT, BUT BY 1910, MOST PEOPLE STILL HAD NOT SEEN AN AIRPLANE. IN OCTOBER 1910, JOHN MOISANT OF CHICAGO FORMED A TOURING AERIAL DEMONSTRATION TEAM KNOWN AS THE MOISANT INTERNATIONAL AVIATORS. A GROUP OF AVIATION ENTHUSIASTS LED BY AMON G. CARTER, SR. PAID THE AVIATORS TO COME TO FORT WORTH. ON JANUARY 12, 1911, ROLAND GARROS OF THE MOISANT INTERNATIONAL AVIATORS, FLYING A BLERIOT XI, BECAME THE FIRST PERSON TO PERFORM A POWERED FLIGHT IN FORT WORTH. THE FLIGHT TOOK PLACE AT THE FORT WORTH DRIVING PARK, A RACETRACK NEAR CARROLL AND WEST SEVENTH STREETS. FROM THIS FIRST FLIGHT, FORT WORTH AND NORTH TEXAS DEVELOPED INTO AN AVIATION CENTER. ENCOURAGED BY AMON CARTER, BEN E. KEITH AND LOUIS J. WORTHAM, THE U.S. ARMY SERVICE CONSTRUCTED THREE WORLD WAR I PILOT TRAINING AIRFIELDS NEAR SAGINAW, BENBROOK AND EVERMAN BY OCTOBER 1917. THE ROYAL FLYING CORPS CANADA ALSO USED THE FIELDS FOR PILOT TRAINING DURING THE WINTER MONTHS. AFTER WORLD WAR I, EVERMAN FIELD BECAME FORT WORTH'S FIRST MUNICIPAL AIRPORT. HELIUM WAS DISCOVERED IN TEXAS DURING WORLD WAR I AND THE NAVY BUILT A LARGE EXTRACTION PLANT IN FORT WORTH. THE NAVY ALSO BUILT A DIRIGIBLE MOORING STATION NEARBY AND FROM 1924 TO 1929 FORT WORTH BECAME A STOP ON TRANSCONTINENTAL AIRSHIP FLIGHTS. DURING THE 1930s, FORT WORTH BECAME A FLIGHT-TRAINING CENTER FOR THE CIVILIAN PILOT TRAINING PROGRAM. CARTER NOT ONLY CONVINCED THE NAVY TO USE LAKE WORTH AS A SEAPLANE BASE, BUT WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN SECURING A LARGE DEFENSE PLANT TO BUILD B-24 BOMBERS DURING WORLD WAR II. THE SITE, KNOWN AS AIR FORCE PLANT #4, HAS BEEN IN CONTINUOUS USE SINCE 1942.