Rockwell Field Rockwell Field is a former United States Army Air Corps military airfield , located northwest of Coronado , California on North Island , San Diego . This airfield played a fundamental role in the development of United States military aviation in the period before and during World War I . Originally The Curtiss School of Aviation , founded by Glenn Curtiss . In November 1912 , the Army established a permanent flying school on the island . It served as a major flying school during World War I , and remained active as an Army Air Corps facility after the war . The facility was transferred to the United States Navy on 31 January 1939 . Today , Rockwell Field forms the southeastern quadrant of what is today the Naval Air Station , North Island ( NAS North Island ) . The facility was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 . History . Rockwell Field , was named after 2d Lieutenant Lewis G . Rockwell . Assigned to the 10th Infantry , Rockwell reported for aeronautical duty at the Army Pilot Training Airfield , College Park , Maryland on 5 July 1912 . Lieutenant Rockwell was piloting a plane with Corporal Frank S . Scott as a passenger to make a test flight in Scott ' s trial for a military aviator ' s license . They had been in the air about eight minutes , ascending to a height of five hundred feet , then gliding down , had gotten within thirty - five of the ground . At this point the aviator turned the airplane upward again and something went wrong . Instantly the airplane buckled and crashed to the ground instantly killing Corporal Scott and so seriously injuring Lieutenant Rockwell that he died a few hours later . Origins . The first military presence at Rockwell Field was in 1893 when the United States Army in 1893 installed a shore battery on North Island to guard the entrance to San Diego Bay and to augment the batteries being situated on the other side at Fort Rosecrans . By 1904 , two 3 - inch , 15 - pound guns were in place , and the fortification was named Fort Pio Pico in honor of the last Mexican governor who had granted the land nearly sixty years before . The remainder of North Island remained in a natural state . In 1910 , climatic conditions , flat terrain , good beaches and protected stretches of water attracted Glenn H . Curtiss , aviation pioneer and Wright Brothers ' competitor , to North Island . At that time North Island really was an island , separated from South Coronado on the Silver Strand peninsula by a narrow bight of water . Both North Island and South Coronado were privately owned , but North Island had not been developed . Curtiss found it ideal for the operation of a winter flying school , and as a place for the military to buy his airplanes . Curtiss negotiated a three - year lease of part of the island in January 1911 . Curtiss moved into an abandoned barn and turned it into an aircraft hangar . The San Diego Aero Club built two canvas and tar - paper shelters and helped clear brush for a landing field . Curtiss solicited the military to send students for training , free of charge . The first class of the school consisted of three Army officers and one Navy officer , plus two three civilians . The school ’ s aircraft consisted of four Curtiss - built planes . The Curtiss School of Aviation at North Island continued with classes in the winters of 1912 and 1913 . Early military use . In response to its experience there with Curtis , the Navy ' s aviation unit established its winter quarters at North Island in 1912 . This tent camp outpost , called " Camp Trouble , " was located on the northeast corner of North Island , at the point where the Spanish Bight merges with San Diego Bay . Consisting of three planes , three tents , three pilots , and some mechanics , this group stayed until April , then returned east . The Navy would not return to North Island until 1917 . In 1912 , the Army started looking for a place to establish a permanent flying school . Sporadic pilot training had taken place at the Signal Corps Aviation School , College Park , Maryland , where a flying school had been started the previous year , but it could not be fully utilized during winter months , requiring the temporary transfer of all activities to Augusta , Georgia , where a winter school was established in November , 1911 . However , it was found that rain and cold were also problems in Georgia . The decision was made to use North Island , came on 4 November 1912 , the first Army detachment of eight enlisted men arrived , followed a couple of weeks later by the commanding officer and soon thereafter by ten more officers and ten more enlisted personnel . Aircraft from College Park arrived in December consisting of two planes , a Curtiss 60 horsepower and a 40 horsepower " Grasscutter " training plane , The Wright aircraft remained at Augusta . The Army flyers established a tent camp at the north end of North Island , and for about a year , the Signal Corps Aviation School rented airplanes and hangars constructed for the Curtiss school . Flying in those early days was perilous . Perched out front in the open on a canvas wing , the pilot sat close to a rudimentary engine , exposed to the wind and elements — and without a parachute . Sudden death or severe injury was not unexpected in case of a mechanical malfunction or an error in judgment . Twelve out of the first 48 Army pilots — 25 percent — were killed in flying accidents . They were truly guinea pigs , experimenting in the unknown , learning by trial and error . The first organized unit of planes and men , the 1st Aero Squadron ( Provisional ) was moved to North Island on 28 November 1913 under the command of one of the Army ’ s original pilots , Captain Benjamin D . Foulois ( called by some the “ father of U . S . military aviation ) ” , It consisted of two companies of eight officers and 45 enlisted men each , and eight aircraft . At the time of its formation , the 1st Company consisted of Burgess Model H tractors S . C . No . 