Ellington Field (EFD) is a joint use civil/military airport. Acquired by the City of Houston in 1984, Ellington now supports the operations of the United States military, NASA, Continental Express, United Parcel Service and general aviation. The airport is home to the largest flying club in Texas and is the site of the annual Wings Over Houston Airshow. Ellington Field is located approximately 15 miles south of downtown Houston, near I-45/Gulf Freeway, the major highway heading from the City to NASA and Galveston Island. The airport is operated and maintained by the Houston Airport System.

Established during World War I, Ellington Field is the only military air installation in this part of Texas. It was named after Lt. Eric L. Ellington who was killed in a plane crash in San Diego in 1913. In 1917 Ellington became one of the largest aviation training facilities in the nation. Before World War I ended, approximately 5,000 men and 250 aircraft occupied the base. Pilots and bombardiers were trained at Ellington, and there was a gunnery and radio school there. Men who trained at Ellington were assigned to combat posts in Europe.

As history would have it, during the succeeding years Ellington gradually fell into decline. The base was in a standby status until 1927, the year it was razed by fire and subsequently closed.

The imminence of World War II prompted Congress to appropriate $7 million to rebuild the base. Nine months after construction began, on June 26, 1941, the first plane landed at the newly constructed Ellington Field. Shortly thereafter the military began training pilots and bombardiers again for combat. With the U.S. in the throes of war, manpower at the base climbed once again to 5,000 personnel.

Ellington Field became Ellington Air Force Base in September 1947 when the U.S. Air Force was designated a separate service. Ellington was again fully activated in 1949 as the only post-war U.S. Air Force navigator training school. When the Korean War began in 1950, Ellington resumed its duties of training men for war