I knew this was going to happen. And it only took a few hours.

I got an email last night from alert reader Charles Szalkowski, who sends information on the airplanes I posted about yesterday:

“It is difficult to tell for sure, but both of the airplanes in your blog entry today appear to be the type called Curtiss JN-4, the “Jenny,” an American-made pilot training aircraft from World War I.

The plane with the residence hall in the background appears to be in standard military markings and one might even be able to track down the plane’s base from those markings.  The other plane in the photo by itself may or may not be in military markings, but probably is. If it were a barnstormer, it would likely be flamboyantly emblazoned with advertising.

The Jenny was used at Ellington Field before (maybe starting early 1917 when the Field opened)  and during the War and up through 1920 or perhaps later.  Ellington was an Army aviation training field and then later a National Guard training field.

After the War, many Jennys were sold to civilians, some of whom were barnstormers who flew where ever there was an open field and a chance a crowd could be gathered to buy rides or toss money in the hat to pay to watch an aerobatics performance.”

I hope to have some more pictures and a story up this afternoon, but realistically I might not get it done until tomorrow, so just hang on y’all.