Aviation in Alabama

Alabama's first aeronautical event was on 10 March 1910 with the flight of a Wright biplane flown by Orville Wright in Montgomery, Alabama.^[1]

Events

• 1909: E.T. Odum brings an aircraft to the Alabama State Fair.^[2]
• 15 March 1910: Orville and Wilbur Wright establish the first powered flight school in Montgomery, Alabama.
• 1931: Steadham Acker starts the National Air Carnival series of air shows at Birmingham Municipal Airport.
• 10 July 1991: L'Express Airlines Flight 508 crashed at Birmingham Municipal Airport.

Aircraft Manufacturers

• Boeing manufactures the Delta IV rocket in Decatur, Alabama.
• Continental Motors, Inc., Mobile, Alabama 1929- Major producer of aircraft engines for general aviation aircraft.
• Airbus builds aircraft in the A320 family at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley industrial complex. ^[3]

Aerospace

73,000 jobs are based in Alabama in support of aerospace.^[4]

• National Space Science and Technology Center a joint research venture between NASA and the seven research universities of the state of Alabama.
• Continental Motors Services provides final assembly of the CD-135 and CD-155 engine in Fairhope, Alabama.^[5]

Airports

• List of Airports in Alabama

Colleges and Universities

• Auburn University is home to the nations oldest continually operated flight school and is the only 4-year aviation degree in the State of Alabama. Recently, Auburn University created the Auburn University Aviation Center. The Aviation Center's objective is to, "...create a robust, visionary aviation program that creates opportunities for students and fosters economic development in the state."

Commercial Service

• Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport provides air service with 1.4 million operations annually.

Government and Military

Overhead view of Maxwell Field in 1937

• All flight operations in Alabama are conducted within FAA oversight.
• Maxwell Air Force Base is the headquarters of Air University (United States Air Force).
• The Redstone Arsenal supports missile and space operations.
• The Marshall Space Flight Center supports NASA operations.
• The U. S. Army Air Corps' Tuskegee Airmen were trained at Tuskegee, Alabama
• The Alabama State Trooper Aviation Unit was formed in 1975 using four Bell H-13 Sioux and one Cessna 182. The unit currently operates one Bell 206L, one Bell 407, seven OH-58 helicopters and three Cessna 182’s, a Piper Navajo and King Air 200.^[6]
• Cullman City Police Department operates two OH-58, Dale County Sheriff's Office operates 3 OH-58's, Etowah County Sheriff's Office operates one OH-58 and one Cessna 172, Jefferson County Sheriff's Office operates two OH-58's, Limestone County Alabama Sheriff's Office operates one OH-58, Morgan County Sheriff's Office operates one OH-58, Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Aviation Unit operates two OH-58's, Tuscaloosa Alabama Police Department operates two OH-58's^[7]

Museums

• The Southern Museum of Flight is located in Birmingham, Alabama and houses the Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame.
• The United States Army Aviation Museum is located on Fort Rucker near Ozark, Alabama.
• The U.S. Space & Rocket Center is located in Huntsville, Alabama

Gallery

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  James Meissner, World War I flying ace and Birmingham resident

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  A group of Tuskegee Airmen posing with a P-40 during World War II

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  Aircraft at the Redstone Army Airfield in Huntsville

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  Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport

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  Lockheed A-12 at the Southern Museum of Flight in Birmingham

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  Wernher von Braun posing with the Saturn V's S-IC engines in Huntsville

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  Space Shuttle Pathfinder at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville

References