On December 17, 1903, two brothers from Dayton, Ohio carried the dreams of a nation to new heights as they launched their 12 hp, 200 lb (90.7 kg) craft into the salty air of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Those 13 seconds of fame have led to almost a century of accomplishments. The world of aviation didn't make its official debut in Cheyenne until August 1, 1911 when Charles Walsh disappointed many spectators by flying his Curtiss-Farmann biplane to a mere height of 100 ft (30.48 m). Early Wyoming aviators faced the challenge of adapting to high-altitude conditions that presented far more aerodynamic issues than were faced by aviators in other parts of the country.
The 1920s were an exciting time for Cheyenne as commercial air service crept its way into southeastern Wyoming. In January 1920, the Post Office department announced its intent to extend the airmail route from Chicago to San Francisco. Civil leadership within Cheyenne realized that the desire to have the airmail carriers follow the Union Pacific railroad line, along with Cheyenne's central location between Omaha, Nebraska and Salt Lake City, Utah, would make Cheyenne an ideal stopping point prior to crossing the Rocky Mountains.
Other factors contributing to the attractiveness of Cheyenne included its status as a state capital, the availability of level terrain close to the city, and the fact that, in addition to the Union Pacific railroad, the transcontinental Lincoln Highway (US 30) also ran through town. The only factor that slowed down Cheyenne's progression was its lack of an adequate airfield. Initial planning for an airfield called for enlarging and improving the existing landing area at Fort D.A. Russell and re-designating the field as a Cheyenne/Army municipal airfield for common usage.
While this idea had the support of the citizens of Cheyenne as well as the Wyoming congressional delegation, the US War Department felt that the airfield might still be needed for other purposes and would not allow the field to become a common use field. The city's second plan was to site a new airfield on a 200-acre (0.8 sq.km) tract of land less than one mile north of the city. It was this site that would eventually become Cheyenne Airport.
Cheyenne Airport was "put on the map" on September 8, 1920 when the Chicago-to-San Francisco leg of the Columbia Transcontinental Airmail Route was inaugurated. Cheyenne began with six planes, six pilots and nine administration and maintenance employees. It was one of only fifteen national locations to serve as an airmail station. As a result of the Airmail Act of 1925, The Boeing Airplane Company, under the name Boeing Air Transport Company, took over the Chicago-to-San Francisco leg in July 1927. It would mark the beginning of a long and lucrative relationship between Cheyenne Airport and Boeing.
1927 would also see the arrival of a new route (Cheyenne-to-Pueblo) and a new carrier (Western Air Express) to the awakening Cheyenne market. It was during this period that, in an effort to increase revenues, airmail companies, such as Boeing and Western Air Express, began to augment their airmail service with passenger service. In 1929, after changing their name to the United Aircraft and Transport Company, Boeing established their main overhaul base in Cheyenne. The number of jobs created by this base grew to exceed 500 in subsequent years. The sum total of the aforementioned events provided a huge boost to the economy of Cheyenne.
The late 1920s and early 1930s provided a gradual shift in the aviation industry from delivering the mail to transporting passengers. Several changes occurred at the airfield as a result of this new trend. In 1925, four brick hangers replaced the original wooden hanger that had burned down in 1924. The building that currently houses the airport administration offices was originally built in 1929 as the passenger terminal. Realizing the importance that accurate weather forecasts have on the safety of flights, the National Weather Service moved to the airport from its original location in downtown Cheyenne, where it had been at for nearly 60 years. Flight safety was also improved through the use of nationwide radio-range-finding stations. Cheyenne's station, one of 400 across the nation, was located at Fort D.A. Russell, now F. E. Warren AFB, and provided a fix to the east-west runway. United continued to exert its influence in Cheyenne throughout the 1930s and into the 1940s.
In 1931, the United Aircraft and Transport Company, a holding company for several firms including the Boeing Airplane Company and the Boeing Transport Company, was renamed United Air Lines. Two years later, United consolidated all of their major maintenance and overhaul facilities and moved them to Cheyenne. The impact of having this maintenance facility, considered to be one of the largest, if not the largest, in the world at that time, was tremendous. As Gerald M. Adams states in his article, The Air Age Comes to Wyoming, "Having United's maintenance and overhaul facility provided not only a boost to the economy but added stature to the city's image as an air center." By 1935, Cheyenne had 24 daily arrivals and departures. United further cemented its home in Cheyenne in 1942 by transferring in its flight training division to Cheyenne from California.
The United States' entrance into WW II in December of 1941 would bring additional business to the airport. In an effort to maintain the supply of B-17s being used on the battlefronts, a modification center was set up on the north side of the airport. B-17s would leave factories on the west coast and stop in Cheyenne for final outfitting prior to departing for the air front lines. Of the 12,726 B-17s of all models built, 5,736 were altered in some way at the Cheyenne Modification Center.
The Cheyenne Modification Center was a huge facility that employed 1,642 workers at its peak. It consisted of two large hangers, four units of nose hangers, an electric air and heating unit, a cafeteria, a garage, a boiler house, a 500,000 gal (1,892,706 l) water storage reservoir, a guard house, a target butt for testing the guns, and a control house. After the war, United Air Lines took over the modification center in a lease agreement with the government and moved most of their equipment and machinery from their overhaul base at the airport to the modification center.
The introduction of the DC-4 in 1939 changed the face of the commercial aviation industry. The nine to ten thousand foot ceiling that the older planes were restricted to was a thing of the past. The DC-4 could fly from Chicago to California non-stop at an altitude of 18,000 ft (5,486 m). The ability to cross the Rocky Mountains without having to follow a mountain pass made a stop in Cheyenne unnecessary. While the war may have brought more business to Cheyenne, it did nothing more than delay the inevitable.
In 1947, United's maintenance facilities moved to San Francisco while their flight training division moved to Denver. In what almost appeared to be a compensatory move, United did move its stewardess training school to Cheyenne in 1947. However, fourteen years and 83,000 graduates later, the training school also left Cheyenne to make a new home in Chicago. Cheyenne is a city rich in aviation history that was affected negatively by the progress of technology.
That negative impact, however, has done nothing to quell the pioneering spirit of those who continue to call Cheyenne home. What was once a 200-acre (0.8 sq.km) field is now a multimillion-dollar industry covering over 1,000 acres (4 sq.km). It is the home of the Wyoming ANG, the Wyoming Army National Guard, a globally known business in Cheyenne Airmotive, and the headquarters of Great Lakes Aviation. With continued strong leadership and support from the community, the Cheyenne Airport will continue to maintain an exciting spot in the aviation industry.