Falcon Field in Mesa: How It Got Its Name and the WWII British Pilots Who Trained There

Falcon Field in northeast Mesa opened in September 1941 as No. 4 British Flying Training School, where young Royal Air Force cadets learned to fly over Arizona farmland during World War II. The British picked the falcon as its name, and the city of Mesa took over the field in 1948. Today it is a busy general aviation airport.

I drive past Falcon Field all the time when I am showing homes in northeast Mesa, and most people I talk to know it as the airport with the small planes and the helicopters. Fewer know that it started as a wartime school for British pilots, paid for in part by Hollywood money, and that some of those young men never went home.

Hollywood Money and a Pilot School in the Desert

Before the United States entered World War II, Hollywood producer Leland Hayward and pilot John "Jack" Connelly started a company called Southwest Airways. Friends from the film world helped fund it, including Henry Fonda, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, James Stewart and Hoagy Carmichael. Southwest Airways already ran two Thunderbird fields in Arizona, training pilots from many Allied countries.

The company's third field was planned for Mesa, and it was set aside for British cadets. Ground was broken on July 16, 1941, the same day as Williams Field, another wartime training base in the East Valley. The field opened that September on what was then mostly empty farmland, and the first cadets from Britain arrived the same month.

Why It Is Called Falcon Field

The plan was to call it Thunderbird Field III, following the company's other two fields. The British officials involved wanted a bird name they knew better, and "thunderbird" did not mean much to them. They chose the falcon, a bird long tied to British strength.

No. 4 British Flying Training School

Falcon Field was one of six British Flying Training Schools in the United States. The schools were owned and run by Americans, with American civilian flight instructors supervised by RAF officers. Cadets started in open-cockpit Stearman biplanes and moved up to the North American AT-6 trainer. American pilots trained there too.

More than 2,000 pilots earned their wings at Falcon Field before training ended in 1945. The community took notice, too. Reporting from Cronkite News found that more than 200 Arizona families gave the cadets regular support while they were thousands of miles from home.

The Cadets Who Stayed in Mesa

Flight training is dangerous, and not everyone made it through. Twenty-three British cadets, one American cadet and four instructors lost their lives in training accidents connected to Falcon Field. They are buried together in the Mesa City Cemetery, where the British government helps care for the plot and a cenotaph stands over the graves.

Every November, a memorial service is held at the cemetery to honor them, with a wreath laying, an aircraft formation flyover, a rifle salute and taps. It is one of the quieter, more moving traditions in the East Valley. A replica plaque honoring the RAF cadets hangs in the airport terminal, made from wood saved from an original wartime hangar.

From Wartime Base to Mesa's Airport

After the war ended, the federal government deeded the property to the City of Mesa in 1948 to use as a municipal airport. For years the city had a private company run day-to-day operations, then took that job on itself in 1968. Between the war and the mid-1960s, parts of the field were leased to industrial and rocket companies.

The land where the RAF barracks and recreation hall once stood is now Falcon Field Park. In 2016 the field's two surviving World War II hangars, the East and West hangars, were listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Falcon Field Today

The airport covers 784 acres between Greenfield, Higley, McDowell and McKellips roads. It has two parallel runways, a main runway of about 5,100 feet and a shorter north runway built in the 1980s. The city describes it as a general aviation reliever airport, taking private and training traffic off the bigger airports.

Flight schools train new pilots there, and Boeing's Mesa site next door builds the AH-64 Apache helicopter, so you will often see helicopters in the sky around northeast Mesa. Since 1976 the field has also been home to Airbase Arizona of the Commemorative Air Force, which runs an aviation museum on Greenfield Road with World War II aircraft and a display about the No. 4 British Flying Training School. The group keeps a B-17 bomber called "Sentimental Journey" in flying condition.

Living Near Falcon Field

Falcon Field sits in northeast Mesa, the part of town with neighborhoods like Red Mountain Ranch and Las Sendas, plus views toward Red Mountain and the Usery Mountains. When I help buyers look in this area, I always suggest driving by at a few different times of day so they can get a feel for the flight paths and decide what works for them. For a full look at the city, see my guide to moving to Mesa or browse Mesa homes for sale. If you like local history, my story on how Tempe got its name is right next door.

Questions people ask

Why is it called Falcon Field?
British officials chose the falcon, a bird long linked to British power, instead of "thunderbird," the name used at the company's other Arizona fields. It was first planned as Thunderbird Field III.

Did British pilots really train in Mesa?
Yes. Falcon Field opened in 1941 as No. 4 British Flying Training School, and more than 2,000 pilots earned their wings there during World War II.

Where are the British cadets buried in Mesa?
The Mesa City Cemetery holds the graves of 23 British cadets, one American cadet and four instructors who died in training.

Terry Day, REALTOR®, DeLex Realty, 10115 E Bell Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85260.