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New World War II Glider Museum Celebrates "Silent Wings" on the High Plains of Texas
On the billiard table-flat High Plains of West Texas, where I grew up in the '40s through '60s, there is no ridge lift, but lots of thermals. However, those thermals didn't matter much for the WWII airmen who learned to fly troop-carrying gliders at the South Plains Army Airfield, Lubbock, Texas. After all, for those draggy, heavily-laden aircraft, there was only one altitude change possible after release from their C-47 towplanes: down!
As a youngster, I was fascinated by the leftover military hangars, barracks, and office buildings at what had become Lubbock Municipal Airport. Dad took me to Civil Air Patrol meetings in the old buildings, and we drove among them on frequent Sunday afternoon airplane-watching trips. Unlike today, there were no fences to be seen, and a family with two small children could wander all afternoon among the aircraft tied down there without raising any eyebrows. Lubbock has grown up a lot since then, and so has the airport–since 1976 called Lubbock International Airport. The hulking modern airline terminal building towers over the surplus military buildings on the east side of the field, which still house active aviation businesses, and over the original 1949 terminal building. The latter was remodeled in 2002 to house a fine small museum dedicated to the WWII glider program, the glider crews, and their service to the country.
The Silent Wings Museum
was founded by the National World War II Glider Pilots Association at
Terrell, Texas in 1984, and it operated there successfully for a number
of years. However, as the founders and operators of the museum in Terrell
aged, it became clear that some new arrangement would have to be made
for the museum to outlive them. After considerable negotiation, the assets
of the original glider museum were transferred to a new organization owned
by the City of Lubbock and operated by a professional director and curator
overseen by the airport's board of directors. Airport Director Mark Earle
has been a driving force to get the museum up and running in such a short
time, despite his other responsibilities. The new museum opened on the
west side of Lubbock International Airport in October, 2002, led by Museum
Director Joe S. Hays, and I visited it soon afterward. Hays told me that
"Our mission is to accurately tell the story of the military glider program,
and to recognize and honor those who made this history." Robert W. Tidwell
is the museum's Curator. This is a very impressive young museum, with
sparkling, modern facilities that make everything easily accessible, interesting,
and understandable. I spent three hours there and could have easily amused
and educated myself for hours more. It seemed appropriate for the glider
museum to be on a field that housed an important component of the glider
training corps; I could almost hear the swoosh of their wings above me
as I left the facility!
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