When Winfield had scheduled airline flights
For a few years after the war, Central Airlines flew scheduled service out of Strother Field.
By Jolene Marquardt
Most people in Cowley County drive to Wichita to catch a plane. For a short time, they did not have to.
From 1950 to 1953, Central Airlines ran scheduled flights from Strother Field, first with small Beechcraft Bonanzas and then with Douglas DC-3s.
The field had only recently come back to the cities. It was built as an Army Air Forces training base during World War II, where cadets learned to fly in BT-13 Valiants, and it returned to civilian use after the war ended.
Airline service did not last. But Strother Field kept a role in local business as the cities’ shared airport and industrial park.