DECATUR ALABAMA - Officials with the airport authority at Pryor Field hosted a historical marker dedication commemorating the airfield's role in World War II pilot training. An open house in the new Terminal Building followed the event, on Thursday.
Pryor Field Regional Airport opened in October 1941 as the home of the Southern Aviation Training School, 65th Army Air Forces Training Detachment, and SE Army Air Forces Training Center. Initially turf runways trained cadets of the U.S. Army Air Corps in the Fairchild PT-19. Fifty flying cadets arrived for a rigorous program with 30 aircraft that would produce pilots to help win WW II. The Decatur AAFT was under contract to Southern Airways, Inc.
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-Larry C. Hall, Pryor Field Historical Marker Project Manager unveils the Alabama Historic Marker noting the facility was listed in the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage in 2010.-
Dec. 28, 1944 with a total of 9 buildings and 4 hangars, the program ended. The airfield, deeded to the Army Corps of Engineers in 1945, became a civilian airport. Southern Airways Company then used the facilities to convert surplus Army aircraft for commercial airline use. Southern Airways Company began growing its routes in 1949 and later became part of Delta Airlines.
-Craftsmanship of the late Clay Smith in antique aircraft restoration won a variety of national awards. One of his many lasting projects is the 1941 Stearman PT-17, used in the early days as a trainer at Pryor Field. The planes are frequently seen being flown by his sons. Both the Stearman and his perfectly restored L-6 are an airport tradition. -
Architecturally significant, two hangars and beacon tower are the remaining artifacts from one of the most important times in our history. Most importantly, they have remained in continued aviation use since 1941. Clay Smith worked as a lineman and mechanic at the Southern Aviation Training School at seventeen years old when WW II began. Due to his vision, he was unable to qualify as a military pilot but served in the Navy instead. He completed his civilian flight and mechanics training after the war. An Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame Inductee, Smith and his family ran Decatur Athens Aero Service operation in the historic buildings until his death in 2007. He discovered, restored and won awards for the 1941 PT-17 originally delivered to 65th Army Air Forces Training Detachment at Decatur.
-Nicole Banks, previous Decatur Athens Aero Service, FBO Manager with the L-6 restored by Clay.-
A Pryor Field based pilot, Larry Hall, was intrigued with the late Smith's stories of the WW II pilots during the Southern Aviation Training days. In July 2010, he began to research and applied for recognition to the Alabama Historical Commission. Hall became the Pryor Field Historical Marker Project Manager who helped achieve Pryor Field Landmark status and shepherded the Marker and dedication on October 25, 2012.
-In 2008, a new terminal was completed and the runway was lengthened to 6,000 feet in a $3.3 million project.-
"This is a great moment for Pryor Field and our chance to put a stake in the ground, if you will, and say the State of Alabama has recognized these two hangars and beacon tower as the last artifacts of what was Pryor Field when it was the primary training field for pilots for WWII," said Hall, "They will remain part of Pryor Field forever." -B Meyer, FMI: Related