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The facility was constructed rapidly due to the pressing need to train pilots during World War I, and by 1920, the facility was falling into disrepair. The state of the facility, however, was less than optimal. However, on 11 February 1920 Congress approved funding to buy Chanute Field. In November 1918, the first talk of base closure occurred and in August 1919, the recommendation was made in Washington to close Chanute Field. Hundreds of small flying fields closed, forcing consolidation of supply and aviation repair depots. Thousands of officers and enlisted men were released, leaving only 10,000 men to fly and repair the planes and engines left over from the war. When World War I ended in November 1918, the Army Air Service, along with the rest of the Army, faced crucial reductions. Inter-War period Ĭhanute Air Force Base Headquarters and Administrative Building. The base became a storage depot for OX-5 aircraft engines and paint, with a staff of about 30 personnel. In December, the last Aero Squadrons were demobilized and the airplanes flown out to other airfields. Flying School Detachment (Consolidation of Squadrons A–D), December 1918 – November 1919Īs World War I ended in November 1918, Chanute Field had trained several thousand pilots, and pilot training ended.Re-designated as Squadron "E", July–December 1918 Re-designated as Squadron "D", July–December 1918 287th Aero Squadron (Service), June 1918.Re-designated as Squadron "C", July–December 1918 Re-designated as Squadron "B", July–December 1918 Re-designated as Squadron "A", July–December 1918 Post Headquarters, Chanute Field – December 1919.By the end of the war, the training units assigned there were: It had a maximum student capacity of 300. Ĭhanute Field was an Air Service primary flying school, offering an eight-week course to new aviation cadets. Starting on 20 August, the field had to be closed to visitors who had become a distraction to the pilots and the operation of the training school. The airfield was completed on 22 July 1917 at a cost of about $1 million, and was officially accepted by the Air Service on 31 July. He immediately ordered flight training to begin on 17 July, at which point Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" trainers began flying from dawn until dusk. Dunsworth arrived on 15 July 1917 and took command. Benedict, arrived in late June, and on 4 July, the first airplanes arrived at the new facility. Chanute Field's first commander, Captain Charles C.

The construction of Chanute Field was an economic boom for the small town of Rantoul money and people flowed into the village at a rapid rate, with both workers and visitors coming to see the large construction spectacle. At its peak construction, 2,000 men, 200 teams of horses, 3 steam shovels and multiple steam tractors were working on Chanute Field, with a payroll reaching $96,000 per week. Building material began arriving on site on 25 May, and work began in earnest on 4 June. The contract to build Chanute Field was given to English Brothers Construction of Champaign, Illinois on, with the expectation that construction would be complete in 60 days. The village of Rantoul would also be a source for electricity and water.

The War Department selected Rantoul because it was one of the few level sites in Illinois in close proximity to the Illinois Central Railroad and the ground school at the University of Illinois.

The War Department immediately opened ground schools at eight colleges and established twenty-seven flying fields to train pilots. air strength after its late entry to World War I in 1917, Congress appropriated $640 million to build up the Air Service. Chanute's biplane glider (1896) with "two arched wings held rigidly together by vertical struts and diagonal wire bracing" (the principle of the Pratt truss used in the railroad bridges which Chanute constructed) served as a prototype design for airplanes. Chanute Field was named in honor of Octave Chanute (1832–1910), a pioneer aeronautical engineer and experimenter, a friend and adviser to the Wright Brothers.