Slats Rodgers and the Love Field Lunatics
The first flying circus in Texas, perhaps
the world, was organized by Floyd H. "Slats" Rodgers
and operated out of Love Field in Dallas. A Texas Historical Marker
has been placed at the McAllen International Airport that documents
Slats construction of the first airplane built in Texas its successful
flight and his many escapades.
Floyd H. "Slats" Rodgers sits
at the controls of his airplane November, 1912 in downtown Cleburne,
Texas. Charles Rodgers, Slats' father proudly poses with his 23
year old son.
 At
the end of World War I, Love Field became a Mecca for gypsy barnstorming
pilots and a flying circus was formed called Slats Rodgers
and the Love Field Lunatics. The circus was used as a cover
for the delivery of his bootleg whiskey.
When Roosevelt was elected President of the United States in 1933,
he repealed the Volstead Act. The sixteen year window of
time for bootleggers slammed shut.
Mexico beckoned to Slats and he became a gun runner involved in
a small revolution. Later he left Mexico, a rich man.
With the gold he brought out of Mexico, he purchased an airfield
in Mission, Texas and went into the crop dusting business.
Texas historical marker stands today near
a cantina at the McAllen International Airport Terminal honoring
Floyd H. (Slats) Rodgers.
Slats Rodgers Top Gun at Love Field
Book Information:
Hard Back
Includes 54 Pictures
265 Pages
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