Fairfax Airport was an
airportAn airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
in
Kansas City, KansasKansas City is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and is the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri and is the third largest city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The city is part of the "Unified Government" which also includes the...
from 1921 until it closed in 1985. It is most famously associated with the construction of most of the
B-25 MitchellThe North American B-25 Mitchell was an American twin-engined medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation. It was used by many Allied air forces, in every theater of World War II, as well as many other air forces after the war ended, and saw service across four decades.The B-25 was named...
bombers.
The airport was directly across the
Missouri RiverThe Missouri River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, and is the longest river in the United States of America. The Missouri likely originates at Brower's Spring at the upper reaches of the Jefferson, before joining the confluence of the Madison, Jefferson, and Gallatin rivers in Montana....
from
Kansas City Downtown AirportCharles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport , also known as Kansas City Downtown Airport, is a public airport located in Kansas City, Clay County, Missouri, United States. This airport is publicly owned by City of Kansas City.-History:...
and served as an air strip for plane manufacturers and repairs in the city's Fairfax district, as well as postal delivery. Passenger service in the area was handled by its Missouri sister (although Braniff briefly used it).
Fairfax Airport was an
airportAn airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
in
Kansas City, KansasKansas City is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and is the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri and is the third largest city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The city is part of the "Unified Government" which also includes the...
from 1921 until it closed in 1985. It is most famously associated with the construction of most of the
B-25 MitchellThe North American B-25 Mitchell was an American twin-engined medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation. It was used by many Allied air forces, in every theater of World War II, as well as many other air forces after the war ended, and saw service across four decades.The B-25 was named...
bombers.
The airport was directly across the
Missouri RiverThe Missouri River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, and is the longest river in the United States of America. The Missouri likely originates at Brower's Spring at the upper reaches of the Jefferson, before joining the confluence of the Madison, Jefferson, and Gallatin rivers in Montana....
from
Kansas City Downtown AirportCharles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport , also known as Kansas City Downtown Airport, is a public airport located in Kansas City, Clay County, Missouri, United States. This airport is publicly owned by City of Kansas City.-History:...
and served as an air strip for plane manufacturers and repairs in the city's Fairfax district, as well as postal delivery. Passenger service in the area was handled by its Missouri sister (although Braniff briefly used it). Its IATA designation was KCK.
The airport was used by Harry Truman when he flew back to Missouri during his Presidency.
It started as a small strip in 1921 for an
American LegionThe American Legion is a congressionally chartered mutual-aid veterans organization of the United States armed forces founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by the U.S. Congress. The American Legion was founded in 1919 by veterans returning from Europe after...
air meet. E.J. Sweeney opened a flying school there in 1925, and it was called Sweeney Airport. In 1928 the Wood Brothers Corporation acquired the airport and renamed it Fairfax. In 1941 the city of Kansas City, Kansas, purchased the airport for $600,000 from the Kansas City Industrial Land Company (a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Railroad which had trains that ran along its edge) . It was to be used by
North American AviationNorth American Aviation was a major US aircraft manufacturer, responsible for a number of historic aircraft, including the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F-86 Sabre jet fighter, and the X-15 rocket plane, as well as Apollo Command and Service Module, the...
to build 6,608 of the country's
B-25 MitchellThe North American B-25 Mitchell was an American twin-engined medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation. It was used by many Allied air forces, in every theater of World War II, as well as many other air forces after the war ended, and saw service across four decades.The B-25 was named...
bombers during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
-- 2/3rds of all B-25's built during war. The B-25 plant was acquired by General Motors for the production of Buicks, Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs after WWII. For a short time General Motors also produced license built Republic
F-84F ThunderstreakThe Republic F-84F Thunderstreak was an American-built swept-wing turbojet fighter-bomber. While an evolutionary development of the straight-wing F-84 Thunderjet, the F-84F was a new design. The RF-84F Thunderflash was a photo reconnaissance version....
s in this facility.
