North American transcontinental round trip flight occurred in 1919. The flight by Major Theodore Macauley and his mechanic, Pvt. Staley, began in January 1919. Macauley was flying west from Montgomery, Alabama, in a De Havilland DH-4 when its propeller was damaged during a rain storm. He was able to land at Payne Field for repairs and then continued on to complete his historic trip. There was, though, a delay of over a week at Payne Field as all of the rain had made the runway too muddy for the De Havilland to take off. With the end of World War I, in December 1919 Payne Field was deactivated as an active duty airfield, however, and a small caretaker unit was assigned to the facility for administrative reasons. It was used by the aerial forestry patrol. It also was used intermittently to support small military units. However, the decision had been made to phase down all activities at the base in accordance with sharply reduced military budgets. and it was closed. The base closed in March 1920. Shortly after it closed the Inter-State Airplane Co. of Dallas, Texas, purchased much of the field. Their plan was to develop a "municipal flying field" with passenger service from the east to Shreveport, Louisiana, Dallas, Ft. Worth and Wichita Falls, Texas. Apparently it was a plan that never materialized and the former air field is now agricultural land and thickets with no indication that it had once been a busy military base. Civil use After Payne Field closed, Colonel Jack Heard moved on to other fields of endeavor. After organizing the Flying Circus (a forerunner of the USAF Thunderbirds) in 1919, Heard went back to the cavalry and then transitioned into mechanized cavalry, ultimately commanding the 5th Armored Division. A man of varied interests, including coin and stamp collecting, astronomy, rose culture, history and finance, he retired in 1946 as a Major General and died at Brooke Army Hospital, San Antonio, Texas, in 1976. See also United States Army World War I Flight Training References External links Payne Field Site Explored The Lost Payne Field Historical Marker Account of death and injury resulting from a plane crash at Payne Field published June 11, 1918 in The New York Times September 5, 1918 letter from First Lieutenant J.S. Schlussel of the Headquarters Air Service Flying School, Payne Field published September 15, 1918 in The New