Til the Wheels Come Off

Thunderbird Field

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. 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.