The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1928-07-11
FORD'S AIRPORT
is BEST EAST
OF MISSISSIPPI
Hugh Sums Spent at Field
in Dearborn; Thousands
Take Rides
Aviation

At Dearborn, eleven miles out
from Detroit Henry Ford has con-
structed an airport more conven-
dent and efficient than any other
aviation field east of the Mississippi
says Lauren D. Lawman, in the New
York Times.
On the $50 acres, enclosed ythe
hibh wire fence and guarded gates
characteristic of most of Mr.. Fords
enterprises, there are four build
ings: The aircraft factory, where
four tri-motored all metal twelve
and fourteen passenger .nonoplanes
monthly are turned out under the
present scale of production; huge
concrete and steel hangar with room
for fifty to seventy-five planes, be-
sides ample offices; an engineering
laboratory for housing motor testing
rooms, propeller testing pits, a power
plant and a large service hangar;
and the terminal for the Stout Air
Service.
Mast Cost 100000
Nearly mile to the south in a
corner of the field stands the diri-
gible mooring mast or tower, a steel
bridgework structure built at a cost
of nearly 100000.
Since its erection more than two
years ago it has been used twice for
lighter than-air machines. A power
full beacon surrounding the tower
is lighted nightly and can be seen
from the air on clear nights for
more than fifty miles.
Three companies, all related and
more or less subsidiary to the Ford
Motor Company, use the airport,
hangers and terminal.
Three Companies There
The Stout All-Metal Airplane
Company builds the Ford tri-motor
monoplanes and freight carriers.
The Stout Air Services, of which
William B. Stout is president, oper-
ates sightseeing thirty-minute air
tour over Detroit; and a Detroit
Cleveland passenger service with
two scheduled round trips a day.
Within sixty days this operating
company will open a Detroit-Chl-
cago passenger line with two trips
each way day.
None of these companies operates
on Sunday. The factory runs With
two eight-hour shifts daily except
Sunday.
Directors of the Stout Air Serv-
ices are seeking an emergency field
from which to carry the thousands
of SightSeers from Detroit and sur
rounding towns to whom Sunday
offers the only opportunity for
recreation.
For the cross country aid lines the
airport operates a special bus service
between Detroit hotels and railroad
stations and the field.
Reservations may be made at the
hotels; the buses leave the various
points in the city fifty minutes be-
fore air-sailing time.
Az present twenty planes day
leave from or arrive at the Ford air
port. These arrivals and departures
do not include the sightseeing serv-
ice that runs from 8 o'clock in the
morning until dark.
Garry Ford Freight
The freight-carrying lines are re-
stricted to freight furnished by the
Ford Motor Company. *M
The profits must come from ex-
press, freight and mail. The Cleve-
land and Chicago mail contracts
probably serve as a back log for the
freight service to these two cities,
but the freight line to Buffalo must
pay its own bills.
Much of the revenue at the Ford
airport comes from the sightseeing
services.
From May last year to December
the Stout lines carried 10000 pas
sengers. In the first four months
of the present year 10,646 passengers
have been carried and the demand
for the service is increasing
The companies expect to carry
10000 passengers this year with a
total gross revenue of nearly
$5000OO.