As an Army pilot, Major John Jouett landed four times at Tucson. His first visit was on Friday, July 8, 1927 flying a Douglas C-1C Transport, 27-206. Surprisingly, he carried no passengers on that large airplane. Based at Hampton, VA, Langley Field, he was westbound from Lordsburg, NM to San Diego, CA. No purpose was given for the flight.

Below, an image of Jouett standing by his aircraft. Photo shared with us by friend of dmairfield.org, John Underwood. Site visitor Roger Holden says about the airplane, "... I can say the plane shown is a Curtiss A-3 Falcon. The number 100 and insignia on the rear cockpit identifies the aircraft as the Group Commander's aircraft of the 3rd Attack Group. In line with Jouett's rank given as Colonel [see below] ..., it's a near-certainty he was the group commander and that was his aircraft.The woman's head personal insignia is very unusual at this time and was, no doubt, the CO's prerogative."

John H. Jouett, Date & Location Unknown (Source: Underwood)

His second visit was over a year later on Wednesday, September 5, 1928. He carried a single passenger identified as Pvt. W.A. Spencer. They landed at Tucson in a Curtiss A-3 Falcon, identified simply as "A-3-0". Based at Ft. Crockett, TX, he and Spencer were westbound from El Paso, TX, Ft. Bliss to San Diego.

The Victoria (TX) Advocate, November 23, 1942

His third and fourth visits were some months later on April 18 and 20, 1929. Based again at Ft. Crockett, TX, he arrived first time from Ft. Huachuca, AZ and second time from Galveston, TX in the Curtiss A-3 Falcon 27-303. He carried Spencer again on the first flight, and a Sgt. Crawley on the second. Their destinations both times were Ft. Huachuca. It is not clear if the Curtiss aircraft in any of his three last visits is the one pictured above.

Other than the data from the Register and the photo caption below, I have no information about pilot Jouett. He has no biographical file at the NASM. His Web presence revolves around the "Jouett Mission" to China between 1932 and 1935. One source states that, then colonel, Jouett (by the early 1930s retired from the Air Corps) built the Chinese Air Force between 1932 and 1934. He left that job in 1935 because of Japanese complaints about the military implications of this unofficial training project.

Another source has him being suggested for a role in Claire Chennault's Flying Tigers on the cusp of WWII. Jouett had, "... set up the American flight school in Hangzhou in the 1930s ..." which qualified him for "Flying Tiger" duty. He did not take that job. The "Jouett Mission" to China was a highly successful one, as outlined in the Leary article cited in the right sidebar.

Jouett in Popular Aviation, April, 1939 (Source: PA)

The article, above, from Popular Aviation (PA) magazine, April, 1939 announces Jouett's apointment as head of the Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce. He maintained that position through WWII. The Chamber was responsible for publishing the Aircraft Yearbook series. An article, left, from the Victoria (TX) Advocate, headlined, "TRAINING PLANES BEING SUPPLIED WITH BOMBERS", quotes Jouett's estimates for warplane deliveries and pilot training programs.

An interesting column in the same newspaper details the AM radio station KVIC program for that Texas weekend (1340 on your dial). The schedule is in the right sidebar.

A brief obituary, right, (it's the best I can do with the copy I have) of Col. Jouett appeared in The Morning Herald, Hagerstown, MD, on October 24, 1968. He is cited as being a colonel and president of the Fairchild Aircraft Corporation about the same time he was president of the Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce.

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THIS PAGE UPLOADED: 03/08/10 REVISED: 07/03/14