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Thunderbird School of Global Management

Event

World War II

Place

Maricopa County

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Related Periodicals (17)

Yearbook

Related Yearbooks (11)

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Southwest Airways and Thunderbird Field #1

Contributing InstitutionThunderbird School of Global ManagementCollection Summary

The site of Thunderbird School of Global Management has its origins as a primary flight training school during World War II. In the late 1930's, with war looming on the horizon, General "Hap" Arnold, who authorized civilian training bases for World War II, recognized a need to train more pilots for combat. However, Congress disagreed, and only allowed the expansion of one training base, Randolph Field. Arnold circumvented Congress and sent out a call for civilian flight operators to gamble their dollars building training fields to teach Air Corps cadets how to fly. Out of this need, Thunderbird Field was established.

In late 1940, a contingent of Hollywood actors and businessmen, headed by Leland Hayward and John Connelly, formed a corporation and approached the Army to establish a primary flight training school. The corporation was named Southwest Airways (no affiliation with Southwest Airlines). Hayward and Connelly chose a site near Phoenix, Arizona, primarily because of space, excellent weather, and visibility: all suitable for flight instruction. Construction of Thunderbird Field was started that same month and completed three months later. Flight instruction began in the Spring of 1941 and continued through the end of World War II. During operations more than more than 15,000 cadets were trained in primary flight instruction at Thunderbird Field No. 1. Cadets were from China, Great Britain, and Canada as well as the United States.

Southwest Airways established four training airfields in the Phoenix area: Thunderbird Field No. 1 in Glendale, Thunderbird Field No. 2 in Scottsdale, Falcon Field in Mesa and at Sky Harbor Airport.

At the conclusion of the War, Thunderbird Field No. 1,649 acres of land on the southwest corner of 59th Avenue and Greenway Rd., was sold by the Army as wartime surplus. The American Institute of Foreign Trade (a business school) was established on the site in 1946.

Featured in the online collection are photographs of all of the Thunderbird Fields, letters from cadets to their former instructors, yearbooks, company handbooks and other publications. Materials will be added to the online collection regularly.

LanguageEnglishPermissions and ReuseCopyright is retained by Thunderbird School of Global Management unless otherwise specified. For information, please contact the Thunderbird International Business Information Center, 602-978-7236.

Image

A Single Stearman Sitting at the Entrance to a Hangar

AT-6 Airplanes at Falcon Field (Mesa, Ariz.)

Administration Building, Hospital at Thunderbird Field No. 1 (Glendale, Ariz.)

Administration Building, Thunderbird Field No. 1

Aerial View of Thunderbird Field No. 1

Aerial View of Thunderbird Field No. 1 (Glendale, Ariz.) Looking Northwest

Aerial View of Thunderbird Field No. 1 (Glendale, Ariz.) Looking Southeast

American and Chinese Officers

Arizona State Capitol

Barracks 'B' Hangar at Thunderbird Field No. 1 (Glendale, Ariz.)

Barracks and Hangar, North View

Barracks and Hangar, South View

Barracks at Thunderbird Field No. 1

Barracks, Hangar at Thunderbird Field No. 1 (Glendale, Ariz.)

Bears at the Zoo

Cadet Lounge

Cadet Wally Besecker in the Cockpit of a Stearman

Cadets Doing Calisthenics

Periodical

The Thunderbird (magazine), April 1943

The Thunderbird (magazine), April 1944

The Thunderbird (magazine), August 1943

The Thunderbird (magazine), December 1943

The Thunderbird (magazine), February 1944

The Thunderbird (magazine), January 1944

The Thunderbird (magazine), July 1943

The Thunderbird (magazine), July 1944

The Thunderbird (magazine), June 1943

The Thunderbird (magazine), June 1944

The Thunderbird (magazine), March 1943

The Thunderbird (magazine), March 1944

The Thunderbird (magazine), May 1943

The Thunderbird (magazine), May 1944

The Thunderbird (magazine), November 1943

The Thunderbird (magazine), October 1943

The Thunderbird (magazine), September 1943

Yearbook

Class of 44-I (yearbook), Thunderbird Field No. 1

Class of 44-J (yearbook), Thunderbird Field No. 1

The Falcon: A History of Southwest Airways' British Flying Training School, Mesa, Arizona (yearbook)

The Thunderbird 42-F (yearbook), Thunderbird Field No. 1

The Thunderbird 42-G (yearbook), Thunderbird Field No. 1

The Thunderbird 44-D (yearbook), Thunderbird Field No. 2

The Thunderbird 44-G (yearbook), Thunderbird Field No. 1

The Thunderbird Annual, 1941-1942, Published by Cadets, Thunderbird Field

Thunderbird 44-H (yearbook), Thunderbird Field No. 1

Thunderbird Field #1, Glendale, Arizona (yearbook)

Thunderbird Field #2, Scottsdale, Arizona (yearbook)

Document- Handwritten|Scan

Letter from Royal Air Force Cadet Eric Searle to His American Flight Instructor Butch Jackson

Letter from Royal Air Force Cadet Henry Costain to His American Flight Instructor Butch Jackson

Letter from Royal Air Force Cadet Henry Costain to his American flight instructor Butch Jackson

Letter from Royal Air Force Cadet Phillip Parker to His American Flight Instructor Butch Jackson

Letter from Royal Air Force Cadet Phillip Parker to his American flight instructor Butch Jackson

Document

Letter from Chinese General to Retired American Flight Instructor for the 50th Anniversary of Thunderbird Field No. 1 (Glendale, Ariz.)

Southwest Airways: Its History, Its Future, Its Composition, Its Operation, Its Achievements, Its Personnel. Prepared by the Public Relations Department, Paul G. Sturges, Director.

Your Cadet...

Object

Southwest Airways logo patch

Thunderbird Field pilots patch

Southwest Airways and Thunderbird Field #1

EventWorld War IIPlaceMaricopa CountyTopicAeronauticsMilitary

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Southwest Airways and Thunderbird Field #1