TWAThe Twa, also known as Batwa, are a pygmy people who were the oldest recorded inhabitants of the Great Lakes region of central Africa. Current populations are found in the nations of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, and the eastern portion of the Democratic Republic of Congo...
acquired the former North American Aviation Modification Center, also located on the field, after the war to operate an overhaul base for its planes. TWA later moved its overhaul base to Mid-Continent Airport, which was to become
Kansas City International AirportKansas City International Airport , originally named Mid-Continent International Airport, is a public airport located 15 miles northwest of the central business district of Kansas City, in Platte County, Missouri, United States. In 2008, 10,469,892 passengers used the airport.Kansas City...
.
Air mail coming to Kansas City in the 1920s was postmarked Kansas City, Kansas, because it was flown into the airport and then trucked to Missouri. In 1950
Mid-Continent AirlinesMid-Continent Airlines operated in the central United States through the 1930s until merging with Braniff Airlines in 1952.The company was founded in 1928 in Sioux City, Iowa as Hanford's Tri-State Airlines by Arthur Hanford, Jr., who offered charter service and scheduled flights from Sioux City to...
got a lucrative contract to deliver
airmailAirmail is mail that is transported by aircraft. It typically arrives more quickly than surface mail, and usually costs more to send...
on the North Central Route #106. It operated out of Fairfax. Following the 1951 flood, the airline and mail were moved to the new Kansas City airport in
Platte County, MissouriPlatte County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. The county was organized 31 Dec 1838 from the Platte Purchase Platte purchase, named for the Platte River — Platte being French for a low, shallow, or intermittent stream. As of 2000, the population was 73,781. Its county seat is...
which was named for its postal mailing address of Mid-Continent. Although the airline was to be acquired by Braniff, the new airport was to keep its Mid-Continent name and today still keeps its IATA designation of MCI.
The eastern boundary of the airport resided along the Missouri River which is also the current state line. The Kansas/Missouri state line was originally defined by the river in this location. However, the river changed course in an 1880 flood, leaving much of the land occupied by the future Fairfax Airport as an island in the river which neither state could claim. Locals nicknamed it "Goose Island." The area was later formally declared part of Kansas by the United States Supreme Court, and the location of the state line became fixed, regardless of any future changes in the course of the river.
The airport was actually larger area-wise and had longer (and more) runways than the Kansas City downtown airport. Its runway configuration included 4 runways for most of its years of operation. The longest runway 17/35 was 7,301 feet when it closed. The new General Motors Fairfax Assembly plant was built near the center of the old runway complex. The ends of most of the runways, as well as many of the taxiways are still visible.
The airport formally closed on April 1, 1985 in preparation for construction of the new General Motors plant.
The final flight at Fairfax Airport was made by Hugh A. "Holly" Hollinger. As the rubber tires of Hollinger's Cessna 402 lifted off the concrete runway at 11:59:59pm, the airport formally closed its runways behind him and on April 1, 1985 the land was added to the Fairfax District industrial area. The B-25 plant is now part of the
General MotorsGeneral Motors Company, often known as simply GM, is a United States based automaker with headquarters in Detroit, Michigan. GM was the world's 18th largest corporate entity and third largest automaker as ranked by 2008 revenues on the Fortune Global 500. Ranked by global unit sales for 2008, it...
Fairfax AssemblyFairfax Assembly is a General Motors automobile factory at 3201 Fairfax Trafficway, Kansas City, Kansas. The present plant was opened in 1987 and currently produces the Chevrolet Malibu,Saturn Aura, and the Buick LaCrosse. , the local Kansas City council is attempting to entice GM to produce a new...
plant.
History
During
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the facility was known as
Fairfax Army Airfield and was used as a
United States Army Air ForcesThe United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II. It was a component of the United States Army, divided functionally by executive order in 1942 into three autonomous forces: the Army Ground Forces, the...
Second Air ForceSecond Air Force is an intermediate echelon numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Education and Training Command. It is headquartered at Keesler AFB, Mississippi.-Overview:...
training field.
External links