major way oochz east-west route between los angeles and new york and he worked with local official l.w. clapp. together he and lindbergh went all over the area looking for an appropriate site, and they finally settled upon this one. it is the highest point in wichita, and it's one of the reasons they picked it. but also the particular type of grass they grew here had a particular tight weave, if you will, and it made for a good landing strip. and the first six or seven years, this air terminal was in business, it had no runway. it just simply out in the field had a big circle of white rock and an air sock and pilots would fly over and determine the wind direction and then land into the wind in the grass. and then roll up to the terminal. because of air travel at that time, and this was a major route between new york and los angeles, this was the fourth busiest airport in the country for about 20 years, and also because of air travel and the fact that people didn't use private planes in the way they do now, just about any famous person you can think of in the '30s and '40s passed through this