Yolo Fliers
(L) O.W.C Pratt (R) Arthur C. Houston
www.dailydemocrat.com/.../yolo-fliers-club.../
Yolo Fliers Club was founded by O.W.H. Pratt, who wanted the Fliers Club to be a country club for golfers, swimmers, and fliers. Membership fees during those first days were $100 with yearly dues of $30.
Pratt fell in love with flying in the summer of 1919 when Air Force Lt. Charles Stoffer landed in Woodland as part of a “barnstorming” trip across the country. Pratt took a flight with Stoffer and got hooked.
He “talked, dreamed and thrived on flying, aviation, and aeroplanes,” according to the club’s history, so Pratt founded a local flying club and the golf course.
That’s why the Woodland Airport is so close by. Pratt wanted to offer flying lessons as well as be available for fliers stopping off in the community
By October 1919, the Yolo Fliers Club had its first 100 members. By January 1920, W.H. Weeks, a prominent Northern California architect, who designed many of Woodland’s private homes and businesses, was hired to build the first clubhouse and entry gate. The gate was finished in 1921 and honors all Yolo County men who died in World War I.
By the 1920s there were “Aero Exhibitions” and races and one account tells of more than 4,000 people in attendance at one event.
Yolo Fliers
(L) O.W.C Pratt (R) Arthur C. Houston
www.dailydemocrat.com/.../yolo-fliers-club.../
Yolo Fliers Club was founded by O.W.H. Pratt, who wanted the Fliers Club to be a country club for golfers, swimmers, and fliers. Membership fees during those first days were $100 with yearly dues of $30.
Pratt fell in love with flying in the summer of 1919 when Air Force Lt. Charles Stoffer landed in Woodland as part of a “barnstorming” trip across the country. Pratt took a flight with Stoffer and got hooked.
He “talked, dreamed and thrived on flying, aviation, and aeroplanes,” according to the club’s history, so Pratt founded a local flying club and the golf course.
That’s why the Woodland Airport is so close by. Pratt wanted to offer flying lessons as well as be available for fliers stopping off in the community
By October 1919, the Yolo Fliers Club had its first 100 members. By January 1920, W.H. Weeks, a prominent Northern California architect, who designed many of Woodland’s private homes and businesses, was hired to build the first clubhouse and entry gate. The gate was finished in 1921 and honors all Yolo County men who died in World War I.
By the 1920s there were “Aero Exhibitions” and races and one account tells of more than 4,000 people in attendance at one event.