WAY BACK WHEN, 100 years ago today on December 15, 1918, the local paper announced, "Santa Barbara is to be on the Langley airway … as the result of plans mapped and recommended by the Aero Club of America. The air route is to be used for commercial and military use." The route would start in Philadelphia, then go to Pittsburg, Columbus, Dayton, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Kansas City … and wind up in Southern California at Santa Barbara. Just one little detail needed to be worked out – we didn't have an airfield yet. More about the search for an airfield in Way Back When: Santa Barbara in 1918. (Photo of a Curtis biplane from WWI. Image: Wikimedia)