WWI Curtiss Jenny Biplane Takes One Final Flight Over Wichita Falls [PHOTOS, VIDEO]

Saturday, October 4 was a beautiful, crisp fall morning, the perfect morning for flying the 1917 Curtiss Jenny biplane housed at the WWI Call Field Living Museum at Kickapoo Airpark. But this would be no ordinary flight; this was the final flight for one of the five remaining Jennies in the world.

The Jenny, credited by some as the dawn of modern aviation, was being moved from its home for the last several years at Kickapoo Airpark just off old Jacksboro Highway to its new home as part of a History Of Aviation display in the new Wichita Falls Regional Airport. The new display will also include the Model T Ford Staff Car and Troop Carrier from Kickapoo Airpark as well as a much more modern T-38 jet trainer, another familiar sight in the skies over Wichita Falls.

A fund raising auction was held a few days ago with Retired Air Force Colonel, Dr. Armando San Diego, winning the chance to ride along with pilot David Martin on the final flight of this rare aircraft.

Curtiss JN4-Ds, commonly called Jennies, were fairly common sights in the skies around Wichita Falls in the early part of the 20th century when the Army Air Corps maintained Call Field in 1917 and 1918. After Call Field was closed down, the Air Force established Sheppard Air Force Base and pilot training continues in Wichita Falls today.

Visit the Fly Wichita Falls website to learn more about our city’s Curtiss Jenny, pilot David Martin and the WWI Call Field Living History Museum.

Watch the 1917 Curtiss Jenny's Final Flight Over Wichita Falls:
(video courtesy Hoegger Communications)