OPENING DAY OF RANGER AIRPORT
It was 1928 and aviation, in its infancy, was coming
to Ranger. Dedication of the new Ranger airport was
on Armistice Day, November 11. Thousands of people
& numerous airplanes were in Ranger for the historical
event. I did not know that this day was going to fix
my future life forever. I was living in Ranger on
Eastland Hill, where my father owned an oil equipment
supply business.
As a young lad of 12, my friend Goo Goo Standard and
I were messing around in busy downtown Ranger. The
silence of the day was interrupted overhead by the
roar of a huge tri-motored, all-metal Ford Stout
monoplane. We were so excited by the flight of the
airplane that we ran all the way across town to
the airport. On our arrival, the Ford Tri-motor
was pulling up from a landing. The pilot called us
over and asked if we would like to earn some money.
"Of course!" we shouted! He would be charging
passengers to take them up on a 30-minute flight
over Ranger. He needed help since the engines would
not be shut-down after each landing in order to save
time. He took out two ropes and explained that my job
was to keep people from walking into the propellers.
Goo Goo was to hold the door open for boarding
passengers. What an exciting day for two young kids!
On the last flight, the pilot asked if we wanted to be
paid or go on the last flight. Goo Goo wanted the money,
but I took the flight. The plane took off and flew over
Eastland Hill. About the same time, I saw my mom coming
out the back door of our house. She looked up but had
no idea that I was in the plane. After we landed, I was
permanently infected with the flying bug, I knew flying
would be my life ambition. Later, you can imagine the
thrill of my first visit to Meacham Field in Fort Worth
to observe the first DC-2 aircraft delivered to American
Airlines. The whole experience only added to my zest for
flying . My mother was aghast. "If people were meant to
fly," she said, "they would have been born with wings."
Later, I falsified my true age and enlisted into the Texas
National Guards (Co. I, 142 Infantry) and took flying
lessons on my first trip to Camp Hulen in Palacios, TX.
In anticipation and preparation for World War II because
there was a shortage of pilots, the government put out a
call for anyone with flying experience to report to Fort
Worth for screening and certification as flight instructors.
At that time, I became a flight and ground instructor for
Ranger Junior College CPT program. In 1939 after all
available college students were exhausted, the program
was closed. I moved to Dallas to work as a flight instructor
at Love Field for U.S.A.F. Cadets. I also attended American
Flyers School at Meacham Field in Fort Worth and attended
secondary and commercial training at Foote Flight School in
Grand Prairie, Texas. When World War II started, I moved to
Terrell and worked as assistant supervisor of flying at the
RAF No. 1 BFT Advanced Training School for British pilots.
After the war, I moved to Houston and participated in the
birthing of Essair Airlines, the first local service airline
in the country. For the next several years, I served as
Director of Flight Operation and was also Chief Pilot until
1955. Essair became Pioneer Airlines and later Continental
Airlines.
My more than 50 years of flying, whether for business,
military, airlines or pleasure, have been happily uneventful
as the industry moved from small private planes to DC-3's,
Convairs, Douglas DC-7's to the first 707 jets to behemoth
747’s and on to even newer marvels that are considerably
larger than the homes many of us were born in.
Airplanes have taken me to a score of foreign countries and
across nearly all the oceans. I flew troops domestically
during the Korean War. Then I transferred to the Military
Air Command and flew troops into Vietnam during that war.
Airplanes and airports have been my magic carpet to the
world. In short, my 80 percent of aviation century has been
filled with amazement, pleasures, and many new friends. It
all started at the Ranger Airport--one of the many pioneers
in the history of flight. Thanks to the Ranger supporters
of our local airport. Even now you are changing things
forever and for the better. It might be interesting to
note that in the 1950’s, Ranger was certified by the CAB
for airline service, connecting with Dallas. (The service
failed to materialize.)
I retired after flying for 33 years for the airlines. Now
at 91 and living at Hilltop Lakes, TX. I am reminiscing
about the day that THE RANGER AIRPORT set the course of my
life. On May 26, 2007, an official Texas historical marker,
entitled "Ranger Municipal Airport" will be unveiled at this
important site. I was there back then and feel honored to
have been a small part in our grand home town history.
Mellenger Jacoby (RHS-1936)