Ford Airport (Dearborn) - Historical Timeline

Historical Timeline

  • 1924: 20,000 square foot (1,900 m²) Stout Metal Airplane Company factory opens (the Ford family were major investors and provided the land)
  • 1924: November, Ford Airport is dedicated as the first modern airport, equipped with two grass runways and flood lights for night landings.
  • 1925: Henry Ford builds the largest, most modern and only privately owned permanent dirigible mooring mast. It was only used twice and demolished in 1946.
  • 1925: Ford Air Transport Service between "Detroit" (Dearborn) and Chicago begins
  • 1925-31: Annual National Air Tour to demonstrate safety and reliability of commercial aviation starts and ends at Ford Airport.
  • 1926: First ever commercial Contract Airmail Route flights made over routes CAM-6 (Detroit-Cleveland) and CAM-7 (Detroit-Chicago) in a Ford Air Transport Service Stout 2-AT Pullman
  • 1926: First successful radio guided flight, using system developed by Ford Motor Company.
  • 1926: Stout factory is replaced with a 62,000 square foot (5,800 m²) facility to build new Ford Tri-Motors using assembly line production for the first time.
  • 1928-29: Grass runways are paved—the first concrete runways in the world.
  • 1931: July 1, The Dearborn Inn opens—one of the first hotels built to service the air traveler.
  • 1938: First vehicle test track is laid down around outside of the runways.
  • 1947: October 21, Ford Air Transport Office moves to Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ending Ford Airport operations.
  • 1961: Aug 11, Passenger terminal razed.
  • 2003: June 9 - Five vintage airplanes, including two Ford Tri-Motors, fly into Dearborn Proving Grounds; the first time in 56 years the test track is used as an airport. The planes were part of the "Taking Flight: Ford's History in Aviation" exhibit, which was one facet of Ford Motor Company's 100th anniversary celebration.
  • 2005: Major reconstruction and renovation work adds more test track surfaces and handling courses.
  • 2006: Site renamed as the Dearborn Development Center

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