AIRPORTS! JOIN OAOA-- TheThe OklahomaOklahoma AAviatorviator You’ll Be Glad You Did! Vol 21, No 9 Your window to Oklahoma Aviation...Past, Present, Future September 2003 Oklahoma Aviator, 32432 S. Skyline Drive, Cookson, OK 74427 NationalNational AirAir TTourour toto StopStop inin TTulsaulsa SepSep 1414 The National Air Tour 2003 stopped in both Ponca City and is scheduled to land at Tulsa Inter- Oklahoma City. A tour was national Airport on Sunday Sep- planned in 1932, but by then the tember 14, 2003, reenacting the Great Depression had set in firmly, Ford Air Tours of 1925 to 1931. and the necessary funds to conduct Rare vintage aircraft from the the tour were not available. Golden Age of Aviation will be in This year, as part of the Cen- Tulsa for a fuel and food stop from tennial of Flight activities, the Avia- approximately 9:00AM to tion Foundation of America, along 1:00PM. Aircraft will be arriving with the National Park Service and from their overnight stay in the U.S. Centennial of Flight Com- Wichita, KS and will depart Tulsa mission, is sponsoring the re-cre- for Fort Worth, TX on Sunday af- ation of the planned 1932 National ternoon. Air Tour. Beginning on Septem- Aircraft featured in the tour are ber 8 in Dearborn, the tour will the “best-of-the-best” in late 20s visit 26 cities in 21 states along a and early 30s aviation technology. 4,000-mile route during a 17-day Included are tube-and-fabric open- period. Weather permitting, over cockpit biplanes, large transport tri- 25 vintage aircraft from the 1920s motors, and aircraft designed for and 1930s will participate. One pleasure flying. The current list in- important stop is the Wright cludes at least three Ford Tri-Mo- Brothers National Memorial at Kill tors, the amazing Sikorsky S-38 and Devil Hills, NC on September 20, S-39 flying boats, and other intrigu- 2003. The vintage aircraft will land ing aircraft such as a high-wing One of the airplanes in the National Air Tour is this Ford Tri-Motor, owned by Kermit Weeks’ at the park’s First Flight Airstrip and Stinson Tri-motor, Speed Mails, Fantasy of Flight Museum in Florida. The airplane is painted in the scheme of Transatlantic Air be displayed in a circle around the Paramounts, and more. Other air- Transport, which stopped in Waynoka, OK as part of its transcontinental airplane/railroad service. base of the big Kill Devil Hill, the craft with romantic names such as birthplace of flight. Buhl, Eaglerock, Travel Air, and age them to invest in their manu- civic and business leaders, includ- to Oklahoma, and the 1926 tour The Tulsa International Air- New Standard will demonstrate the facture. ing Edsel Ford, felt strongly that a came only as close as Wichita, KS. port is celebrating its 75th anniver- variety of air travel choices from the By the mid-twenties, Detroit reliability tour would strengthen But the 1927 tour stopped in both sary this year due, in part, to the Golden Age of Aviation. businessmen saw potential for great public confidence in airplanes as a Oklahoma City and Tulsa. In National Air Tour. In late 1927, In 1925, Harvey Campbell, a wealth in manufacturing not only new mode of travel. 1928, the tour not only stopped in the tour organizers notified Tulsans Detroit businessman, proposed an automobiles, but also “aeroplanes.” Hence, they planned and ex- Tulsa before going all the way west that the existing Duncan McIntyre airplane reliability tour, following However, they knew the public’s ecuted the first of a series of na- to the Pacific states, it also was in- Airport was too small to accom- on the idea of Charles Glidden’s knowledge of aviation was colored tional air tours. The first tour de- strumental in the establishment of modate the tour, which was successful automobile reliability by well-publicized accounts of mili- parted Ford Airport, now the site the Tulsa Municipal Airport (now steadily growing, and that unless tours begun in 1904, whose pur- tary flyers and “daredevil” barn- of the Ford Motor Company Prov- Tulsa International). The 1929 Tulsa built a new airport, the 1928 pose was to show the American stormers, both of which were re- ing Grounds in Dearborn, MI, on tour again came only as close as tour would not stop there. With public how safe the newfangled “au- plete with danger, accidents, and September 28, 1925. Earlier, or- Wichita, but the 1930 tour made tomobiles” were—and to encour- death. Campbell and his group of ganizers had flown the proposed a stop in Enid. The final 1931 tour continued on p. 2. route—1,775 miles, with 11 stops in cities as far west as Des Moines, IA and as far east as Cleveland, OH—landing at hastily-created landing fields marked in