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Early Years of Aviation in Dothan
From the 1920’s interest in aviation was alive in Dothan. E. P. Lott, a friend of Sid Wilson, flew this Standard to Dothan where he made a crash landing. With the help of Max Fortner repairs were made and he told Max he would teach him to fly.
In 1926 Lott flew this Shallow plane to Dothan on a barnstorming trip. Any pasture or field made a perfect landing field.
A hard core of dedicated flying enthusiasts, John Chalker, Ralph Dowling, Julian Hall, Charles Roberts, George Grubb, Buddy Hale, Earl Moody, O. L. Baker and M. L Hanahan, Jr. are credited with the vision and interest that kept Dothan in the aviation picture through the depression-ridden ‘30’s.
In 1934 land was purchased in west Dothan, where Water World is now, for Dothan’s first municipal airport. On a grass runway Eastern Air Lines made its first arrival, December 8, 1939.
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