Thunderbird Field was a military airfield in
Glendale, Arizona, used for contract primary flight training of Allied pilots during
World War II. Created in part by actor
James Stewart,[1] the field became part of the
United States Army Air Forces training establishment just prior to American entry into the war and was re-designated Thunderbird Field #1 after establishment of
Thunderbird Field#2 at nearby
Scottsdale, on 22 June 1942. Thunderbird # 1 is located southeast of the intersection of West Greenway Road & North 59th Avenue in Glendale, Arizona.
After the conclusion of World War II, the property was sold as surplus for educational purposes, eventually becoming
Thunderbird School of Global Management, a post-graduate business school. In November 2018 the property was transferred to
Arizona Christian University. ACU now operates its undergraduate liberal arts university on the site.
The site, 25 miles (40 km) from central
Phoenix, was laid out by artist
Millard Sheets to resemble (from the air) an etching of a mythical
Ancestral PuebloanThunderbird. The control tower formed the feathered tail of the bird, the administration buildings and barracks its body, the hangars its wings, and the gardens its head. The installation was situated on the southeast corner of what is now West Greenway Road and North 59th Avenue. To the southeast, adjacent to its single-story
sage,
cream, and
terra cotta-colored buildings of
Spanish Colonial rancheria design, was a square 2,800-square-foot (260 m2) ramp area. Across West Greenway Road to the south was the airfield itself with three 3,500-foot (1,100 m) runways.
Contractor
Del Webb Construction built a hexagonal barracks, administrative building, mess hall and four hangars on the site, plus twin swimming pools. The US Army Air Forces signed a contract with Southwest Airways to provide instructors and facilities for a primary training school for its aviation cadets in March 1941, beginning with a class of 59 candidates. Eventually 10,000 pilots from 30 nations trained at the field before it was deactivated in June 1945.[4]
A 1942 Hollywood movie in
Technicolor, Thunder Birds (directed by
William Wellman), was filmed on location at the field in the spring of 1942. Aerial shots clearly show the original Thunderbird design.
Four unpaved satellite airfields were operated by Thunderbird Field between 1942 and 1944:
Thunderbird #1 Auxiliary Airfield A-1 (33.64N 112.10W), northeast of West Bell Road and North 19th Avenue;
Thunderbird #1 Auxiliary Airfield A-2 (33.65N 112.24W), in
Sun City northwest of West Union Hills Road and North 83rd Avenue;
Thunderbird #1 Auxiliary Airfield A-3 (33.58N 112.10W), at West Peoria Avenue and North 19th Avenue;
Thunderbird #1 Auxiliary Airfield A-4, at West Pinnacle Peak Road and North 43rd Avenue.
Southwest Airways expanded the training complex with the building of two other airfields,
Falcon Field at
Mesa in September 1941, and
Thunderbird Field#2 in
Scottsdale in June 1942.
After World War II
Following the end of World War II, Thunderbird Field was declared surplus by the War Assets Administration in 1946. That same year, Thunderbird was purchased for $1 from the federal government by Lt. General
Barton K. Yount, retired commander of the
Army Air Forces Training Command. He established the American Institute for Foreign Trade and became its first president.
Classes began on the site within a few months, but the airfield at Thunderbird may have continued in operation alongside the new school for some time. Thunderbird Field was apparently closed (permanently) at some point within the next year.
Thunderbird Field inspired the name of Thunderbirds, a British mid-1960s television show that used
marionettes. The eldest brother of
Gerry Anderson, the creator of the show had been stationed at the base and wrote about his experience there.[2]
Historical structures
Today the location of the school is known currently as
Arizona Christian University. The campus still contains many original airfield buildings, including the airfield control tower (which has been restored), barracks, and one large airplane hangar.
Thunderbird 1 Army Air Field historic structures
Thunderbird Pilots Memorial Marker
Memorial plaque
Thunderbird Pilots Memorial dedicated to the pilots who trained there during WW II
The historic Thunderbird Control Tower was built in 1941 and served as the Air Control Tower and Officers' quarters during the operation of the Thunderbird 1 Army Air Field, in Glendale. There American, British, Canadian and Chinese pilots trained during World War II. The air field was deactivated in 1945 and is now occupied by
Arizona Christian University which is located southeast of the intersection of West Greenway Road & North 59th Avenue in Glendale, Arizona (GAHS).
View from the inside of the historic Thunderbird Control Tower station
Different view of the historic Thunderbird Control Tower. The tower and officer quarters were built in 1941 and served the Thunderbird 1 Army Air Field, in Glendale during WW II (GAHS).
The historic Thunderbird 1 Army Air Field Airplane Hangar was built in 1941 (GAHS).
Thunderbird Army Air Field barracks used during World War II by the pilots
Manning, Thomas A. (2005), History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas
OCLC71006954,
29991467
Nalty, Bernard C. (1997). "Reaction to the War in Europe", Winged Shield, Winged Sword:A History of the United States Air Force, Air University Press, USAF Washington, D.C.
ISBN0-16-049009-X, pp. 177–178.
Orson Falk, Thunder Birds, Random House (1942).
Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), Locating Air Force Base Sites, History’s Legacy, Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC
OCLC57007862,
1050653629
^From The Soldier's Book of Inspirational Stories, by R.Dale Jeffery, 1997.
^
abGerry Anderson – The Authorised Biography, by Simon Archer & Stan Nicholls, 1996, pp. 85–86,
ISBN0-09-978141-7.
^From "The History of Thunderbird," Parts 1 and 2, in Das Tor, October 1992.
^Hyer, Charles F. (Fall 1985).
"Falcon Field Beginnings". American Aviation Historical Society Journal. 30 (3): 175.