Historic Ford Airport ''reopens'' for Ford Motor
Company Centennial
by TIM O'CALLAGHAN
Photographs taken by Ford Motor Company photographers, Messrs Keith Tolman and Tom Trinkwalder.
Edsel B. Ford II chats with Ford aviation historian and HFHA board member Tim O 'Callaghan shortly after Tim became one of the first passengers to land at the former Ford Airport since 1955. The Ford Flivver replica is behind them.
Three 1920s and 1930s vintage tri-motor airplanes along with two vintage single engine airplanes flew into Ford Airport June 9, 2003 landing at 10:28 am to commence Ford Motor Company's Centennial Celebration. Leading the vanguard were two Ford Tri-Motors - the Experimental Airplane Association's (EAA) Ford (4AT-69) and Grand Canyon Airline's Ford (5AT-74). These were the first landings of a Ford Tri-Motor airplane at Ford Airport (now known as the Dearborn Proving Grounds) in Dearborn, Michigan since 1955.
Following close behind the two Ford planes were a .Stinson 6000-B Tri-Motor and a Travel Air A-6000-A both owned by Greg Herrick, founder of the Aviation Foundation of America which sponsored the 2003 National Air Tour held in September. (A report of this air tour will appear in the next issue of The Ford Legend.) The Yankee Air Force owned V-77 Stinson Gull Wing was the last to land.
The planes had assembled at Pentastar Aviation Services (Edsel B Ford II's personal enterprise) at Oakland International Airport, Waterford, MI (about five miles west of Pontiac, MI). After a briefing of the pilots and co-pilots concerning distance, direction, altitude, radio frequencies, emergencies etc. the planes were boarded and lined up for
take off. Cody Welch piloted the EAA plane with Co-Pilot George Daubner and Richard Porter flight mechanic. Also aboard was Gerry Flaugher another of the EAA Tri-Motor pilots (three of EAA's six Ford pilots were on this one trip). Gene Marquardt, Robert Mull and Jim Boerger, (all of Ford Motor Company's vehicle and engine testing facilities) and myself, flying in the EAA's Ford, were the first passengers to land at Ford Airport since 1955. Bryan Godlove piloted the second Ford Tri-Motor, the son of one of the most famous of the old Ford pilots, with John Dillon, Manager of Grand Canyon Airlines, as Co-Pilot.
Ford Tri-Motor 4AT-69 just seconds from touchdown. Tim
O'Caliaghan was aboard the aircraft which can accommodate only 9 passengers.
Order of take off was EAA's Ford, Grand Canyon Airline's Ford, the Stinson Tri-Motor, the Travel Air and the Stinson Gull Wing. Cody revved up the engines of the EAA Ford and at 9:50 am released the brakes - 12 seconds later we were airborne. Flying at 95 mph at 1200 feet, a direct flight path was selected for the 22-mile trip to Ford Airport in Dearborn. Arriving in Dearborn, we first circled the Ford Airport, and then the Ford World Headquarters, just a mile to the northeast, was circled.
Returning to Ford Airport, a low level pass (seemed to be 15 feet off the ground) was made so all pilots could familiarize themselves with the intended runway as none
had ever landed there before. The long straight-a-way of the test track on the northern edge of the field was chosen as the safest place to land in lieu of the old 1928 concrete runways which are still in existence. Touch down was at 10:28 am and once on the ground the planes taxied onto the old runway. The aerial armada was welcomed by a host of cameramen, news people and Edsel B. Ford II who gave a short talk on Ford's "aviation heritage. The five planes then became part of a static display with transportation to and from Ford World Headquarters being provided during the Centennial celebrations.
Edsel B. Ford II during his presentation on Ford
Aviation History. The Ford Tri-Motor owned by the EAA is behind him. Notice the
replica of the Ford Flivver aircraft on the left.
The landing ceremonies of the Ford Tri-Motor planes arriving at-Ford Airport after 48 years, originally scheduled for Thursday June 12th, was moved forward to Monday June 9th when Ford's Public Relations people realized they might (probably would) detract from the opening of the Centennial celebration at Ford's World Headquarters taking place on Thursday.
Ford's Centennial celebration at World Headquarters included EAA's Countdown To Kitty Hawk pavilion; which featured a replica of the Wright brother's first airplane. As the centennial of flight coincides with Ford's centennial, Ford became the major sponsor of the Kitty Hawk program, which is being promoted with a series of shows around the country ending in December 2003. The final show will be held at Kitty Hawk, NC with the replica airplane being flown 100 years to the hour that the original Wright plane was flown.
Following these December ceremonies, the plane will be donated to the Henry Ford Museum ending a quest started by Henry Ford when he tried to purchase the Wright's first airplane at the time he purchased their home and store in 1936. This replica is said to be more accurate than the original plane hanging in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. This is due to the original plane having been damaged and repaired by contemporary means many times between the first flight in 1903 and the transfer of the plane to Smithsonian Institute in 1948. The replica plane and three flight simulators for the Wright Flyer were on display during Ford's Centennial celebrations along with a series of guest speakers each day. Steve Wright and Amada Wright-Lane, grand nephew and grand niece of the Wright brothers, Charles Taylor II, great grandson of the Wright brothers' mechanic and others. This writer was among those making presentations on Ford's aviation history.
Ford Tri-Motor 5AT-74 currently owned by Grand Canyon
Airlines, Grand Canyon, Arizonia.
Ford Airport was opened January 1925, to service the Stout Metal Airplane Company that had recently occupied a new Ford financed factory for building the first commercial all-metal airplane in the United States. The airport was considered the finest in the United States at the time and some even said the equal to any in the world. Stout's plane was a 6-passenger monoplane powered by a World War I 400 hp Liberty engine. Ford purchased the Stout Company in August 1925, made a few more of the single engine planes and then converted to building only a multi-engine airplane. By June 1926 the first of the famous Ford Tri-Motor airplanes rolled off an assembly line powered by three of the new 200 hp Wright engines.
In 1928 Ford paved his runways in concrete, (the first concrete runways in the world) and developed a radio beacon to assist flying in inclement weather. By 1932 the depression had set in, few airplanes were being sold and Ford's car sales were off 75%, all causing Ford to close his Airplane Division. Ford had built 198 of the Tri-Motor planes plus the single engine plane purchased from Stout and several experimental and small one-of-a-kind Flivver aircraft.
In 1938 Ford Airport was turned into a Test Track and, with the exception of World War II and a short period thereafter, was closed to air traffic. It was reopened in 1955 for a Tri-Motor Homecoming Celebration that included two Ford Tri-Motors (NC7584 - 4AT-38 & NC7684 - 4AT-42) and a TWA Martin 404. In 1975 the airport was again opened for the arrival of a North Central Airlines DC-3 that was donated to the Henry Ford ,Museum & Greenfield Village. The DC-3 has been restored and will ~e a focal point of the new Heroes of Aviation display at the museum that will open this September.
For complete information on Ford aviation history visit www.hfha.org/fordtrimotor.htm