HistoricSiteMarkers
Progressive & Modern Era

"Kelly No. 2" Flight Line

San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas

Marker Inscription

In November 1916, Maj. Benjamin Foulois of the Aviation Section of the U.S. Army's Signal Corps chose a tract of land approximately three-fourths of a mile to the southeast of this spot to serve as a flying field for the Army Aviation Corps. In 1917, the site was named Camp Kelly and later Kelly Field in honor of Lt. George E.M. Kelly, who in 1911 had become the first American aviator to lose his life while piloting a military aircraft. Activities at the camp included both flight training and aircraft maintenance. In September 1917, Kelly Field's training activities moved north to this area, called "Kelly No. 2" to distinguish it from the original field. The new flight line, extending 125 yards east and 2400 yards west of this site, consisted of numerous hangars, warehouses, barracks, repair shops, classrooms, and maintenance buildings. "Kelly No. 2" retained its training function from 1917 through 1942. Its Air Corps Advanced Flying School produced many prominent American aviators, including Charles Lindbergh and Claire Chennault. In 1955, the advent of new and larger aircraft prompted the extension of the existing runway, this necessitating the demolition of the old "Kelly No. 2" flight line. (1986)

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

In 1916 Maj. Benjamin Foulois chose land near here for an Army flying field, soon named Kelly Field for Lt. George E. M. Kelly, the first American aviator killed flying a military aircraft. In 1917 training moved to this "Kelly No. 2" flight line, a sprawl of hangars, shops, and barracks whose Advanced Flying School trained aviators including Charles Lindbergh and Claire Chennault. The line served until 1942 and was demolished in 1955 to make way for larger runways.

Why it matters

Kelly Field was a cradle of American military aviation, training the pilots who would define flight and air power from the barnstorming age through World War II.

The story behind this marker

AI context

The era

In 1916 the airplane was barely a dozen years old, and the U.S. Army's air arm was tiny. Military aviation was run by the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps, the branch otherwise responsible for telegraphs and signal flags. Europe had been at war since 1914, and the skies over the Western Front were showing how quickly aircraft were changing modern warfare. The United States was far behind.

San Antonio was a natural place to catch up. The city was already one of the Army's major posts, and South Texas offered flat land and flying weather most of the year. When the United States entered the First World War in April 1917, the Army urgently needed thousands of pilots and mechanics. Fields like this one grew almost overnight.

After the war, aviation entered a new era of daring record flights and fast-improving technology. The Army's air arm slowly gained standing, becoming the Air Corps in the 1920s. Through those years, Kelly Field remained one of the places where the nation's military flyers learned their trade. It kept that role right up to the eve of the next world war.

People & events

The story starts with Maj. Benjamin Foulois, one of the true pioneers of American military aviation. In November 1916 he chose a tract of land southeast of this spot as an Army flying field. Foulois knew San Antonio well: he had made some of the Army's earliest flights there, at a time when military aviators were still teaching themselves how to fly.

The field took its name from Lt. George E. M. Kelly. In 1911 he became the first American aviator killed while piloting a military aircraft. Naming the field for him honored the real risks those early flyers took. In those first years, every flight was part training and part experiment.

In September 1917 training moved north to this area, nicknamed "Kelly No. 2." A long flight line of hangars, warehouses, barracks, repair shops and classrooms grew up here. Over the following decades its Air Corps Advanced Flying School trained many important aviators. Two of them were Charles Lindbergh, whose solo flight across the Atlantic later made him world-famous, and Claire Chennault, who became one of the great air commanders of the Second World War in China. The flight line kept training pilots until 1942. In 1955, newer and larger aircraft needed a longer runway, and the old buildings were torn down.

Its place in the American story

Kelly Field was one of the places where American air power was born. It opened when the Army's air arm was a small branch of the Signal Corps. By the time training left this flight line, military aviation was well on its way to becoming the independent force it became after World War II. The training, maintenance and organization worked out at fields like Kelly helped make that growth possible.

The people who passed through here shaped the twentieth century. Lindbergh's 1927 transatlantic flight showed the world what aviation could do and set off a wave of public excitement about flying. Chennault's later leadership in China became part of the story of the war in the Pacific. Both men learned at an Army school on the Texas prairie.

The site also helps explain why San Antonio became known as a home of military aviation. The city's link with flight training and air bases lasted for generations and shaped its economy and identity. The fact that the old flight line was demolished for bigger aircraft shows how fast the technology moved. In less than forty years, it went from fabric biplanes to machines too large for the field that trained their pioneers.

If you visit

Come here to imagine. The original "Kelly No. 2" buildings are gone, cleared in 1955 for a longer runway, so the marker stands in for a whole vanished world. Picture a line of wooden hangars and shops stretching far to the east and west of this spot. Then picture open-cockpit planes taking off and landing, with student pilots learning a skill that barely existed a generation before.

The former base grounds have been turned to new uses over the years. Respect any posted signs or access limits around working facilities. Use the marker's directions to get your bearings: the original 1916 field lay to the southeast, and the old flight line ran along the line where you stand.

The marker makes a good stop for anyone tracing aviation history across Texas. San Antonio has other sites tied to its long military past, and the city's wider history, from the missions to its older Army posts, can easily fill a weekend. Stop here to see where some of America's most famous aviators learned to fly.

Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.

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Related people

  • · Benjamin Foulois
  • · George E. M. Kelly
  • · Charles Lindbergh
  • · Claire Chennault

Themes & tags

Innovation & FlightMilitary & WartimeLandmark

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