A community-oriented airport that specializes in general aviation, C.E. Page Airport is an Oklahoman grassroots project. But its origins are anything but modest, boasting a history that reflects the hub’s modern-day vision of innovation and growth.
Making Friends With Flyboys
The airport gets its name from Clarence Edgar Page, an Army pilot during World War I and one of the pivotal pioneers in the advent of aviation. He was born February 21, 1897, on a farm south of Oklahoma City. His introduction to aviation came at the age of 13, when he watched a thrilling exhibition that was the first airplane flight in Oklahoma City.
After serving in the war, Page’s career path took him in a non-aviation direction, but his enthusiasm for planes and aviation stayed strong. On the weekends, he and fellow Oklahoma aviators — including such notable names as Orville “Red” Mosier, Wiley Post, and Bennett Griffin — would barnstorm around the state. Page’s passion for flight eventually earned him the nickname “Mr. Oklahoma Aviation.”
Answering the Call of Duty
As a member of the Aviation Committee of the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, Page promoted the importance of airfields to the community and was instrumental in establishing several municipal airports in Oklahoma City.
In 1941, the nation was at war once again. Page’s contribution was the operation of several flight schools in Oklahoma City which trained hundreds of pilots for the war effort. The schools opened at Cimarron Field with two hangars, barracks, a mess hall, 240 acres for ground school, and a 20-acre asphalt warm-up field.
At the end of the war, it was Page who helped convince the City of Oklahoma City to acquire Cimarron Field. During this time, Page operated his own engine overhaul facility. And in 1957, he started Page Aircraft Maintenance Inc., a company that performed maintenance on aircraft from World War II, the Korean Conflict, and the Vietnam War. The company also furnished engines for numerous domestic and foreign commercial airlines.
Soaring into the Hall of Fame
Page was the driving force behind the establishment of the Oklahoma Air and Space Museum and Hall of Fame, now located in Science Museum Oklahoma. He served as the museum’s director until his retirement in 1988.
By the time of his death in Oklahoma City on February 13, 1989, he had been inducted into the Oklahoma Air and Space Hall of Fame and was a member of such pioneer aviation organizations as the OX-5 Club, Order of Daedalians, and the Quiet Birdmen.
In his honor, Oklahoma City’s Cimarron Field was renamed Clarence E. Page Airport.
