Wrapping up the past

As director of Mesa, Arizona’s Falcon Field Airport, she knows the welcome sound could come from any of more than a dozen World War II-era aircraft, including the Commemorative Air Force’s B–17 Sentimental Journey, which make the nation’s third busiest general aviation airport their home. Her office provides an excellent view of these warbirds as they taxi across the ramp outside her window, their round engines chugging heavily as they maneuver to the runway.

“It’s a sound that not only excites me every time I hear it,” Nystrom said, “but also echoes the proud heritage of Falcon Field.”

A historic airport, Falcon Field opened in September 1941 as a training base for aviation cadets of Britain’s Royal Air Force (thus the moniker, “Falcon” Field). Over the next four years more than 2,000 Allied cadets from around the world earned their wings and flew off to contribute to the Allied victory in World War II. Since then, Falcon Field Airport has continued as a major pilot training center serving students eager to earn certificates and ratings from private pilot to airline transport pilot. The airport is also home to more than 800 private aircraft.

Throughout its expansion and growth, Falcon Field has never lost sight of its history. Remembrances of its role in World War II are evident throughout the airport, from its flying falcon logo to the commemorative plaques posted on the remnants of the officer’s club fireplace in an on-airport city park. To mark the airport’s seventy-fifth anniversary, its two original World War II Quonset hut-style hangars were placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Determined to highlight Falcon Field’s history, Nystrom and the airport team created a unique link with its past.

“We wanted to showcase Falcon’s history and pay tribute to the men and women who trained and operated the airport during the war,” Nystrom said. The best way to pay homage to those people, she decided, would be to display photographs of them, thus creating a personal connection with today’s pilots. But it was not enough to hang framed pictures in the terminal where only a few visitors could see them. That would not do at all—she wanted to ensure these photographs were visible.

“We wanted to showcase Falcon’s history and pay tribute to the men and women who trained and operated the airport during the war.”“We had dozens of blank canvases on the airport that would provide a perfect spot to display these great photographs from Falcon Field’s past,” Nystrom said. “So, we decided to enlarge the photos and put them on the ends of our hangars.”

Using the same digital photo-imagery technique that creates vinyl advertising “wraps” for buses and cars, the team led by Airport Projects and Operations Supervisor Brent Shiner was soon installing these massive photographs throughout the airport. “We combined photos of cadets with photos of the vintage aircraft they trained in, as well as photos of other World War II-era aircraft,” Nystrom said. “Every time I look at those planes, I can hear their engines rumbling across time.”

Not content to decorate the hangar end walls, Nystrom decided the airport’s control tower needed a wrap, too. “At first it seemed relatively easy,” she said. “What could be so hard about blowing up a grainy 1-inch by 3-inch photograph to a 38-foot by 18-foot wrap?”

Shiner enlisted the aid of a wide range of experts in digital photo imagery from as far away as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and as close as the city of Mesa’s Engineering Department. Shiner’s project team succeeded. On February 25, 2019, a wrap featuring skyward gazing RAF cadet Oswaldo Interiano, who went on to fly Lancaster bombers over Germany, was dedicated on the airside face of the tower. Pilots now give a quick salute to “Ozzie” as they land or take off from Falcon Field.

The airport upped the game on December 1, 2020, when the design team installed a second historic wrap on the control tower, this one on its landside face. The new image features a jumpsuit-clad female mechanic standing on a ladder in front of a T–6 aircraft as she applies a cleaning solution to its engine. The photo was selected to honor the mechanics and ground staff whose dedicated efforts kept aircraft flying and safe for pilot training missions, as well as the many women who supported the war’s aviation effort. Since the mechanic’s name was unknown, she was nicknamed “Harriet.”

“Pilots have always relied on skilled and knowledgeable ground crews to fly safely and make it back home,” Nystrom said. “Women have been important members of those teams since the early days of aviation and their growing ranks as pilots and in other aviation careers ensure the future of the industry.”

Ten buildings at Falcon Field Airport now proudly host 16 wraps featuring aviation cadets and various aircraft from World War II. For Falcon Field’s eightieth anniversary in September 2021, the city of Mesa and the airport staff are planning remembrance events and activities to mark the occasion. Falcon Field Airport has created a unique tribute to those whose sacrifices made victory in World War II possible.

Edward Murphy is an instrument-rated private pilot based at Falcon Field Airport.