Fairfax Airport

Fairfax is located on the Goose Island river bend of the Missouri River. In 1880, a flood changed the main current to the west of Goose Island creating the Goose Island Chute. By 1907, the state of Kansas answered a Missouri petition for ownership of Goose Island. Kansas countered by saying the change in flow should not change the boundary of the state. The Supreme Court agreed and declared Goose Island was considered part of Kansas on March 22, 1909.

Between 1921 and 1922, Guy Stanley bought land adjacent to what would become the airport and selected the name "Fairfax" because it reminded him of Fairfax, Virginia. On September 14, 1922, the Fairfax drainage district was established by the county commissioners. The district consisted of 1,500 acres in the Missouri river valley between the Kansas City limits, the Missouri Pacific tracks and the river front. It extended from Jersey creek to the Quindaro water plant. Engineers started working on plans for a dike system to help protect the area from future flooding. The dike was to be completed by the end of 1923 on the land that was optioned to the Union Pacific Railroad.

Ben F. Gregory and Bernard Knapp claimed to be the first to land an airplane on the 160 acre area that would become the airport in November of 1924. Saturday and Sunday, November 22 and 23, 1924, would be the first known airshow at the location. Principle stunts included parachute jumps and races between two planes. In less than one month, regular weekly demonstrations with rides available for the public (weather permitting) were available at the now named Fairfax Flying Field.

By March of 1925, Fairfax Flying Field was being considered by the government as a station on the transcontinental air mail route. Plans were being made in May of 1925 for the current owners (Union Pacific) to lease the land to a private firm for the purpose of creating a commercial airport. This lease would have provisions that would still allow the government to use the air field for either training or transcontinental air mail.

By January of 1926, Emory J. Sweeney signed a lease for 115 acres of land to establish the Sweeney Flying School. Sweeney airport's first building was a hangar that held approximately 6 planes. He started construction on two 75 foot wide runways. One would be 2,800 feet long and the other would be 3,100 feet long.

By 1927, the rivalry between Sweeney Airport and the New Richards Field across the river was in full swing. The Sweeney Airport touted it was "high and dry" when the New Richards Field had what appeared to be several feet of water. In mid-August, when the New Richards Field was dedicated by Charles Lindberg, Sweeney Field even offered the use of their airport for him to land due to the poor conditions at the New Richards Field. Although he declined the offer, a squadron of seven United States Army planes did divert to land at Sweeney Field. It was noted that New Richards Field was in the condition it was due only to "heavy labor on the part of several gangs of workmen". Lindberg was later quoted as saying (about his landing at New Richards Field) "It is the poorest landing arrangement I have encountered anywhere".

In April of 1928, Sweeney announced they would move the classrooms of the Aviation school to the airport after the sale of their building in Kansas City, Missouri. This move would be the start of the push for a municipal flying field in Kansas City.

In July of 1928, Harry Darby presented a proposal to establish the flying field as a municipal airport. Over the next two months, the city studied the viability of a municipal airport in Fairfax. By September 3, 1928, it was announced that the Woods Brothers Corporation development company had leased the Fairfax Flying Field and would operate it as an open airport for Kansas City, Kansas. It was hoped this improvement would lead to the Fairfax Industrial area becoming the air, land and rail commerce center in the Midwest.

In March of 1929, expansion of the airport was started. This advancement was required to support deals with American Eagle Aircraft, Curtiss Flying Service, Rearwin Airplanes Inc. and Universal Aviation Company. From March through June of 1929, the airport was a temporary stop for airmail flown by the National Air Transport Company.

An estimated 70,000 people attended the airport celebration that included aircraft demonstrations and races on August 3, 1929. This was the start of a multi-day ceremony that culminated in the dedication of the airport on Sunday, August 4, 1929.

At a combined cost of approximately $750,000, construction included hangars, runways, lighting, and an administration building. At the time, Fairfax airport would be state of the art. Fully lighted runways, telephone, telegraph and radio service would be available.

For the next 10 years, the airport was seen to have great potential. As aviation in Kansas City increased, so too did the importance of the airport. By 1933, the airport had a total of four asphalt runways. The operators included American Airways, Inc., American Eagle Corporation, Braniff Airways, Inc., Curtiss-Wright Flying Service, Rearwin Airplanes, Inc., and U.S. Airways, Inc. to name a few.

In 1935, just 12 years after the completion of the original Fairfax dike system, plans were made to improve the dike system and incorporate Goose Island into Fairfax Airport in a $1,750,000 WPA project proposal. These plans would allow for both the widening as well as the lengthening of the runways. This plan would take almost 4 years to be put in place.

On July 12, 1935, the United States Navy established a Naval Reserve Air base at the Fairfax airport. By 1937, the base was acting as an Army Reserve base as well as a Naval Training Station. In January of 1938, the Army proposed a similar Fairfax Airport expansion plan that would include Goose Island.

The proposal from the Army would indeed be accepted and the project was turned over to Capt. A. M. Neilson, United States Army Engineer. Over the next several months, details were worked out and the project would finally be started in April of 1940. This project would increase the Fairfax Airport site from 230 acres to 800 acres.

By November of 1939, the government was searching for a way to increase airplane factories. This need was from the British lend-lease contracts that totaled 9 billion dollars.

Since 1928, Fairfax had been building and expanding the airport facilities. Now with several manufacturers, suppliers and training in place, it was no surprise that on December 7, 1940, the War Department announced a plane plant would be built on 140 acres adjacent to the Fairfax Municipal Airport.

