My Grandfather often sends me interesting email forwards and this one was too good not to post. He is a retiree of Ford Motor Company for well over 20 years now. Anyway, enjoy!
Afterwards, stop on by our Zazzle galleries for some great vintage prints and gifts of old Ford cars. (Please note that I have not verified any of the credited sources or any of the facts mentioned within the email and have left all of the source names and URLs intact from the original email).
Did you know this history of the Ford Proving Grounds?
Ford Airport, Dearborn, MI
(West of Detroit, MI)
N 42° 17.829 W 083° 13.636
17T E 316399 N 4685171

Michigan Historical Marker Ford Airport

A 1925 photo of an airshow at Ford Airport (courtesy of Mike Denja),
showing several unidentified biplanes & monoplanes.
According to Michael Kuentz, Henry Ford had become an investor in William Stout’s airplane manufacturing firm, which built single-engine aircraft. However, Ford was not happy with his investment, so in an attempt to control the company he bought into, he had a 2nd Stout airplane factory built on the corner of Oakwood & Village Road.
The 20,000 square foot Stout Metal Airplane Company factory opened in 1924. In 1925, the Ford Airport was dedicated, with 2 grass runways & flood lights for night landings. It was widely touted as being the first “modern” airport in the world. The airport was the first in the US to operate a regularly scheduled passenger airline in continuous domestic service, with the Ford Air Transportation Service providing a route between “Detroit” (Dearborn) & Chicago. Ford Airport was also the first in the US to have an airline terminal for passenger use, the first in the world to have a hotel (the Dearborn Inn) designed & built for the air traveler.
The Ford Motor Company Airplane Division manufactured aircraft at this location starting in 1925. Henry Ford erected the largest, most modern and only privately owned permanent dirigible mooring mast in 1925. From 1925-31, the Annual National Air Tour (to demonstrate the safety and the reliability of commercial aviation) started and ended at Ford Airport.
In 1926, Ford Airport operated the world’s 1st flight of a commercial airliner guided by radio, using system developed by Ford Motor Company.

The Army’s RS-1 blimp, moored at the Ford Airport in 1926.
Ford Airport’s dirigible mast was reportedly only used twice.

An undated view of Ford Airport’s dirigible mooring mast (from Wayne State University’s Virtual Motor City web site).

A 1926 photo of the passenger terminal at Ford Airport.
According to Michael Kuentz, Stout aircraft had a poor flight record and suffered many crashes. Ford was losing money rapidly, and on the night of January 27, 1926 a fire mysteriously started in the all-brick & steel plant, destroying the building. Shortly after the fire, Henry sent Bill Stout on a nation-wide public relations tour and then contracted with Albert Kahn to design and build two new buildings; one a new 62,000 square-foot Ford Tri-Motor airplane factory, and the other the world’s first airport hotel (The Dearborn Inn).
Shortly after Bill Stout left for his PR tour, Henry was overheard telling one of his executives, “For the first time in my life, I have bought a lemon, and I don’t want the world to know about it”, regarding the puzzling fire. Never again would the Stout name appear on an airplane factory. Eventually Henry Ford bought out William Stout and turned his transportation company into Ford Air Transport.
From 1928-29, Ford Airport’s grass runways were paved giving the field the first concrete runways in the world.

A 1931 aerial view looking northwest at Ford Airport.
According to the Michigan Historical Marker website, Henry Ford built the Dearborn Inn (opening in 1931) to accommodate overnight travelers arriving at the Ford Airport. Located opposite of the airport along Oakwood Boulevard, the 179 -room inn was the world’s first airport hotel. The guest quarters along Pilots Row originally were used by the airlines’ crews.

A July 25, 1931 view of a Goodyear Blimp over Ford Airport’s dirigible mast
(from Wayne State University’s Virtual Detroit website). (Note also the 3 balloons visible at the top of the photo.)
Unfortunately, Henry Ford lost more than $10 million on his airplane division, which closed in 1933. A total of 199 Ford Tri-Motors were eventually built at the Dearborn facility. The Tri-Motor was the 1st American all-metal, multi-engine, commercial airliner. However, the airport itself continued to operate for several years more.

Ford Airport, as depicted on the 1935 9M Night Flying Chart.

In 1938 the 1st automobile test track was laid down on the Ford Airport property.
Ford Airport was still depicted as an active private airfield in the 1946 MI Airport Directory. It was depicted as having 2 concrete runways (3,700′ & 3,200′). By this point, the airport had been converted to simultaneously serve as an automobile testing ground, with an automobile test track extending beyond the runways. Ford Airport’s dirigible mooring mast was demolished in 1946.
The Ford Air Transport Office moved to Detroit Metropolitan Airport in 1947, and the Ford Airport was closed. By the time of the 1948 Detroit Sectional Chart, the airport was no longer depicted at all.

