By Larry Tucker
It might be 107 years old, but the Mineola-Wisener Airport is still alive and well while planning for the future. Not only is Wisener one of the nation’s oldest privately-owned, public-use airports, but it is also believed to be the oldest airport of its type in Texas.
Originally, it was called Massengale Meadow, when the site’s flat terrain proved conducive to the establishment of one of the first airports in Texas. The airport officially opened on July 4, 1917, when a Curtis Jenny aircraft was piloted by a member of the United States Signal Corps, a branch of the U.S. Army.
The airport has been continuously owned and operated by the Wisener family since 1926. Current airport manager Lupita Wisener keeps that tradition alive and strives to keep the airport active. Lupita, who has been airport manager since 2012, keeps a historical perspective when operating the facility.
“The airport is unique and has a rich heritage and history. It’s a throwback to the old days. We actually still have a 1920s tower and beacon that operates at night,” Lupeta noted. “It is one of the original beacons put out by the Department of Commerce.”
History of Mineola-Wisener Airport
Mineola-Wisener Airport is the home of the Royal Flying Circus Museum, which honors more than a century of contributions to the aviation world. There is a display of a 100-plus year-old original Curtis Jenny, where you can get a glimpse of the original woodwork.
Mineola-Wisener Airport was first established as an emergency landing field for Love Field in Dallas. After World War I ended in 1919, several other emergency landing fields were established and then closed, but Mineola-Wisener Airport remained in operation.
The airport has played host to a variety of military planes, as well as barnstormers who flew from airfield to airfield across the nation. Famed aviator Wiley Post often used the airport, as did various dignitaries throughout the years.
A 12-year-old Henry Wisener saw his first airplane, and that sparked a drive in him which eventually led to the establishment of Mineola-Wisener Airport. The Wisener family had decided to work only a half-day in the cotton fields and take off to celebrate July 4, 1917 with a picnic and watching a fireworks show that evening. While enjoying their festivities, a loud sound caught their attention. Henry Wisener’s older brother, Guy, looked to the sky and proclaimed, “That’s one of those ‘aero-planes.’ I saw one last year at the Dallas Fair.”
They watched as the plane passed by and headed in the direction of Hawkins. Unable to find a place to land, the pilot turned the plane around and passed over them. He circled around and landed in the meadow where the present-day airport is now.
As soon as he landed, everyone dropped what they were doing and raced to check out what was going on. The pilot asked the Massengale family for permission to use the meadow because of the flat surface. As the pilot and a passenger, who was a mechanic, were taking off, the propeller hit a tree stump. The plane was carrying a spare propeller, and the mechanic began replacing it. After that, the field was used for practice landings and other aspects of flight training.
“The Army Air Corps used the airport for a while, but after the war (World War I), the barnstormers would use it. The barnstormers were those first early pilots who would buy an airplane and travel from airport to airport,” Wisener said. “The term barnstormer referred to the pilots who looked for barns hoping to find a flat surface to land.”
Henry Learns to Fly
A barnstormer named Ralph Wilson made a stop at Mineola-Wisener Airport. He was an aerobatic pilot and was a member of the 13 Black Cats in Hollywood, who performed stunts for movies. “Wilson stopped here at the airport and spoke to 17-year-old Henry Wisener in 1923. He noticed Henry always hanging around the airport, and the teenager told Wilson he did not want to be a farmer, but instead wanted to fly,” Lupita revealed.
Wilson made a deal with Henry. In return for learning how to fly, young Henry sold tickets to the barnstormer’s shows on the way to California in the summer of 1923. “They barnstormed all the way to California, stopping along the way to do air shows for the public,” Lupita commented. “Wilson took Henry on his solo flight at Clover Field, which later became Santa Monica Airport.”
Wilson encouraged Henry to return home to Mineola and finish high school, and he then joined the Army Air Corps. Henry became a part of a class which was trained at Kelly Field in San Antonio. The class started with 200 cadets, but only 30 made it through. The training was extremely rigorous. Famed aviator Charles Lindbergh was a cadet there at that time.
Henry came home to Mineola in 1926 and leased the property where the airport is located today. He started offering flight training, charter rides, and taking people on brief airplane rides called “hops.” He also set up the Royal Flying Circus, which performed aerobatics for air shows.
“They would do loops and rolls, and they would take up wing-walkers. The wing-walkers actually got out of their seats and would walk on the wings of the plane. Henry’s younger brother Bryce was a wing-walker,” Lupita revealed. “Henry would fly the airplane, and Bryce would do the wing-walking. Bryce also was a mechanic at the airport. They barnstormed in Texas, throughout the Midwest all the way to Minnesota, and also New Mexico,” Lupita said.
During Christmas time in those days, Bryce would dress up as Santa Claus and would parachute into Mineola, Terrell, Gladewater, and other small towns nearby. After the air show novelty fell off, Henry went on to become the Chief Pilot for Dallas Aviation School, where he oversaw the training of the pilot instructors.
After World War II, there was a lot of GI money used to train pilots. Henry bought the land in 1940, and the Wisener family continues to run the operation of the airport today. “We stay busy with fly-ins all the time. The museum is a great look into the past of aviation here at Wisener,” Lupita said.
The museum holds an original Jenny, among other small planes which have flown through the years. The government deemed the Curtis Jenny as unsafe and demanded all of those left be destroyed. Henry did not want to do that, so he stripped the wings and made the plane unable to fly. The Jenny is now the centerpiece in the museum hangar.
More than 70 types of aircraft are stored in the airport’s various hangars. Wisener also hosts a chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association, which is shared with Wood County Airport-Collins Field, located just six miles to the north of the historic airfield.
Lupita works hard to keep the airport busy. “We have hangars for rent, and we sell fuel. We are now looking for more ways to bring in additional funds for the airport,” she noted. The museum can be toured by appointment, and Lupita gives quite the background and history of the facility. For more information and/or to make an appointment to see the museum, call Lupita Wisener at 903-569-1929 or 956-802-5123.