Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology

Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology is a college within Saint Louis University.

Parks Air College was founded by Oliver Parks in 1927. Parks was America's first federally certified school of aviation, holding the FAA Air Agency Certificate no. 1. Oliver Parks started as the sole flight instructor with two instruction aircraft at Lambert airfield. The venture nearly ended when Parks crashed a Laird Swallow training aircraft leaving only one remaining trainer and was unable to teach lessons while in the hospital. He bought 100 acres in East St. Louis in 1928, and built five buildings the same year. By 1929 Parks operated 35 TravelAir trainers with an enrollment of 600 students.

Parks College was initially a publicly traded company. During the great depression, the Detroit Aircraft Corporation bought up eighty percent of the stock as part of a large merger of aviation entities. Oliver Parks sold most of his assets to buy back a controlling interest. The college students manufactured their own series of biplane aircraft, including the Parks P2A, which became the "hero" of books by author Richard Bach. The college quickly got out of the manufacturing business, selling the P2A rights to Ryan as the Ryan Speedster, and later the Hammond 100.

In 1931 Parks offered an Executive Transport Pilot's course. In the 1930s those enrolled as aeronautical engineers, had to design, construct and test fly their own aircraft. By 1936 the enrollment reached 200 students, with a training fleet that consisted of 49 aircraft including the Kinner Sportster, and Lambert Monocoach twin.

In 1938 Oliver Parks, (representing Parks Air College,) Curtis-Wright Technical Institute, and Boeing School of Aeronautics were requested by Gen Arnold to establish, at their own risk, a Civilian Pilot Training Program including barracks and aircraft to provide basic training for thousands of pilots. As enrollment swelled, Parks further expanded his facilities to include operations at Cape Girardeau and Sikeston, Missouri, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Jackson, Mississippi. Parks College trained thousands of aviators and aircraft mechanics during World War II. By the end of the war, more than 37,000 cadets (more than 10% of the Air Corps) had received their primary flight instruction at a Parks institution. A variety of training aircraft were used including PT-13, PT-17, PT-19, and the locally built PT-15 trainers.