1946 MI Airport Directory
The Ford Air Transport Office moved to Detroit Metropolitan Airport in 1947, and the Ford Airport was closed. By the time of the 1948 Detroit Sectional Chart, the airport was no longer depicted at all.

1949 aerial photo of Ford Airport (2 years after it was closed)
Both paved runways remained intact, and note the lettering Closed X Airport which was barely discernable on the middle of the former northwest/southeast runway. A number of paved aircraft parking spots were located just east of the runway intersection. The circular clearing for the former dirigible mooring mast was still visible on the east end of the field, but it appears the mast itself had already been taken down.

Ca. 2001 aerial photo, the remains of 2 paved runways (the longest is 3,300′) were still discernible in the middle of the auto proving grounds.
Along the south end of the former airfield, the building farthest to the left is a Ford Engineering facility
that was built in part of the old Ford Airplane Factory. Looking at it today you could never tell what it was in a former life. Moving to the right, the next small building is all that remains of the powerhouse for the former Ford Airplane Factory. Today this building houses garages for prepping cars for the test track. The next building to the right is a 123′ x 300′ sandstone & steel hangar,
where the first Ford Tri-motors were first assembled while the big factory was still being built.
The hangar was later used to house the Ford Tri-Motor airplanes. It still exists today but houses a small wind tunnel for experimental vehicles. To the south of this hangar is the Dearborn Inn.
The 4th building moving to the right was built back in the 1970’s and is another testing facility.
Located north of the 3rd & 4th buildings is a small structure that has been heavily added onto -
that is the former Ford Airport passenger terminal. Just beyond that is a concrete circle where the dirigible mast used to be.

A 2004 photo by Greg Steinmayer “of the original Ford Airport hangars”.
The building is now used for ‘Experimental Engines’ by the Ford Motor Company. The original Ford hangars, complete right down to the original hangar doors, still exist on the Southwest side of the former airfield (along Oakwood Boulevard). They are currently used as testing labs. Directly across from the hangars is the Dearborn Inn, constructed as the world’s first specific airport hotel. It is still in operation as the premier hotel in Dearborn.
It was reported in 2005 that Ford Airport, which became the Ford Proving Grounds, is no more. Ford has completely restructured the proving grounds and eliminated all traces of the former runways, which were still extant as part of the proving ground’s roadway system. The former runways are at least covered, if not gone altogether.

A March 2006 aerial view by Paul Freeman, looking southeast at the site of the former Ford Airport.
The Ford Airport site is located north of the intersection of Oakwood Boulevard & Rotunda Drive. The Henry Ford Museum is adjacent to the airport site.
Dearborn Proving Ground facts
360 acres in Dearborn, Mich., with approximately 25 miles of test roads
First test track is laid in 1938 around Ford Airport runways. It is actively used as an airport until June 1947.
Tracks include two oval tracks at 2.8 miles around, a straightaway nearly 1 mile long, a Ride and Handling track 1.1 miles around, two hills with 11 percent to 30 percent grades, a wet skidpad and a variety of test surfaces for development of steering, brakes, NVH, ride and handling, powertrain and durability.
Test vehicles drive approximately 2 million miles per year.
Grounds include four wind tunnels, cold test rooms, Automotive Safety Center and Crash Barrier, Product Review Center and two vehicle service garages and offices.
Approximately 800 employees
Gas station supplies specialty fuels for powertrain calibration and emissions certification.
Ford Airport facts
1924: 20,000-square-foot Stout Metal Airplane Company factory opens
1925: 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 Transportation Service between Detroit and Chicago begins – the first regularly scheduled airline in the United States
1925-31: Annual National Air Tour to demonstrate safety and reliability of commercial aviation starts and ends at Ford Airport.
1926: First successful radio guided flight, using system developed by Ford Motor Company.
1926: Stout factory is replaced with a 62,000-square-foot 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: Dearborn Inn opens – one of the first hotels built to service the air traveler.
1938: First vehicle test track is laid down.
1947: Ford Air Transport Office moves to Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ending Ford Airport operations.
2003: Five vintage airplanes, including two Ford Tri-Motors, fly into Dearborn Proving Ground – the first time in 56 years the test track is used as an airport.
(Facts Courtesy of Ford Media’s website)

Michigan Historical Marker Ford Tri-Motor
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Technorati Tags: airplanes, airport, Detroit, flight, Ford, Ford Motor Company, Ford Tri-Motor, Ford's, Henry Ford, history, Michigan, pilot, proving grounds, Stout Metal Airplane Company, tri-motor