Major Albert Bond Lambert (December 6, 1875 - November 12, 1946) was a prominent St. Louis aviator and benefactor of aviation. December 6 is the 340th day (341st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1875 (MDCCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... November 12 is the 316th day of the year (317th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 49 days remaining. ... Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Nickname: Gateway City, Gateway to the West, or Mound City Location in the state of Missouri Coordinates: Country United States State Missouri County Independent City Mayor Francis G. Slay (D) Area    - City 66. ...

Lambert was a Police Commissioner of St. Louis and a local industrialist. In 1906 he became interested in aviation, and took ballooning lessons. In 1907 he was one of the founders of the Aero Club of St. Louis. (The Club used “military” titles; hence Lambert’s title “Major.”)

In 1909 Lambert met the Wright Brothers, and purchased his first airplane from them. He took flying lessons from Orville Wright, and in 1911 became the first St. Louis resident to hold a pilot’s license. During World War I he served in the Aviation Section of the United States Army Signal Corps, as an instructor in ballooning and parachuting. The Wright brothers, Orville (August 19, 1871–January 30, 1948) and Wilbur (April 16, 1867–May 30, 1912), are Americans generally credited with making the first controlled, powered, heavier-than-air human flight on December 17, 1903. ... Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 - January 30, 1948), the younger of the Wright brothers, seen as one of the fathers of heavier-than-air flight. ... Branch insignia of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, representing Myers Wigwag The U.S. Army Signal Corps was founded in 1861 by United States Army Major Albert J. Myer, a physician by training. ...

In 1920, for $68,000, Lambert purchased Kinloch Field, a 550-acre field northwest of St. Louis, which had been used for hot air balloon ascensions. For the next seven years, Lambert, at his own expense, developed the field with runways and hangars. In 1927 Charles Lindbergh used Lambert Field (as it had been renamed) as the starting point for his famous flight to Paris. The following year, 1928, Lambert sold the field to the city of St. Louis for $68,000, the same price he’d paid for it before making improvements. Lambert-St. Louis International Airport thus became the first municipal airport in the United States. Hot air balloon in flight Hot air balloons are the oldest successful human flight technology, dating back to the Montgolfier brothers invention in Annonay, France in 1783. ... 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr. ... FAA Diagram of Lambert-St. ...

External links

Albert Bond Lambert: http://www.earlyaviators.com/elambert.htm

History of Lambert St. Louis International Airport: http://www.lambert-stlouis.com/about/history.htm