Much of Louisville’s early aviation history grew from the Aero Club of Louisville, founded by 18 men that included pilots returning from World War I and businessmen who saw aviation’s potential beyond military uses. Among the founders were A. H. Bowman, Sidney Park, and Louisville mayor Huston Quinn. On October 26, 1922, aviators and aerial observers of the World War formed the club to use Bowman Field, which the War Department had recently accepted as a flying field for reserve officers in the Air Service. Bowman Field is one of the longest continuously operating airports in the U.S.
