Rich Field Rich Field is a former World War I military airfield , located in Waco , Texas , near what is now the intersection of Bosque Blvd and 41st street . It operated as a training field for the Air Service , United States Army between 1917 until 1919 . The airfield was one of thirty - two Air Service training camps established in 1917 after the United States entry into World War I . History . The base was named Rich Field in honor of 2nd Lt . C . Perry Rich of the Philippine Scouts . He was born in Indiana , and had been instructed to fly by Lt . Frank P . Lahm in May 1913 , then crashed his Wright Model C into Manila Bay on November 14 , 1913 , the tenth U . S . pilot to die in a flying accident . Lt Rich ' s body was recovered and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery , near other early aviators . World War I . A contract was signed on 24 August 1917 in which the War Department acquired title to the property , which was in private hands . It was used as cotton fields , and a significant number of farm buildings had to be torn down . A labor force of about 3 , 400 , including 1 , 000 Mexican workers , erecting buildings , pouring concrete and laying down pipes and an electrical system . On 17 September 1917 , the first officer reported for duty , and various pieces of equipment and a group of personnel were assigned to set up the base as a primary flight training field . The first shipment of 25 aircraft arrived on 14 November and were uncrated and assembled by the 150th Aero Squadron , moved from Kelly Field . 25 flight cadets reported for training on Thanksgiving Day 1917 , and flight instruction began on 1 December . Eventually a total of 243 Standard J - 1 trainers were assigned to Rich Field . In June 1918 , the J - 1s were replaced by the Curtiss JN - 4 which was standardized by the War Department as the standard training plane for the Air Service . Training units assigned to Rich Field were as follows : As the flight cadets graduated from the six - week course at Rich Field , they were sent to advance schools in the United States , England , or France for advanced training in either pursuit , observation or bomber aircraft . Eventually some 400 pilots received their wings at Rich Field . Training units organized and equipped at Rich Field as core training squadrons for other Air Service training bases in the United States were : The following units were organized and given basic military indoctrination at Rich Field before being deployed to the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe : After the November 1918 Armistice with Germany , those pilots who were in training were allowed to complete their flying training , however no new cadets started training . The airfield was ordered closed in May 1919 , and in December the flag was lowered for the last time at Rich Field . Inter - war years . Although the field was closed as a military airfield shortly after the World War I era , aviation activity continued there as a civil airport . Flying lessons were available . During the 1920s and 1930s traveling airshows occasionally visited Rich Field . Ford Trimotor offered the public a 10 - minute flight to downtown Waco and back for one dollar . On one visit the Trimotor was put into a spin ( without passengers ) for show . For many years Braniff International Airways provided passenger service to Waco at Rich Field . Later the airport had " seen its time " and was closed at the beginning of World War II . World War II . Rich Field was reopened as an auxiliary training field to Waco Army Airfield in 1942 . Two hard - surface gravel runways were laid down in an " X " pattern , the NW / SE being 3 , 700 ' x 100 ' , the NNW / SSE being 3 , 500 ' x 100 ' . It may also have been used as a storage depot , and also for limited civil flight operations during the War . Closure and civil redevelopment . Flying ended from Rich Field after the end of World War II , and the site was subsequently used for two major civic facilities and numerous businesses . The Heart O ' Texas Fairgrounds and Coliseum occupy part of the former airfield . A high school was constructed on part of the site in the late 1950s . The high school was named Richfield High School in honor of the former airfield . Later that high school was consolidated into Waco High School .