In 1940, he joined Cornelius Coffey in the Coffey and Jackson Flying School (Chicago) where several Civil Pilot Training students were taught. Jackson completed advanced acrobatic training at Chicago School of Aeronautics.

     In October of this same year, he went to Tuskegee where, after teaching all ground school subjects, procuring an Airframe and Powerplant Mechanics License and an Instrument rating, Aerial Navigation, at Turner Air Force Base, Albany, Georgia, and the Civil Aeronautics Administration Cross Country Instructor Course at Northeast Airlines in Boston.

     Jackson was appointed Director of Training at the Army Air Corps 66th Flight Training Detachment which prepared pilots who would eventually fly in the 99th Pursuit Squadron.

As Director of Training, Jackson guided  the school to high standards of performance, and on three different occasions the students ranked first when compared to the other twenty-two schools in the Southeast  Army Air Corps Training Command.

     In 1948, Jackson earned a master's degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and in December, 1950 a Ph.D. in Higher Education from Ohio State University. The title of his dissertation is "A Study Of Aviation Courses and Facilities in Higher Education in the United States with Predictions and Future Trends". He spent a year as Associate Professor of Aviation at Ohio State University. Jackson has also produced an unpublished book entitled,  The New Fundamentals of Flight.

     After the war,  Jackson moved to Ohio where he became an FAA Flight Examiner and tested over 400 pilots for flight certification from 1947-1960. He developed an aircraft computer called a NAV-KIT which was used by many pilots in obtaining their licenses. Other activities included a multi-engine rating and appointment to the Citizens Advisory Committee, FAA, President of Experimental Aircraft Association. Chapter 382 for three years and Experimental Aircraft Association technical adviser as well as membership in Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association and the OX5 Aviation Pioneers.

     "An airplane in every garage." That was a goal of Dr. Jackson. Until a few months before his death, he was still working on such a design - a roadable airplane which would accommodate the common man - an airplane which could be stored at home and towed or driven to the airport.

     In 1956 Dr Jackson created and flew the Versatile I (the first of ten experimental airplanes) developed to serve as both an airplane and a car. The idea was to drive it to the airport, take off, return, and then drive it home. In the early 1960's Dr Jackson created and flew a different experimental plane which folded its wings for land travel. Only 16-feet long, the plane would fit in a garage, once its 12-foot wing span was folded. On the highway it operated like a three-wheel motorcycle, cruising at 35 to 50 MPH. The propeller was behind the passenger compartment in a slot surrounded by body, wings, and tail. This design created enough attention in England to cause the editors of Jane's All the World's Aircraft to portray and describe it to their world-wide membership of subscribers.

     Dr Jackson was not able to market any of his experimental airplanes due to either design flaws or the inability to produce the product economically with the level of government regulations to be met.

     Dr. Jackson's passion for innovation surfaced at 17, when he tried to mount a motorcycle engine on a monoplane. Unfortunately, a windstorm destroyed the invention before he could test fly it.

     In 1974, Jackson fostered the Business Entrepreneur Program at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio. Jackson¹s most creative venture was "An airplane in every garage." From his first test flight in 1956 until his death, he faithfully worked on designing a "roadable" airplane that could be stored at home and towed or driven to the airport. 
 

     God has created each person with different talents and interests. For Dr. Lewis A. Jackson, his were a passion for flying and a desire to change the world through his teaching.

     Even before graduation from IWU, in 1939, Dr. Lewis Jackson was teaching in local schools. His love for the classroom would stay with him the rest of his life, and his drive to excel in everything he did would eventually take him to the President’s office at Central State University.

     It was Dr. Jackson’s love for higher education that moved his wife, Dr. Violet Jackson, and their two children, Dr. Robert Jackson and Joyce Dixon, to support IWU’s work in developing world-changing students through a major donation toward the building of this state-of-the-art library.

     This state-of-the-art 79,000 square foot library's many features not only provide students with modern conveniences, its unique construction also adds to the beauty of IWU's growing campus.

     The $11 million facility includes the latest computer technology. Over 20 miles of cables crisscross through the library’s floors, giving students data throughout the library. For those students with wireless laptop PCs, the building allows them to log on over the airwaves.