The first aeronautical event in Arkansas was the flight of a balloon around 1870 in Yell county. The first heavier than air flight was by James C. “Bud” Mars on 21 May 1910.
Events July 1930, Walter Herschel Beech, founder of Beechcraft has an offer rejected to build a factory in Arkansas City, Arkansas, instead building the company in Wichita, Kansas. September 19, 1980, a major mishap occurred after a socket rolled off a platform and punctured a Titan II Stage I fuel tank, subsequently causing the entire silo to explode, killing an Air Force airman, SrA David Livingston, and destroying the silo near Damascus, Arkansas."Light on the Road to Damascus" Time magazine, September 29, 1980. Retrieved 2009-10-18 A "B" grade television movie portrays this event, "Disaster at Silo 7".Disaster At Silo 7 (1988) IMDB Page 1 April 1981 Arkansas native, J. Lynn Helms is appointed as director of the FAA, serving through the 1981 Controller strike
Aircraft Manufacturers Dassault Aviation maintains a final assembly facility in Little Rock, Arkansas for its Falcon series of jets.
Aerospace
Airports
List of Airports in Arkansas
Commercial Service
Organizations The Arkansas Aerospace Alliance is part of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.
Government and Military
All flight operations in Arkansas are conducted within FAA oversight. The Arkansas Department of Aeronautics was founded in 1966.
Museums Arkansas Air & Military Museum, Fayetteville, Arkansas Fort Smith Air Museum, Fort Smith, Arkansas
References