9 , 24 , 25 , and 26 ; while the 2d Company consisted of Curtiss aircraft S . C . No . 2 ( a Curtiss Model D ) , 6 ( Curtiss Model E ) , 22 ( Curtiss Model G ) and 23 ( an aircraft assembled from spare parts for the Curtiss E ) . The initial composition of the squadron was short three pilots . ( According to the U . S . Air Force Historical Research Agency , during this period other training aircraft included at least one example of the Wright Model B , Burgess F , Burgess I - Scout , Burgess J - Scout , and the Martin T . Detachments of the 1st Aero Squadron returned to Fort Crockett , Texas , on 30 April 1914 when the Tampico Affair threatened war with Mexico , although they arrived too late to be transshipped to Mexico and their aircraft were never uncrated . While the 1st Aero Squadron prepared , the Signal Corps began planning a permanent home for the unit on the “ Old Target Range ” northeast of Fort Sam Houston on land obtained by Lt . Col . Samuel Reber , chief of the Aviation Section , in January 1915 . As work on the new post went forward , the Signal Corps ordered the 1st Aero Squadron to Fort Sill , Oklahoma , to conduct observation and fire control experiments with the field artillery . The Army ’ s exclusive occupancy of North Island was interrupted in July 1914 , when the Fourth Regiment of the United States Marine Corps set up camp under the command of Colonel Joseph H . Pendleton ( for whom Camp Pendleton was later named ) . Some 1 , 400 officers and men moved in and created an orderly , Marine - efficient facility in an area near the Spanish Bight , but away from the flight operations of the Army . It was called Camp Howard . This occupation lasted only for about five months until December of that year , when the regiment was reassigned to various other duties , although a few Marine caretakers were left on the island until 1916 for patrolling purposes and to operate the rifle range . The occupation of North Island by the Army was always somewhat tenuous , having established an operational base at the invitation of Glenn Curtiss , who had a rent - free lease for only three years to operate a private flying school . Starting in 1913 , attempts were made by the Army to buy North Island , without result . The situation was aggravated in December 1915 , when Army was sent a notice to vacate the property “ as soon after March 31 , 1916 , as possible , ” since the Coronado Beach Company , which had been paying taxes on the property all along , declared that it wanted to subdivide and sell lots as “ high class residential property ” . But the Army stayed put . It was clear that the Army Air Service was expanding during the 1914 - 16 period , but its growth was gradual . In June 1915 , the Army ’ s flying school at North Island consisted of 30 officers , 185 enlisted men , 12 civilians , and 30 planes . The Army assembled another group at North Island , the 2d Aero Squadron , which in December 1916 was sent to the Philippine Islands . The next year , it created the 6th Aero Squadron and dispatched it to Hawaii , and then organized and assigned the 7th Aero Squadron to Panama . World War I . America ’ s entry into the World War I in April 1917 brought matters to a head . After a joint Navy / Army board concluded that North Island “ is the best location in this country for the establishment of a joint Army and Navy aviation station for the primary training of pilots , ” Congress authorized the President to issue an executive order seizing the property , with compensation to the owners to be determined later . President Woodrow Wilson signed the order on 1 August 1917 , and the Army immediately assumed control in the name of the United States of America , but Congress did not authorize the purchase of North Island , for $ 6 , 098 , 333 , until July 1919 . Shortly afterwards the Army ’ s Aviation School on North Island received a more formal name , being changed on 20 July 1917 to Rockwell Field , in honor of Second Lieutenant Lewis C . Rockwell . The Army selected well - known Detroit industrial architect , Albert Kahn , to develop a site and building designs . Permanent construction of Kahn ' s design began in mid - 1918 When Congress approved acquisition of the island , it was for the express purpose of accommodating aviation training schools of both the Army and Navy . The Navy ' s first occupancy of North Island occurred on 8 September 1917 . The Army was not particularly enamored about this but had no choice . After considerable negotiations , a dividing line between the two bases was established , with the Army agreeing to shift its operations to the southern side of the island . The war brought on rapid expansion , with new ground facilities being constructed — officers ’ quarters , a hospital , a research laboratory , three hangars — with about five hundred Army aircraft utilizing the field . During World War I , Rockwell Field provided training for many of the pilots and crews sent to France . In 1917 , flight training took eight weeks and consisted of pilots learning basic flight skills under dual and solo instruction . Pilot training units assigned to Rockwell Field were : The 135th Aero Squadron was formed at Rockwell Field as a complete unit on 1 August 1917 . It was trained at Rockwell field before being sent to France on 25 November 1917 as part of the American Expeditionary Forces . The Army Flying School was also used to train experienced pilots as instructors , who were then sent to the new March Field and Mather Field s as core cadres to train new pilots at those airfields : In August 1918 Rockwell Field ’ s mission was changed from its traditional primary pilot training to a pursuit and gunnery school . During the war , Rockwell Field had trained over 800 pilots and trained several hundred more airmen in gunnery skills . In celebration of the Armistice in November 1918 , 212 planes were assembled for an aerial show over San Diego on November 27 , 1918 , with the Army sending aloft 141 planes and the Navy 71 . All construction at Rockwell Field was ordered to came to a complete standstill with the end of World War I . At the end of the war , the only permanent buildings completed were three hangars , a hospital and lab , two officers ' duplexes , a gate house / meter house and an oil dispensing station . Numerous temporary wood and tar - paper structures were also in continuous use , including a post exchange , machine shop , aero supply , garage , and mess halls . However , what was built had to be used and made due . No new buildings would be started until 1933 . Inter - war years . The wartime expansion of the armed forces of the United States ended abruptly with the sudden end of World War I on 11 November 1918 . “ Demobilization ” was the watchword of the day , and it took place with lightning speed . The order came from Washington to return all unspent funds to the U . S . Treasury . The Rockwell Field Army Flying school was shut down and all training operations ceased in January 1919 . The cadre of personnel , which had grown to about 1 , 200 enlisted men were ordered to be demobilized , which left about 400 men to dismantle the 300 training planes . By the end of 1919 , Rockwell Field was down to 84 officers and 381 enlisted men . In 1920 , the Navy started to use North Island again for lighter - than - air operations , the Army objected , but was ignored . Yet in 1924 , when the Navy needed mooring facilities for the arrival of the giant airship USS Shenandoah ( ZR - 1 ) , space was provided by the Army at Rockwell Field . The inter - service rivalry was always present , but never dominant . During most of the Inter - war years much of the island was sand dunes and the landing and takeoff areas were just plain dirt and grass with an open all - way airfield area between Rockwell Field on the south side and Naval Air Station San Diego on the north side of the island . As Army and Navy aircraft became heavier , and the engines larger , the problems became aggravated . It was not until 1933 that a paved landing and takeoff area , circular in shape and 2 , 200 feet in diameter , was constructed for the Army , and not until much later were solid runways built for the Navy . United States Army Border Air Patrol . In 1919 - 20 , Army planes from Rockwell and nearby March Field in Riverside Country were used for daily forest patrols , flying over the Cleveland National Forest , looking for fires that periodically ravaged the area . Also the 9th and 91st Aero Squadron , which were assigned to the field after returning from service in France during the war were assigned to the United States Army Border Air Patrol after American troops under Brig . Gen . James B . Erwin , Commander of the El Paso District of the Southern Department , were attacked by about 1 , 600 Pancho Villa ’ s men in Juarez during the night of 14 / 15 June 1919 . Stray fire from across the river killed an American soldier and a civilian , and wounded two other soldiers and four civilians . Around 3 , 600 U . S . troops crossed into Mexico , quickly dispersed the Villistas , and returned to the American side . Flying from Rockwell Field to sixty miles east of Yuma , Arizona , in the morning , and returning in the afternoon , they observers in the Dayton - Wright DH - 4 Bs were not looking for aliens who might be coming into the United States , but were searching for smugglers that might be transporting arms and ammunition into Mexico . Auxiliary fields were established at Calexico , California and Yuma , Arizona . The pilots were often unsuccessful in navigating over the wilderness along the border , and planes were sometimes lost on both sides of the international dividing line . In the autumn of 1920 , Brig . Gen . William Mitchell ’ s need for men and planes from the border for bombing tests against naval vessels off the Virginia Capes in June 1921 brought border patrol to an end . In 1920 Rockwell Field ' s mission was changed from being one of the major Army Air Corps pilot training bases on the West Coast to an Aviation General Supply and Repair Depot . It was designated as the Rockwell General Supply and Repair Depot , and in 1921 was again renamed the Rockwell Air Intermediate Depot . The field became responsible for the mundane , but undoubtedly important , task of supplying and repairing Army aircraft for the IX Corps Area . A proposed pursuit school was never opened . Notable Aviation Achievements . Despite