After Charles Lindbergh was unable to land at Lubbock during a U.S. speaking tour because the city had no airport, city leaders and aviation enthusiasts raised funds for a municipal airport so Lubbock would take part in the new age of aviation. That airport was established in 1930 north of the city and was managed by local aviator Clent Breedlove. In September 1939, Breedlove left that position to open his own flying service at the second hangar of Lubbock Municipal Airport, and on December 20, 1941, he opened Breedlove Airport on East 50th Street just east of the Tahoka Highway. Breedlove lived there with his wife Aulyne and daughter Mary Louise, and he and his wife owned and operated the airport until 1947. The facility included four large runways, a hangar, shop and parts room, storage hangar, doping room, café, restrooms, and a two-story administration building with control tower. During World War II, the 219-acre airport trained thousands of cadet pilots through the Civilian Pilot Training Program and the Texas Tech Pre-Flights Program, also known as the 309th College Training Detachment, and it also served as Lubbock's commercial airport during the war years. On February 6, 1943, Congressman George H. Mahon announced that a new military corps would use Texas Tech's facilities for wartime training. The Pre-Flight Program let colleges and civilian contractors provide initial pilot training, helped meet the urgent wartime need for pilots, boosted Lubbock-area businesses, and, together with the Civilian Pilot Training Program, taught an estimated 3,750 military students the basics of flight, civil air regulations, and various college-level courses.