aviation – Page 4 – Texas History Notebook

Alfonso Harris

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Alfonso Laurell Harris was born March 26, 1926 at old Parkland Hospital a few miles from his home. He was a good student and entered Booker T. Washington High School at age 11, allowing him to graduate when he was just 15. He he later moved to the Northwest and began working as an aircraft engine inspector in Ogden, Utah. On July 14, 1944 he enlisted in the US Army, shortly after his 18th birthday at nearby Fort Douglas, Utah. As it did for hundreds of thousands of others, the terms of his enlistment read “Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law.”

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“Lucky Lindy” comes to Texas

Charles Lindbergh flew from New York to Paris, touching down at his destination on May 21, 1927. He had won the $25,000 Orteig Prize and achieved almost instant notoriety around the world. Lindbergh been the first to fly across the Atlantic Ocean in his Ryan monoplane he had named the “Spirit of St. Louis” that now hangs in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. It took him 33 1/2 hours to cover the 3,610 miles. Prior to this flight, Lindbergh had been a mail pilot when he’d heard of the prize and began to plan for the flight.