Business View Magazine September 2018

178 179 L ubbock Preston Smith International Airport, the 9th busiest airport in Texas, is located five miles north of the City of Lubbock. Orig- inally named Lubbock International Airport, it was renamed in 2004 for former Texas governor, Preston E. Smith, an alumnus of Texas Tech Universi- ty. The facility began as Lubbock Municipal Field in 1929, and the Airport’s first manager was aviation pi- oneer, Clint Breedlove, who had been an army aviator and test pilot. The United States Government’s War Department took over the Airport in 1942, and created the South Plains Army Airfield. This installation’s mission was to train combat glider pilots, whose gliders were designed to carry soldiers, small jeeps, cannons, or other supplies quickly and quietly into the heat of battle. These “silent wings” were used extensively in the D-Day invasion to free Europe and also in many Pacific Theater operations. The South Plains Army Airfield grew to be the largest glider training facility in the world. Military use of South Plains ended on December 1, 1947, and the Airport was returned to the local government for civil use. Commercial airline service began in 1945 with a flight to Dallas operated by LUBBOCK PRESTON SMITH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT LUBBOCK PRESTON SMITH INTER NATIONAL AIRPORT A LOT GOING ON L ubbock Preston Smith International Airport, the 9th busiest airport in Texas, is located five miles north of the City of Lubbock. Originally named Lubbock International Airport, it was renamed in 2004 for former Texas governor, Preston E. Smith, an alumnus of Texas Tech University. The facility began as Lubbock Municipal Field in 1929, and the Airport’s first manager was aviation pi- oneer, Clint Breedlove, who had been an army aviator and test pilot. The United States Government’s War De- partment took over the Airport in 1942, and created the South Plains Army Airfield. This installation’s mission was to train combat glider pilots, whose gliders were designed to carry soldiers, small jeeps, cannons, or other supplies quickly and quietly into the heat of