Aviation has been linked to Kern County for almost as long as the existence of the industry. In 1891, Charles Howard ascended in a hot air balloon to 1,000 feet (300 m). He jumped and landed safely with a parachute he designed and constructed. By 1910, only seven years after the Wright Brothers' first airplane flight, aircraft began arriving in the county. They were brought in by Glenn Curtiss (in conjunction with the Kern County Board of Trade). The first flight in the area was flown by Charles Hamilton. Bakersfield then had two airfields. The more prominent field was at Sacramento and Monterey streets in East Bakersfield (at the time, mostly empty fields). It was named Bernard Field and was run by the Pacific Aero Club. The field would be a stop for US Air Mail from 1923 to 1926 (when that moved to Meadows Field). Another airfield was on the Panorama Bluffs in Northeast Bakersfield where Greenlawn Mortuary is today. With the development of commercial air service, Bakersfield needed a purpose-built commercial airport. In 1926, the Kern County Chamber of Commerce constructed and operated a new airport called Kern County Airport No. 1. Originally at the intersection of U.S. Route 99 and Norris Road, the following year it was moved one mile east to its current location. The original facility had one runway, one terminal building, and a few hangars and other buildings. In 1935, Kern County bought the airport from the Chamber of Commerce. It was the first county-owned airport in the nation. In September 1939, war broke out in Europe, prompting Congress to appropriate $40 million for the Development of Landing Areas for National Defense (DLAND). Under DLAND, the secretaries of War, Commerce, and the Navy approved expenditures for airports. By 1941, the Army Air Corps had begun directing aid to Meadows Field for improvements to include the operation of airport towers. In late 1943, the United States Army Air Forces acquired usage rights to Meadows Field. It was placed under the jurisdiction of the IV Fighter Command. The 481st Night Fighter Operational Training Group (NFOTG) used the facility as part of the Army Air Forces Night Fighter School, which had transferred from Florida to Hammer Field, California. Meadows Field was used as an auxiliary training airfield and the school operated a combination of modified Douglas A-20 Havocs for night fighter operations, designated P-70, and brand-new prototype YP-61 Black Widow night fighters. Between May 1 and July 12, 1944, the 427th Night Fighter Squadron trained at Meadows Field; the 549th Night Fighter Squadron trained there between July and October 1944. In addition, flights of P-61s from the 426th, 547th, 548th, and 550th Night Fighter squadrons moved in and out of Meadows Field during 1944 as part of their training prior to being deployed to combat units, primarily in the Pacific and CBI theaters. In December 1944, the 481st NFOTG was inactivated as part of an AAF reorganization. Meadows Field was placed on standby status and the airport was only used for emergency purposes, being under the control of Hammer Field. A Republic XF-84H Thunderscreech, an experimental fighter powered by a turboprop engine, was on display at the entrance to the former air terminal at Skyway Drive and Hanger Way until 1992 when it was reclaimed and moved to the National Museum of the United States Air Force. It was subsequently replaced by a U.S. Air Force T-38 Talon supersonic jet trainer. The T-38 was donated and was moved to the Minter Field Air Museum at Shafter Airport in 2015. After the war, Meadows Field would return to being a commercial airport. In the mid-1950s, Kern County would modernize the airport. The land was purchased and new facilities were built; in 1957, a new terminal and control tower was built east of the runway. That year, the county renamed the airport Meadows Field (by a board of minute order on August 6, 1957), after Cecil Meadows.