(FOX40.COM) - - It has been 110 years since the very first air combat system was formed in the United States and Sacramento's own Mather Airport bears the name of one of those brave early pioneers of human flight.
When the very first airplanes took off from the runways of the Sacramento County airfield in February 1918 it was called Mills Field, handling the name that the surrounding location was known as.
This name would be shortlived as a terrible crash in Texas would motivate a brand-new name for the freshly christened field.
Lt. Carl Spencer Mather
Carl Spencer Mather was born upon May 26, 1894, and at the age of 16, he got his pilot's license from Curtiss Flying School in Hammondsport,
New York.
In August 1917, he employed as an air travel cadet and was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. on Jan. 20, 1918, as he was already a licensed pilot.
That time Northern California had a near nuclear accident
Mather would move onto Ellington Field in Texas to enhance his training with the objective of ending up being a Reserve Military aviator and being promoted to the rank of 1st Lt.
However, on Jan. 30, 1918, simply 10 days after his commission, Mather died in a mid-air accident while flying his Curtiss JN-4D Jenny biplane.
Mather was a part of one of the earliest training classes for World War I pilots from the United States at the time of his crash.
Mills ends up being Mather
Following the crash, the remaining pilots in Mather's class were transferred to Mills Field and petitioned the facility to be relabelled Mather Field in honor of the late pilot.
On May 2, 1918, just a couple of months after the opening of the base, it would be renamed Mather Field.
Capital Airshow returns to Mather Airport in September
As the field turned into one of the biggest Air Force bases in Northern California the small community around the base likewise took the name of Mather and can be seen kept in mind as such on historical United States Geological Survey maps.
Mather AFB's On-And-Off Service Life
The preliminary phase of the base would not last long as it was shut off in 1922, after working as a training school for 4 years.
It was quickly resumed in 1930 prior to being shut off in 1932 and again reopened in 1941 to get pilots trained up and headed to combat in World War II.
Capital City Airshow hosting complimentary meet-and-greet with pilots
In between 1918 and 1940 though, the base would be used by air crews looking for somewhere to practice dropping bombs. There are no indications that live bombs were ever utilized throughout the practices.
Those servicemen wanting to be pilots, navigators, observers or bombardiers during World War II would discover themselves at Mather Field for their training.
Those soldiers heading to the Pacific Theater between 1944 and 1945 would capture their departing flight from Mather Field.
As the Cold War dawned, Mather worked as the only aerial navigation school for the newly produced United States Air Force.
Prior to the base was lastly decommissioned in September 1993, Mather hosted more than 20 other units over its 70-year life span.
Mather was likewise the training school for numerous pilots from 88 allied countries following World War II and into the early 1990s.
Today the historical base is known as the
Sacramento Mather Airport and services local flights and freight aircraft. It is also home to the annual California Capital Airshow.
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