The Purdue University Airport was the first collegiate owned airport in the United States. It hosted Amelia Earhart for her final adventure, was the training ground for test pilots such a Jimmy Johnson and Ivan Kincheloe, balloonist Malcolm Ross, and astronaut Neil Armstrong. Purdue University Airport and its people and programs pushed aviation’s evolution to new heights and helped expand the frontiers of flight. During WWII, hundreds of U.S. Army and Navy members were trained at the airport.
This was the first university-owned airport in the United States, and because of it, Purdue was the first American university to offer college credit for flight training. Purdue is the site of many other firsts, such as the first university flight test course, the first Reserve Officer Training Course (ROTC) flight, and the first bachelor’s degree in aviation with an emphasis on professional pilot skills.
Today it is one of the busiest airports in Indiana, second to Indianapolis International Airport.
