| |
©2001 by
Arkansas History Commission
Designed and Programmed by Aristotle®.
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
In World War I, the usefulness of aerial photography to the U.S. military to
monitor troop locations, as well as update military maps and strategic
positions, prompted the army to train pilots to photograph areas of vital
interest to the war effort. One military pilot school and temporary flying
field was established in Arkansas. Eberts Field, an area of 640 acres in
Lonoke, Arkansas, 20 miles east of Little Rock, Arkansas, operated during
1918-1920. Eberts Field was named for native Arkansan and West Point
graduate Melchior McEwen Eberts, a Captain of the aviation section of the U.
S. A. signal corps. Eberts died in May 1917, at the age 28 while making
airplane exhibition flight at Columbus, New Mexico. Construction of Eberts
Field began December 11, 1917, and ended in January 1919 at a total cost of
$1,829,560. The Primary Flying Course was an 8-week course with a student
capacity of 300. Eberts Field also housed a Temporary Storage Depot. The
Armistice was signed (November 11, 1918) before the first class graduated.
Photo: 4594.19
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