the Mid- western farmland using white lime. On October 4, the tour com- pleted the trip, landing back at Ford Airport. Even though it was a rainy Sunday afternoon, 35,000 people were on hand to enthusiastically greet the returning aircraft. The tour had successfully demonstrated to the citizens of eight states the safety and reliability of aeroplanes. Subsequent annual tours for the next five years, each beginning and Yet another participant in the 2003 National Air Tour, stopping This1928 Fairchild FC-2W2, also on the 2003 tour, was NACA's ending in Detroit, were bigger and in Tulsa on September 14, will be this magnificent 1931 Sikorsky first airplane. It was also the National Park Service’s first airplane. covered other areas of the country. S-39 Flying Boat owned and restored by Dick and Patsy Jackson Photo courtesy of NationalAirTours.org. The 1925 tour did not come of Rochester, N.H. Photo courtest of Gilles Auliard. National Air Tour 2003 Tulsan John Kurt Wins EAA continued from p. 1. 75th anniversary of Tulsa International and a drawing that day, and vintage autos, as that imperative, a group of Tulsa business Spartan School, TASM will be open Sun- well as the latest Ford of Tulsa automobiles, Headquarters people got together and signed the famous day for special hours from 9AM to 5PM, will be on display. Major Achievement “Stud Horse Note,” pledging their personal with a discounted all-day admission price The tour aircraft are planned to be on funds to purchase land for the new airport. of only $0.75. During the morning, Den- static display on the airport ramp across from Award As a result, the Tulsa Municipal Airport was ver Foxx, KRMG radio personality, will the TASM, 7130 East Apache, for only a John Kurt, a member of EAA completed in less than six months, open- review the book The Ford Air Tours 1925- few hours. Arrival and departure times are Chapter 10 in Owasso, was honored ing on July 4, 1928 for the arrival of the 1931, a narrative and pictorial history of subject to the weather and the flight sched- at the AirVenture 2003 fly-in with 1928 tour. the tour. The Museum gift shop will be ules that day. For more information on the a Chapter Major Achievement Ford of Tulsa is the presenting sponsor selling the book for $20, so visitors can get tour, or for realtime updates on the tour Award. The EAA recognized out- for the Tulsa stop on this year’s tour. Other the pilots’ autographs. Great Plains Air- schedule, visit www.NationalAirTour.org or standing contributions within its sponsors include Tulsa International Airport, lines will be giving away a pair of tickets in call TASM at 918-834-9900. grassroots Chapter network with its Spartan School of Aeronautics (also celebrat- annual Chapter Major Achieve- ing their 75th anniversary this year), Mer- ment, Web Editor, and Newsletter cury Air, Smokehouse Barbeque, Bama Editor Awards. Foods, Albertson’s on 15th Street, Great Plains “Chapters are an integral part of Airlines, the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce, EAA in that they allow aviation en- and the Tulsa Air and Space Museum thusiasts to participate in flying ac- (TASM). tivities in their own communities,” Bill Knight, President of Ford of Tulsa, said Bob Mackey, EAA Vice Presi- said, “Ford of Tulsa is delighted and hon- dent of Chapter Relations. “The re- ored to sponsor the opportunity to see these cipients of EAA Chapter Awards are unique and rare flying aircraft. Edsel Ford, members who have helped build this Henry Ford’s son, was the first Grand Mas- outstanding grassroots network.” ter of the Ford Air Tours in 1925. This year’s The Major Achievement Award Grand Master is Edsel Ford III, his great- nominations give each Chapter the grandson. So it is very appropriate that Ford opportunity to recognize a living in- of Tulsa be the presenting sponsor for Tulsa’s dividual whose actions or accom- stop on the tour.” plishments have contributed the To celebrate the tour arrival and the most in furthering the cause of rec- reational aviation. Each EAA Chapter president is allowed to nominate one person THE OKLAHOMA AVIATOR from his or her chapter for the Web Published monthly at and the Newsletter Editor awards, 32432 S. Skyline Drive based on the efforts of individual Cookson, OK 74427 chapter editors’ work on web sites 918-457-3330 and monthly newsletters. The Chapter Office then handles the Founders huge task of judging the approxi- Joe Cunningham and Mary Kelly mately 1,000 Chapter newsletters and web sites from all over the Editors/Publishers world. Michael and Barbara Huffman Advertising Sales Michael Huffman The Oklahoma Aviator is published monthly. All rights reserved.