8 Sep 1928

United States
  • The National Air Races and Aeronautical Exposition opened a nine-day event at Mines Field, Inglewood, California. Aviator Charles Lindburgh was a featured guest at the event. ww2dbase [Mines Field | Inglewood, California | DS]
15 Sep 1928

Photo(s) dated 15 Sep 1928
Aviator Charles Lindburgh taking off in a borrowed 1910 Curtiss pusher biplane at the 1928 National Air Races at Mines Field, Inglewood, California, 15 Sep 1928.Five Curtiss Jenny’s with the United States Army Air Corps flying in formation above Mines Field, Inglewood, California during the 1928 National Air Races, 15 Sep 1928.Seven Navy biplanes flying in formation above Mines Field, Inglewood, California during the 1928 National Air Races, 15 Sep 1928. Note the hundreds of parked cars in the field.
26 Sep 1928

United States
  • The City of Los Angeles signed a 10-year lease for the property at Mines Field in Inglewood for use as a municipal airport. ww2dbase [Mines Field | Inglewood, California | DS]
11 Feb 1929

United States
  • 23-year-old aviatrix Evelyn “Bobbie” Trout landed at Mines Field, Inglewood, California to set an overnight endurance record of 17 hours, 5 minutes while flying the prototype R. O. Bone Co. Golden Eagle Monoplane. ww2dbase [Mines Field | Inglewood, California | DS]
25 Aug 1929

United States
  • German airship Graf Zeppelin arrived at Mines Field, Inglewood, California at the end on a 79-hour flight across the Pacific as part of her Round-the-World flight. ww2dbase [Mines Field | Inglewood, California | DS]
26 Aug 1929

United States
  • German airship Graf Zeppelin departed Mines Field, Inglewood, California bound for Lakehurst, New Jersey as part of her Round-the-World flight. Due to a morning inversion layer, the 776-foot-long airship had trouble gaining altitude and dug her tail into the ground causing minor damage. ww2dbase [Mines Field | Inglewood, California | DS]
Photo(s) dated 26 Aug 1929
German airship Graf Zeppelin seen moored to a temporary mooring mast at Mines Field, Inglewood, California after arriving from Japan on her around-the-world flight, 26 Aug 1929. Photo 1 of 2.German airship Graf Zeppelin seen moored to a temporary mooring mast at Mines Field, Inglewood, California after arriving from Japan on her around-the-world flight, 26 Aug 1929. Photo 2 of 2.The Goodyear blimp alongside German airship Graf Zeppelin moored at a temporary mooring mast at Mines Field, Inglewood, California after arriving from Japan on her around-the-world flight, 26 Aug 1929.
7 Jun 1930

United States
  • The Los Angeles Municipal Airport (Mines Field) was officially dedicated, despite having been in operation for two years. ww2dbase [Mines Field | Inglewood, California | DS]
Photo(s) dated 7 Jun 1930
The official dedication ceremonies of the Los Angeles Municipal Airport at Mines Field, Inglewood, California, 7 Jun 1930. Note Marine Corps biplanes, probably Curtiss Jenny’s, on the ramp.
1 Apr 1935

United States
  • The North American Aviation NA-16, a fixed-gear, low-wing monoplane, made its first flight from Mines Field, Inglewood, California to become the first North American model-numbered airplane to be flown. The NA-16 evolved into the BT-9 basic trainer, predecessor of a series of trainers that continued in uninterrupted production for 25 years. ww2dbase [Mines Field | Inglewood, California | DS]
21 Jun 1935

Photo(s) dated 21 Jun 1935
The five hangars at Mines Field, Inglewood, California, 21 Jun 1935. The runway is 3,500 feet of decomposed granite and oil.
1 Oct 1937

United States
  • Despite having recently negotiated a 50-year lease, the City of Los Angeles bought the property at Mines Field in Inglewood outright in order to qualify for federal funding through the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The funds were to be used for runway improvements. ww2dbase [Mines Field | Inglewood, California | DS]
27 Aug 1940

Photo(s) dated 27 Aug 1940
Aerial view straight down on Mines Field, Inglewood, California, 27 Aug, 1940. New runways are under construction, five hangars line the ramp, and the North American Aviation aircraft factory is in the lower right.View from the control tower at Mines Field, Inglewood, California showing Hangar No. 1 and the North American Aviation aircraft factory beyond, 27 Aug 1940. Photo 1 of 2.View from the control tower at Mines Field, Inglewood, California showing Hangar No. 1 and the North American Aviation aircraft factory beyond, 27 Aug 1940. Photo 2 of 2.
9 Sep 1940

United States
  • At the North American Aviation factory at Mines Field, Inglewood, California, assembly was completed on the North American NA-73X, the first prototype of the new Mustang fighter. ww2dbase [Mines Field | P-51 Mustang | Inglewood, California | DS]
26 Oct 1940

United States
  • At Mines Field in Inglewood, California, United States, test pilot Vance Breese took the North American Aviation NA-73X, prototype for the P-51 Mustang, on a five-minute maiden flight. ww2dbase [Mines Field | P-51 Mustang | Inglewood, California | CPC]
20 Nov 1940

United States
  • North American Aviation’s chief test pilot, Paul Balfour, made his first flight in the NA-73X, the prototype for what would become the P-51 Mustang from Mines Field, Inglewood, California (Balfour's first flight in the airplane, not the airplane's first flight). After 12 minutes of flight, Balfour neglected to switch fuel tanks and the engine starved. Balfour made a dead-stick landing in a farmer's field but when the wheels dug into the soft earth, the airplane nosed over onto its back. Balfour was not injured and the airplane was repaired. ww2dbase [Mines Field | Inglewood, California | DS]
26 Oct 1944

United States
  • 32-year-old WASP pilot Gertrude Tompkins Silver took off from Mines Field in Inglewood, California in a newly-manufactured North American Aviation P-51D Mustang on a ferry flight to Palm Springs. She was supposed to have taken off to the west, turn 180-degrees over Santa Monica Bay, and then overfly the airfield on an easterly course toward Palm Springs but neither she nor the airplane were never seen again after taking off. Gertrude Tompkins remains the only WASP pilot still unaccounted for. ww2dbase [WASP: Women in the WW2 US Army Air Force | Mines Field | P-51 Mustang | Inglewood, California | DS]
5 Dec 1946

United States
  • Commercial airline service began at the Los Angeles Airport (Mines Field). American Airlines, Trans World Airlines (TWA), United Airlines, Southwest Airways, and Western Airlines began passenger operations at the airport. Pan American Airways (Pan Am) made the move in Jan 1947. ww2dbase [Mines Field | Inglewood, California | DS]
11 Oct 1949

United States

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis




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Japanese Navy Warrant Officer Kenji Yanagiya, 1943. Yanagiya piloted an escorting fighter when Isoroku Yamamoto was shot down. He was the only Japanese pilot from that flight to survive the war.

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