Texas History Minute

The twentieth century opened up a new frontier for innovation and adventure: the skies With the first successful airplane flight of Orville and Wilbur Wright in 1903, airplanes began making rapid advances that would change transportation forever Aviation had come to stay, and Texas would play an important early role Two pilots in particular, Louis Paulhan of France and American army pilot Ben Foulois, would make Texas an important center in aviation as they completed the first airplane flights in the state

Dr. Ken Bridges

Paulhan was a jovial French aviator who took the world by storm He was one of the first ten licensed pilots in France and one of only a handful around the globe In a short time, he became one of the best in the world In January 1910, he broke his own record by flying at an altitude of more than 4,000 feet at a California air show Later that year, he would complete the longest flight to that time: more than four hours in the air Huge crowds came to see him flying an airplane, the new technological wonder, as he brought his air show to Texas And on February 18, 1910, he completed an important milestone in Texas History: he completed the first successful airplane flight in the state And he had only learned to fly a plane the year before

Most of the early advances in Texas aviation would come from the military The army quickly became interested in airplanes and worked with Orville and Wilbur Wright for pilot training and purchasing airplanes

Lt. Ben Foulois, a Connecticut native whose first flight was with Wilbur Wright in 1909, was ordered to Ft Sam Houston in San Antonio in 1910 with a Wright Model A Military Flyer for experimental flights It was the only plane the army even had at the time Foulois later quipped that for a time he was the entire United States Air Force Just a month after Paulhan’s groundbreaking flight, Foulois completed the first successful military airplane flight in Texas on March 2, 1910. He made four brief flights that day, accidentally crashing the plane on one flight After repairing the plane, Foulois had a seat belt installed as well, noting the need for pilot safety

The somewhat centralized position of Texas in comparison to the rest of the country, the mild climates, and wide-open fields absent of mountains or thick forests across North and Central Texas were seen by aviators as great advantages for early aircraft Foulois began training new pilots As the Mexican Revolution swirled across the Texas border, the army was employing pilots for reconnaissance missions along the border as early as 1911

The 1st Aero Squadron was organized on March 5, 1913, at Fort

Sam Houston, the army’s first aviation squadron As the number of pilots grew, by March 1914, the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps was established within the army Eventually, aviation separated into its own branch By the end of 1915, the squadron consisted of 300 pilots and support technicians and more than fifty aircraft, mostly scattered Martin T tractor planes, Curtiss R2 biplanes, and Curtiss JN-3 “Jenny” biplanes

When raiders under Pancho Villa attacked the small border town of Columbus, New Mexico, in March 1916, the squadron was reassigned from San Antonio to Columbus in order to assist Gen John J Pershing’s punitive raid into Mexico However, the technology was still so primitive and reliability so limited that the planes were shipped to New Mexico by train. The planes were used mostly for reconnaissance purposes and for relaying messages to the different units under Pershing’s command

Though the planes faced serious problems because of the thin mountain air, the squadron was successful in their reconnaissance efforts.

World War I created a massive surge in aviation in the state The air station at Ft Sam Houston expanded rapidly and became Kelly Field Love Field, then just north of Dallas, was established by the army in 1917 as a training center for army pilots That same year, Call Field opened in Wichita Falls as an army flight school

The University of Texas offered classes in radio and aviation to cadets. British pilots also came to Texas for training, as Pershing invited the Royal Flying Corps to establish flight schools in the United States Royal Flying Corps cadets from England and Canada trained at Camp Taliaferro in Fort Worth starting in 1917 and set up three small airfields across Tarrant County for new pilots: Hicks Field near Saginaw, Barron Field near Everman, and Benbrook Field just north of Benbrook Through these training centers, Allied air power expanded rapidly, but most closed in the years after the war ended

