Nevada Aerospace Hall of Fame

Declaration of Enshrinement

October 14, 2011

George E. Crockett

In the early 1940s, George E. Crockett obtained a 99-year lease of government land south of Las Vegas for an airfield. He cleared a dirt strip and built a “gas shack,” that became the Alamo Airport 1942. In 1948, Crockett relinquished his right to the lease so the county could acquire it for use as its new airport. In return, he received a lease from the county that enabled him to continue operating the Alamo Airport. The Alamo Airport expanded rapidly after the county completed a new terminal and built the permanent runways that later became McCarran International Airport.

In the 1950s, the Alamo Airport provided support to military aircraft involved in the above-ground nuclear testing program at the Nevada Test Site, northwest of Las Vegas and in 1959, the World Congress of Flight held in Las Vegas. The airline, having sold the Cessna aircraft to the Hacienda Hotel, supported the hotel’s 1958-1959 World Endurance Flight, chalking the tires during takeoff and assisted, using their now famous T-Bird ramp car, in refueling when the fuel truck was out of service.

For his contributions to private and commercial aviation in Southern Nevada, George E. Crockett earned his place in the Nevada Aerospace Hall of Fame.

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TD BARNES, Executive Director

Nevada Aerospace Hall of Fame