Gilbert, Arizona

the war and came to Gilbert to be a science teacher. He took me for my first flight from the Gilbert Airport in 1949, when I was fourteen. We flew from the airport and over the east valley. It was spectacular to have such a broad view of the farm area below and was a very exciting opportunity. I never picked up the bug to learn to fly myself, but many did. Bill Mastin taught several hundred Gilbert residents to fly during the years the airport was open. The airport and lounge and the airport and hangar are shown below. They were the headquarters for the Gilbert Airport. Classes were conducted in the lounge, and many local men like Albert Serrano, Dick Miller, Dave Lamoreaux, and Willie Rosales were taught to fly and received their own flight certifications here.

In 1945, as our young men and women came home from the war, the Gilbert Airport was conceived and built. Joseph H. Wilbur and Bill Mastin, his brother-in-law, started the Wilbur Flying Service. Bill Mastin had learned to fly in 1939 and had become both an expert airplane mechanic and a certified pilot and flight-train ing instructor. Bill and Joseph decided to teach others to fly. They built the airport on Wilbur’s land and began flying their small aircraft over the east valley. Many people in Gilbert came to see them fly and to go sightseeing. Some of them signed up to learn to fly. One of their students was Darrell Sawyer, who later created Sawyer Aviation in Phoenix. Darrell was in high school when he began flight training. John Goodman was a pilot during

k Gilbert Airport Shown left is an aerial view of the hanger and the runway next to it. After the airport was abandoned, the hangar became Spec Conner’s cabinet shop for the new hous ing boom that began in the 1970s. Today, the swimming pool and park area next to Mesquite Junior High sit on the airport landing strip.

k Gilbert Airport from the sky

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