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Photos: Ryan Field west of Tucson had origins as a WWII training base
- Rick Wiley
- Updated
Ryan Air Field rose from the desert in just months in 1942, after the U.S. entrance into World War II. Under orders from the U.S. Government, Ryan Aeronautical School in San Diego, which trained pilots for the U.S. Army Air Corps, moved its operations inland under threat of Japanese invasion. Ryan built two bases, one at Ryan Field west of Tucson and one in Hemet, Calif. The air field included "paved runways, aprons, hangars, barracks, mess hall, classrooms and recreational facilities," according to the Tucson Airport Authority. It closed in Sept. 1944, after training 6,000 pilots.
The other Tucson-area flight training bases in WWII were Marana Air Base (now Pinal Airpark) and Davis-Monthan AFB.
Ryan Field is now a civil aviation airport managed by the Tucson Airport Authority.
Ryan Airfield
Cadets at the Ryan School of Aeronautics at Ryan Air Field on Ajo Highway, west of Tucson, in 1943. The school moved its flight training and PT-22 training aircraft from Lindbergh Field in San Diego, inland to Hemet, Calif., and Tucson under threat of Japanese attack during WW II.
Ryan Aeronautical CompanyRyan Airfield
Cadets at the Ryan School of Aeronautics at Ryan Air Field on Ajo Highway, west of Tucson, in 1943. The school moved its flight training and PT-22 training aircraft from Lindbergh Field in San Diego, inland to Hemet, Calif., and Tucson under threat of Japanese attack during WW II.
Ryan Aeronautical CompanyRyan Airfield
Cadets at the Ryan School of Aeronautics at Ryan Air Field on Ajo Highway, west of Tucson, in 1943. The school moved its flight training and PT-22 training aircraft from Lindbergh Field in San Diego, inland to Hemet, Calif., and Tucson under threat of Japanese attack during WW II.
Ryan Aeronautical CompanyRyan Airfield
As a Ryan PT-22 trainer flies overhead, employees of the Ryan School of Aeronautics work in a Victory Garden at Ryan Air Field on Ajo Highway west of Tucson in April, 1943. The base trained pilots for the Army Air Corps under contract with the U.S. Government. The school also established a company garden to supply vegetables for cadets.
J. Robert Burns / Tucson CitizenRyan Airfield
Ryan Air Field on Ajo Highway, west of Tucson, in March, 1951. The extensive facilities built for training U.S. Army Air Corps pilots during World War II were empty. Arizona Gov. Howard Pyle voided a 99-year-lease to a private land holder in 1951 to keep the air field as an emergency landing strip. The state then awarded a lease to Tucson Airport Authority.
Tucson CitizenRyan Airfield
Ryan Air Field on Ajo Highway, west of Tucson, in March, 1951. The extensive facilities built for training U.S. Army Air Corps pilots during World War II were empty. Arizona Gov. Howard Pyle voided a 99-year-lease to a private land holder in 1951 to keep the air field as an emergency landing strip. The state then awarded a lease to Tucson Airport Authority.
Tucson CitizenRyan Airfield
Ryan Air Field on Ajo Highway, west of Tucson, in March, 1951. The extensive facilities built for training U.S. Army Air Corps pilots during World War II were empty. Arizona Gov. Howard Pyle voided a 99-year-lease to a private land holder in 1951 to keep the air field as an emergency landing strip. The state then awarded a lease to Tucson Airport Authority.
Tucson CitizenRyan Airfield
Ryan Air Field on Ajo Highway, west of Tucson, in March, 1951. The extensive facilities built for training U.S. Army Air Corps pilots during World War II were empty. Arizona Gov. Howard Pyle voided a 99-year-lease to a private land holder in 1951 to keep the air field as an emergency landing strip. The state then awarded a lease to Tucson Airport Authority.
Tucson CitizenRyan Airfield
Ryan Air Field on Ajo Highway, west of Tucson, in March, 1951. The extensive facilities built for training U.S. Army Air Corps pilots during World War II were empty. Arizona Gov. Howard Pyle voided a 99-year-lease to a private land holder in 1951 to keep the air field as an emergency landing strip. The state then awarded a lease to Tucson Airport Authority.
Tucson CitizenRyan Airfield
Ryan Air Field on Ajo Highway, west of Tucson, in March, 1951. The extensive facilities built for training U.S. Army Air Corps pilots during World War II were empty. Arizona Gov. Howard Pyle voided a 99-year-lease to a private land holder in 1951 to keep the air field as an emergency landing strip. The state then awarded a lease to Tucson Airport Authority.
Tucson CitizenRyan Airfield
The World War II-era buildings and the aerodrome beacon still welcomed visitors to Ryan Air Field west of Tucson in 1971.
Jose Galvez / Arizona Daily StarRyan Airfield
The old aerodrome beacon at "rustic" Ryan Field west of Tucson in 1971
Larry W. Sellers / Tucson CitizenRyan Airfield
The president and vice president of Everest Sporting Goods of New York tour with Ken Dixon of the Tucson Industrial development board during a tour of a WW II-era hangar at Ryan Air Field west of Tucson in December, 1960. Everlast manufactured vinyl gymnasium mats at the facility starting in 1961, employing six people.
Ray ManleyRyan Airfield
Demolition crews taken down the last of the World War II-era hangars at Ryan Field west of Tucson in August, 1988. Four 20,000 square foot hangars were built in 1942 by Ryan Aeronautical School, which trained pilots for the U.S. Army Air Corps. Officials said the wood beams were fired out and cracked under their own weight. The Tucson Airport Authority embarked on an improvement program that included lengthening the runway.
A.E. Araiza / Arizona Daily Star
Rick Wiley
Photo editor
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