its mission as a aircraft repair depot , Rockwell Field was the location of several aviation achievements in the 1920s . Through the Twenties and early Thirties , pilots in the United States military worked hard in trying to make the public more aviation - conscious . Budgets were extremely limited during this period , and it was thought that only by demonstrating the potentials of air power would money be forthcoming from Washington . In 1922 , Second Lieutenant James H . “ Jimmy ” Doolittle , who had trained at Rockwell Field during the war and also had been a gunnery instructor at the field , made two record - breaking long distance flights that terminated at Rockwell Field . The first was in May , when he and Lieutenant L . S . Andrew flew from San Antonio , Texas , in a Dayton - Wright DH - 4 B , with intermediate refueling stops at El Paso , Texas and Nogales , Arizona taking 12 hours and 10 minutes at an average speed of 100 miles per hour . Later that year , he flew solo in a another DH - 4B , coast - to - coast , from Pablo Beach , Florida , to Rockwell Field , with only one intermediate refueling stop at Kelly Field , Texas , covering over 2 , 000 miles in 21 hours and 20 minutes . Also in 1923 , two other pilots who had trained at Rockwell Field during the war attempted to fly nonstop across the United States , something that had never been accomplished . It took three tries , but finally taking off from Roosevelt Field , Long Island , New York on 2 May 1913 made it off the ground being loaded with 737 gallons of fuel and 40 gallons of oil . The flight successfully ended at Rockwell Field on May 3 , 1923 , after 26 hours and 50 minutes in the air , at an average speed of 99 miles per hour for the nearly 2 , 700 miles . Perhaps the most famous historic event took place in 1927 , when Rockwell Field was peripherally involved in the flight of 25 - year - old Charles A . Lindbergh across the Atlantic Ocean . Using his newly designed plane , the Spirit of St . Louis , built by the Ryan Aeronautical Company of San Diego in only sixty days , Lindbergh made 23 test flights over San Diego during an 11 - day period , landing and taking off at Dutch Flats , Camp Kearny , and Rockwell Field . When it came time to start across country to his New York jumping off point , Rockwell Field was selected because the field was large enough to handle his heavily loaded aircraft . Lindbergh he started his first leg , a 1 , 500 - mile flight to St . Louis , Missouri , on the afternoon of May 10 , 1927 , accompanied by three other planes — two from the Army , one of which was carrying the base commanding officer , and one from Ryan , with company representatives aboard . The first air - to - air refueling experiment took place in San Diego skies in 1923 when it was successfully demonstrated by Rockwell Field officers of the Army Air Service . Two Dayton - Wright DH - 4Bs were modified in the shops at Rockwell to permit the transfer of fuel from one to the other by a dangling 40 to 50 - foot hose while airborne . However , in 1929 , an endurance record was set over the skies of San Diego by four Army pilots , each of whom would become major figured during World War II — Maj . Carl A . Spaatz , Capt . Ira C . Eaker , 2d Lieutenant Elwood R . Quesada , and Lieutenant Harry A . Halverson ; and their mechanic , Sgt . Roy W . Hooe . The flight in a modified Atlantic - Fokker C - 2A named the " Question Mark " ended after covering about 11 , 000 miles and being refueled 43 times — 12 of these at night — with 5 , 660 gallons of fuel and 245 gallons of oil . The plane landed after 150 hours and 45 minutes — nearly seven days in the air . Transfer to the United States Navy . Army - Navy inter - service rivalry for control of North Island had been rampant ever since joint tenancy was established by Congress in 1917 . Despite the established boundary , the Navy was determined to have the entire North Island land area to itself , and the Army was equally adamant about staying , arguing that they had been in residence since Glenn Curtis had invited them to share his facilities in 1912 . As the Navy ' s emphasis was shifting from seaplanes to the land planes used on aircraft carriers , its requirement for land instead of the surface of the bay and bight increased . Air Congestion became a problem with both services operating more and larger aircraft from North Island . Although the Army had always been adamant about their need to retain use of their half of North Island , a joint congressional committee investigated the problems of the two air facilities and sought a solution to the Navy ' s frequently stated demand for use of the entire North Island land area . In May 1929 the Joint Army / Navy Board recommended the Rockwell Field should be phased out and a new Army airfield be developed elsewhere on the West Coast . However , this was a long - term goal , and no immediate resolution was forthcoming . Because of the continuing cramped conditions at NAS San Diego , one solution sought was to expand the available land . In connection with deepening the harbor ship channel to accommodate deep - drafted Navy ships ( and especially the new aircraft carriers ) , sixteen million cubic yards of dredge spoils were dumped onto the tidal flats along the northwestern shore of North Island . This increased the area of North Island by some 620 acres , mostly to the benefit of NAS San Diego . The year 1932 saw another major change . Almost no new facilities had been constructed since the end of World War I and the “ temporary ” wooden buildings were still in use . Now , the Great Depression was underway and an attempt to get the unemployed back to work led to expenditures for new public works projects , which , much to the chagrin of the Navy , resulted in $ 1 . 