 The Navy replaced its PK , F5L , and H16 aircraft with newer models ( see table below ) . In 1933 VP @-@ 8F arrived on station , and in 1935 the army bombers had become too large to be maintained and stored at Luke Field . Construction began on a new Army airfield , Hickam Army Airfield , named after pioneer U.S. Army Air Corps pilot Lieutenant Colonel Horace Meek Hickam . From 1936 to 1940 Pan American flew its Clipper service into Ford Island , using it as a refueling stop between the United States and Asia . The Navy built a $ 25 @,@ 000 boathouse , spent $ 579 @,@ 565 on a new crew barracks and built a firehouse , water @-@ supply and lighting systems . In June 1936 the Navy lengthened the island 's landing field by 400 feet ( 120 m ) , to 3 @,@ 000 feet ( 910 m ) . In March 1937 Amelia Earhart , on her second visit to Luke Field , crashed her Lockheed Electra on takeoff . 