The announcement came with the understanding the city would have to either own or have a long term lease on Fairfax Airport. On January 22, 1941, Kansas City signed a resolution to lease the Fairfax airport if the voters failed to pass bonds sufficient to purchase. This was done at the request of the United States Government to assure the plant would be located in Fairfax. Free and unrestricted use of the airport was required for the plant to be located in Fairfax. Just a few weeks later, the bond measure passed, and the city purchased the airport for $750,000. Almost immediately, a WPA project was announced for improvement and modernization of Fairfax Airport. The early work on the plant had begun in January when the U.S. engineering corps surveyors started footing tests to determine how broad the foundation footings must be to support the building.

On March 6, 1941, a Kansas City resolution was passed that declared Fairfax Airport a public utility and formally requested the board of public utilities to assume management. This arrangement would totally remove the cost incurred purchasing the airport from taxpayer liability. The ground breaking on the plant was just 2 days later on March 8, 1941. The ground breaking ceremonies were well attended and took most of the afternoon. Among the festivities of the day was changing the name of Reimer road to Kindelberger road.

Production on B-25s started in November, and by December 1941, the B-25 plant at Fairfax would assemble the first B-25D-NC serial number 41-29848. Dedicated by Mrs. Thomas Bender on December 23, 1941, "Miss Greater Kansas City", she would be first flown after the holidays.

By June of 1942, work on the Fairfax Airport runway expansion would be completed. Started in April of 1940, work on the two plus year construction project by the Tobin Construction company would be completed by mid-May, with the Koss Construction company finishing by June 1, 1942. The control tower would not be completed until September of 1942.

On May 13, 1942 the construction contract for the North American Aviation modification center was announced. Awarded to the Patti and McDonald construction company, the hangar would be built on a 35 acre area near the southeast corner of the field. Built entirely of wood and concrete to save steel for the war effort, the facility would be completed by August of 1942.

The Fifth Ferrying Group based out of Love Field in Texas was initially charged with transporting B-25s from the Fairfax Plant. As production increased, the Fifth Ferrying Group, Second Ferrying Squadron was created to ferry B-25s out of Fairfax. The first 15 Ferry pilots for the squadron and 2 officers arrived at Fairfax by February 4, 1943. They received their first orders to fly a B-25 out of Fairfax on February 10, 1943. The remainder of the squadron would arrive by April that same year. On January 1, 1944, the Second Ferrying Squadron was taken from the jurisdiction of the Fifth Ferrying Group and would be redesignated the Thirty-Third Ferrying Group on April 1, 1944.

The North American Aviation plant would continue to make B-25 bombers until the end of the war in August of 1945. The last of the 6,680 B-25 bombers built at the plant were flown out of Fairfax at the end of that October.

On August 22, 1945, automobile manufacturer General Motors began negotiations to lease the bomber plant to build cars. That contract was finalized on November 5, 1945. The plant became part of the Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac Assembly division and was known as the "BOP" plant.

In 1953, the building was again used to manufacture aircraft. General Motors would eventually build 599 F-84F fighters. This was the only time in U.S. history that cars and aircraft were built simultaneously in the same building. GM was given the option to purchase the plant and did so in 1960.

In September of 1945, Transcontinental and Western Airlines (later TWA) started negotiations to occupy the 260,000 square foot former modification center on the airport. These negotiations were not finalized until November of 1945. The airline had recently purchased 36 Lockheed Sky Titans was planned as a maintenance and overhaul facility. They would occupy the building until it was destroyed in the July 13, 1951 flood.

On June 27, 1945, President Harry S. Truman landed at the Fairfax airport in his first trip back to the area since his inauguration on April 12, 1945. He was met at the airport by Mayor Roger Sermon. His final destination was Independence, Missouri where he held a press conference. At this press conference, he officially accepted the resignation of Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., the Secretary of State. Mr. Stettinius had submitted his resignation after the death of President Roosevelt, but President Truman asked him to continue his work as the chairman of the United States delegation at the United Nations Conference in San Francisco. President Truman used this opportunity to announce that he would be sending the United Nations Charter to the Senate for ratification, and nominated Mr. Stettinius as the first Representative of the United States to the United Nations.

Between December 1945 and May 1950, Fairfax Airport was used for reserve training. An Army Air Force Base Unit was activated on July 12, 1946, and the 564th Bombardment Squadron, was activated on January 6, 1947. In October of 1949, the United States Air Force terminated the lease on Fairfax Airport and the city of Kansas City, Kansas regained control of the facility. On May 22, 1950, the units were moved to the Olathe Naval Air Station.

On July 13, 1951, the airport was damaged during a large flood. Between July 9th and 13th, some areas of the Kansas River basin received 18.5 inches of rain. The death toll would reach 28 as over 1 million acres were flooded. Total losses from the flood exceeded $725,000,000. In the aftermath, the path of the river would be forever changed.

In 1985, GM decided to build a new plant on the airport site. The airport officially closed on April 1, 1985. The ceremonial last flight out of the Fairfax Airport was made by "Fairfax Ghost" B-25J-35-NC SN 44-86893. The "Fairfax Ghost" marked the flight with the dropping of a wreath over the airport the afternoon of March 31, 1985. After this ceremonial flight, "Fairfax Ghost" flew back around and prepared for a landing to take on more fuel. As they lowered the gear, they received a warning indicating the nose gear was not locked in the down position. Landing at the airport could have ended in a nose gear failure. Since the airport was closing, this could not be risked. They flew in pattern for several hours cycling the gear trying to get the nose gear to lock. As fuel became an issue, a decision was made to fly the aircraft to her new home at Richards Gebauer Airport. As she came in for a landing, her nose gear held. Investigation into the problem determined wear on the nose gear down lock was the fault. This small metal part activates a sensor in the aircraft when the nose gear is locked in the proper position. The final flight out of Fairfax airport would be made by a Cessna 402 piloted by Hugh A. "Holly" Hollinger at 11:59:59 pm March 31st 1985.