DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Major W. F. Long — and friend, this one is worth every mile of road between here and there.
Now, Missouri gave him his start, but Texas made him something else entirely. William Francis Long — Bill, to most anybody who knew him — was just seventeen years old when his family pulled up stakes and moved to Texas. Seventeen.
You wouldn't necessarily look at that boy and think: there goes the future of American aviation. But that's the thing about Texas. The sky here has a way of gettin' into people.
When the First World War came calling, Long answered. He went up as an aerial observer and pilot in the 24th Aero Squadron, First Army Observation Group. He learned what the sky asked of a man, and when the war was done, he didn't come home and hang up his goggles.
Not Bill Long. He went right back up. He established the San Antonio Aviation and Motor School at Stinson Field.
Then — and here's where the story starts to pick up speed — in 1925, he bought two hundred and fifty-one surplus Curtiss airplanes and a hangar out at Love Field. Two hundred and fifty-one. That's not a fleet, that's an ambition made visible.
He moved his flight training operation there and renamed it the Dallas Aviation School and Air College. They'd eventually start calling him Mister Love Field, and you can see why. But Long wasn't the type to stop at a nickname.
In 1929, with partners, he built a brand-new airfield — Curtiss-Wright Field — out at Grand Prairie. The marker puts it simply: he was never idle. Never idle.
Two words that, put together, explain just about everything that follows. Now hold on, because 1939 is where the story truly shifts weight. Long was invited to a briefing in Washington, D.C., put on by General Hap Arnold.
The subject: using civilian contract schools to train U.S. Army pilot cadets — because the country could feel what was coming, even if nobody was saying it out loud just yet. Long walked out of that briefing with a contract.
And when that program proved itself, he walked away with a second one — for a school at the reactivated Hicks Field in Fort Worth, and for an airplane mechanics training school right back at Love Field. March 1941, he opened yet another school, this one at Curtis Field in Brady. And then — then — England came knocking.
The Royal Air Force needed to train its cadets somewhere with open skies and enough room to make mistakes and learn from them. They contracted with Long to open the No. 1 British Flying Training School, in Terrell, Texas. Let that sink in a moment.
One man. Four schools. Operating under the significant pressures of time and wartime shortages — the marker's own words.
And between those four schools, Long and his associates trained about one-tenth of all U.S. Army aviators and one-third of RAF cadets trained on American soil. One-third of the RAF's American-trained pilots learned to fly under a program Bill Long built.
And still — still — the man found time for more. During the war, Long and associates acquired Essair Airlines, which ran airmail service from Houston up to Amarillo with stops scattered across the width of Texas. In 1946, that carrier was renamed Pioneer Airlines.
Long believed that feeder airlines like this one would bring regular folks around to the idea of passenger flight, and the airline eventually expanded to dozens of cities across Texas and New Mexico. For all of it — the schools, the cadets, the airlines, the sheer relentless building of something out of Texas sky and surplus Curtiss airplanes — Long received honors from President Harry S. Truman and from King George VI.
Two heads of state, one man from Missouri who moved to Texas at seventeen. The marker says he earned a place in Texas aviation history. I'd say the sky over Love Field, over Terrell, over Grand Prairie and Brady and Fort Worth already knew that long before anyone put it in writing.
What the marker says
MISSOURI NATIVE WILLIAM FRANCIS "BILL" LONG WAS 17 WHEN HIS FAMILY MOVED TO TEXAS. DURING WORLD WAR I, HE WAS AN AERIAL OBSERVER AND PILOT IN THE 24TH AERO SQUADRON, FIRST ARMY OBSERVATION GROUP. AFTER THE WAR, HE ESTABLISHED SAN ANTONIO AVIATION AND MOTOR SCHOOL AT STINSON FIELD. IN 1925, HE BOUGHT 251 SURPLUS CURTISS AIRPLANES AND A HANGAR AT LOVE FIELD AND MOVED HIS FLIGHT TRAINING SCHOOL THERE AS DALLAS AVIATION SCHOOL AND AIR COLLEGE. NEVER IDLE, LONG, SOMETIMES REFERRED TO AS "MR. LOVE FIELD," BUILT A NEW AIRFIELD, CURTISS-WRIGHT FIELD, WITH PARTNERS IN 1929 AT GRAND PRAIRIE. IN 1939, LONG ATTENDED GEN. "HAP" ARNOLD'S WASHINGTON, D. C. BRIEFING ON THE USE OF CIVILIAN CONTRACT SCHOOLS TO TRAIN U. S. ARMY PILOT CADETS IN ANTICIPATION OF WORLD WAR II. LONG RECEIVED A CONTRACT AND THE PROGRAM'S SUCCESS LED TO A SECOND CONTRACT, FOR A SCHOOL AT THE REACTIVATED HICKS FIELD IN FORT WORTH AND FOR AN AIRPLANE MECHANICS TRAINING SCHOOL AT LOVE FIELD. LONG OPENED ANOTHER SCHOOL AT CURTIS FIELD IN BRADY IN MARCH 1941. ENGLAND ALSO SENT ITS ROYAL AIR FORCE (RAF) CADETS TO TRAIN IN THE U. S., CONTRACTING WITH LONG TO OPEN THE NO. 1 BRITISH FLYING TRAINING SCHOOL AT TERRELL. DURING THE WAR, LONG AND ASSOCIATES ACQUIRED ESSAIR AIRLINES WHICH PROVIDED AIRMAIL SERVICE FROM HOUSTON TO AMARILLO, WITH STOPS ACROSS TEXAS. RENAMED PIONEER AIRLINES IN 1946, THE CARRIER ATTESTED LONG'S BELIEF THAT SUCH FEEDER AIRLINES WOULD PROMOTE PASSENGER FLIGHTS WHEN IT EXPANDED TO DOZENS OF CITIES IN TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO. UNDER SIGNIFICANT PRESSURES OF TIME AND WARTIME SHORTAGES, LONG OPERATED FOUR SCHOOLS, TRAINING ABOUT ONE-TENTH OF U. S. ARMY AVIATORS AND ONE-THIRD OF RAF CADETS IN THE U. S. HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS GARNERED HIM HONORS FROM PRESIDENT HARRY S. TRUMAN AND KING GEORGE VI, AS WELL AS A PLACE IN TEXAS AVIATION HISTORY.