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Earl and Pauline
Hawks founded an airport on the family farm near Bruning, Nebraska, where Earl was born in 1906. He and Pauline were married
in 1939, two years before Earl went on active duty in the Civil Air Patrol to
fly coastal patrol. He transitioned into P-51 Mustangs to protect the
continental U.S. from Japanese attack during World War II. Upon discharge in 1947,
Earl returned to Nebraska and bought his first airplane, a Piper J-3 Cub. A
hanger and landing strip were built across the road from the house and “Hawks
Field” was developed east of the spot where Earl’s father first broke forty
acres of native sod and sowed the first winter wheat in Thayer County. Pauline was Nebraska Flying Farmer and Rancher’s first queen in 1951 and their first Woman
of the Year in 1971. Earl’s awards include the Advancement of Rural
Aviation, the Nebraska Hospitality Award and the Nebraska Flying
Farmer of the Year. With their flight school and crop spraying business,
Earl and Pauline accumulated more than 27,000 and 1,800 flight hours
respectively.
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