6 million being appropriated for new construction at Rockwell Field ( Most of which today remains as part of a National Historic District ) . Also the Army began allowing California National Guard and Army Reserve units use the field for summer drills and pilot training , and announced its plans to move its aircraft overhaul facilities to Alameda County and to replace them with 75 to 100 more operational planes , with the field becoming home to the 19th Bombardment Group of Martin B - 10 40 heavy bombers . The Navy , wanting the Army to move out , invited President Franklin Roosevelt , a former assistant secretary of the Navy and a rabid Navy supporter , to visit North Island on 2 October 1935 . As a result of this visit , Roosevelt issued an executive order a few weeks later announcing a re - alignment of several separate military facilities . Rockwell Field , along with Luke Field , Ford Island , Hawaii would be transferred to the United States Navy , with the Army taking over Bolling Field in Washington , D . C . , and the Naval Air Station , Sunnyvale , California . This action also changed the name of the now combined facilities to " Naval Air Station , North Island " ( NAS North Island ) . The Army ceased air operations at Rockwell Field , moving most of their aircraft and functions to March Field , in Riverside County . However , the Army was not eager to leave , and it occupied an administration building , warehouses , maintenance shops and various housing and quarters buildings for the next three years . Finally , in October 1938 the Army began to leave these buildings , and a " farewell " of sorts was held on 31 January 1939 . The United States Navy took over full control and has remained on North Island ever since . Rockwell Field Historic District . The Rockwell Field District consists of historically and architecturally - significant buildings located in the southeastern quadrant of the Naval Air Station , North Island ( NAS North Island ) , that have associations with the use and development of the Rockwell Field Army airfield between 1912 and 1935 . The discrete components within the district consist of sixty - three buildings in a groups whose boundaries correspond to the as - built and surviving extent of the original 1917 Albert Kahn - designed site plan , and to those Quartermaster General ' s Office - designed residential quarters added as a result of the Emergency Relief Bill of 1932 . The predominant styles for these permanently - constructed buildings are Mission Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival . Fifty - six buildings are considered to contribute to the historic and architectural integrity of the district . The remaining seven buildings are not considered to contribute architecturally or historically to the significance of the district . While individual contributing buildings have had varying degrees of alteration , and some non - contributing buildings interpose on the original spatial characteristics of the district , the artistry of its designers remains evident , and some sense of the character of the district during its period of historic significance remains . The Rockwell Field District contains the site and surviving buildings associated with this period of military historic significance . The history of its development and use has important associations with broad national and regional themes in the early history of military aviation in the United States . The buildings of the district have national and local historic architectural significance . The district ' s contributing buildings variously embody the distinctive characteristics of the Mission / Spanish Colonial Revival style as applied to military architecture ; some of them represent the work of a master , being a unique example of the use of the Mission / Spanish Colonial Revival style by a recognized master in another architectural genre - Detroit industrial architect Albert Kahn . As a group , they possess sufficient integrity of location , design , setting , workmanship , feeling and association to convey a sense of the character of Rockwell Field during its historic period of use . Notable historic buildings . The principal masonry buildings of the Rockwell Field historic district exemplify the development of Mission and Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in Southern California , and the evolution of the prefabricated metal building type . Five 1918 Mission Revival buildings are the work of Detroit architect Albert Kahn , who was widely known for his designs for industrial architecture . The buildings of the 1932 - 1933 Army construction program , designed by the U . S . Army ' s Quartermaster General ' s Office , are representative of the military construction of the era , and mirror trends in civilian architecture in the region . Rockwell Field had an ambitious , but largely unrealized , development plan due to the transfer of the facility from the Army to the Navy in the late 1930s . The architecturally - anonymous metal hangers and warehouse buildings are considered significant for their place in the development of the technology for prefabricated buildings .