DISTRIBUTION DATE: September 20, 2007      FOR RELEASE UPON RECEIPT

TUCSON AIRPORT AUTHORITY CELEBRATES
THE 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF LINDBERGH’S LANDING
WITH ARIZONA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PHOTO EXHIBIT

      Only four months earlier he marked a feat no man had accomplished. He set off from Roosevelt Field on Long Island for Paris on May 20, 1927, at 8:00 a.m. carrying sandwiches, water, maps and charts. Just over 33 hours later, on May 21, Lindbergh landed his famous airplane, the Spirit of St. Louis, at Le Bourget Field near Paris. He had flown 3,600 miles and became the first to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic. Instantly he became an international celebrity and world-renowned symbol of aviation.

      Lindbergh’s Tucson visit was part of a cross-country tour to 82 U.S. cities. He was here to dedicate Tucson Municipal Airfield, which by then had relocated from its first location, what is now the Tucson Rodeo Grounds, to what eventually became Davis Monthan Air Force Base. Until 1948, it was the only airfield in Tucson and home of both commercial and military operations.

      After World War II, aviation was growing and Davis Monthan was too busy to accommodate both civilian and military activity. The City of Tucson enlisted the services of the Tucson Chamber of Commerce Aviation Committee.

      Led by car dealer Monte Mansfield, 15 local businessmen established the Tucson Airport Authority on April 12, 1948, as a civic, nonprofit corporation as provided for under Arizona law.

      On October 14, 1948, the Tucson Airport Authority and City of Tucson executed a 25-year lease for a new airport on over 2,500 acres the City of Tucson had acquired in 1940. The following day American Airlines, the Weather Bureau and the Civil Aeronautics Administration moved in.

      The land had been used as a military landing field during World War II and had a 12,000’ runway, nearly 700,000 sq. ft. of hangar space built to support the war effort, and a control tower.

      The rest is history.

      The Arizona Historical Society, Arizona’s oldest cultural institution, has assembled an exhibit featuring photos recording the event. Lindbergh Landed Here will be on display at Tucson International Airport in the Center Pointe Gallery/Ticketing Level, September 21-November 20, 2007.

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