Though the federal government experimented with delivery of the mail as early as 1911, regular air mail service did not begin until May 1918 Texas air mail routes would not become available until the mid-1920s Meanwhile, aviation continued to expand across Texas in spite of post-war military cutbacks The City of Dallas purchased Love Field from the army in 1927, and other cities began constructing their own air fields while private aviation firms and passenger airlines began operating

As for Foulois and Paulhan, they remained respected figures in aviation Both survived World War I as decorated war heroes Paulhan was a special guest on Air France’s inaugural non-stop jet flight from Paris to Los Angeles in 1960 He lived quietly in France until his death in 1963

Foulois eventually became head of the army air corps and retired as a major general in 1935 and lived his later years on the grounds of Andrews Air Force Base before his death in 1967

Today, aviation continues to a large role in the state’s economy, from both military and civilian efforts Texas today is home to some of the busiest airports in the world, boasts aerospace manufacturing firms, and serves as the headquarters for some of the nation’s largest airlines By 2017, after a century of flight, aviation had grown to a multibillion dollar industry in the state, employing more than 135,000 Texans

Injecting faith into our doubt

Soon after Jesus had resurrected, we find a beautiful passage found in John chapter 20 that is a wonderful example of how much God loves us and wants to encourage us The friends and family of Christ were gathered together after his horrific crucifixion and were still grieving over his death when all of a sudden, he appears in their midst! Even though they remembered how he had promised to return I’m sure they were still awestruck Jesus stretches out His hands and reveals his wounds, and of course, they are overjoyed to see him again He spoke peace and breathed on them and before he left, he filled them with the Holy Spirit Thomas was not there that night and later when he returned and was told that Jesus had visited them, he said that until he could see Jesus with his own eyes, he would not believe it After eight days the group came together again and like last time Jesus miraculously appeared except this time Thomas was present Christ looked at Thomas and told him to reach out and touch the scars, and he did Jesus said, “Be not faithless, but believing,” and Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God ” When we are discouraged and struggling to believe, we can know that God will always make the extra effort to prove how much he loves us and cares about us

y Holland

“Jesus said unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed ” Faith is having the ultimate optimistic and positive attitude Faith is choosing to believe when we are walking over bridges that cannot be seen Faith is paying our tithes when we only have a small amount of money in our bank account Faith is resting in peace and completely trusting that God’s word cannot fail Yes, it’s difficult to demonstrate confidence in the Lord when all we can see is discouragement and hopelessness, but let us remember when Jesus intervenes into your situation, miracles happen and nothing is ever the same Everything and everyone in heaven and earth are subject to his infinite power and authority

Verse of the Week

How many times have you needed the Lord to inject faith into your doubt? I call on him to help me every day You see, Thomas was not the only person who had problems with doubting Actually, he’s a perfect example of you and I. God realizes how hard it is for us to believe and even though Thomas could literally see him, we do not have that luxury This is where faith comes in and the reality of understanding that just because we cannot see him physically, does not mean he is not there In verse 29 we read,

So, how can we have more faith? We can pray and ask God to give us more courage to believe Faith is not only a source of spiritual hope and strength, but Hebrews 11:6 reminds us, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that approaches God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him ” In Acts chapter 16, we read where Paul and Silas were being held in a dark and dreary prison, yet they began to worship the Lord Why? Because joy is not confined to a geographic location, a mood, or a feeling, but is activated when the determination to trust God becomes stronger than the temptation to be afraid We cannot live in faith and fear at the same time If we will feed our faith, our fears will starve! These men made a choice to see reality with the eyes of their spirit instead of being led by their emotions. Whatever trial we are going through today, we also have the opportunity to do the same thing Our natural senses are connected with our mind, but spiritual faith declares that I will base my hope and trust in God no matter what happens because I know he always has my best interest in mind Humans have a tendency to rely on their intelligence and have confidence in their own decisions, but this cannot bring true spiritual peace True peace comes from knowing that God is in control Thomas Aquinas is quoted as saying, “To one who has faith, no

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