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CHAPTER CHATTER, EAA Chapter 78 6
The Huge Scale of This US Air Force African American Pioneer Dale White
Warplane Boneyard in Arizona Is and the 1939 Goodwill Flight
Mind-blowing
Dale L. White Sr., was a prominent African American
pilot, best known for his 1939 “Goodwill Flight” with
Chauncey Spencer from Chicago to Washington, DC,
to make the case for African American participation in
flight training, both civilian and military. His flight
illustrated the challenges that African Americans faced
in reaching equality and the inconsistency in how
pioneers like White were treated.
Arizona is the final resting place of US Airforce’s
aircraft and has been since World War Two ended.
There are thousands of aircraft that have been
declared as out of service in the Tucson Desert at the
US governments storage yard for aircraft. Once there,
they are either dismantled for scrap or stored,
depending on their condition.
Born in 1899 in Minden, Louisiana, White moved to
Chicago, Illinois, in 1930. In 1932, he began his studies
at the Curtiss Wright Aeronautical University, the
first accredited flight school in the Midwest to admit
black students and to hire black instructors. On August
18, 1933, White began his flight training and he
received his pilot’s license in June of 1936.
CLICK THE PICTURE
For the next decade, White was very active in Chicago
This storage yard consists of 2,600 acres (approx) and African American flying circles and was a member of
has been given the nickname of ‘the Boneyard.’ An the Challenger Air Pilots Association (CAPA), a
aerial view of this site shows the vastness and, using group organized by Chicago-area African American
Bing, you can zoom in using their interactive map aviation enthusiasts.
online allowing you a closer view of the craft held in
this place.
