Evening star., 1962-11-22

The old Washington Airport
had the best safety record of
any airport in the world" said
Sam Solomon. THAT was be-
cause everyone had to be extra
careful coming in for a land
ing"
Touching ground at the 142-
acre field was likened to a spe-
cial obstacle course designed
primarily to test the pilots abil-
ity. Mr.. Solomon, airport man
ager there from 1888 to 1941,
recalls a few of these obstacles.
First and foremost was an
almost legendary road that BIZ
sected the bumpy field. Planes
already had their wheels on the
ground when they crossed over
busy Military road while land
ing. And there was always the
sometimes frightening question
of who should use the runway
That was usually answered by
the guy who got there first
the motorist or the aviator.
1--WE had to stop the traffic
when the airplanes were COM
ing in," Mr.. Solomon explained
THE planes couldn't turn bacl
and neither would the motor
istsl"
InstaIIs Sirens and Chains
So Mr.. Solomon put up sirens
Then 1884 ushered in traffic
lights at the airport. Guards
dragged chains across Military
road to back up the lights. But
still the cars came on, with
the old biplanes swooping down
several feet over the heads OF
the determined motorists.
But it was a Federal road,
and that meant two things
Bureaucracy and red tape. The
Secretary of Commerce said if
the road wasn't closed, he was
going to shut down the airport.
The Secretary of War briStled
and told Mr.. Solomon he had
no business fooling around with
a Federal road.
Anyway" Mr.. Solomon re-
membered chow could he ever
forget after four long years of
arguments. charges and
threats?, I'VE bought Military
road and it was finally closed
in 1888" But it took an Act of
Congress to do it.
The men who were out to
prove that man could fly like
a bird and make money at it,
and beat the automobile in
rapid transit at the same time,
had won a clear-cut victory
over the auto. Or did they?
Today much of the site of old
Washington Airport is taken
up by a farm sized parking lot
for the Pentagon.
AS far as money-making
dreams went in the early days,
a great deal of the airport'S in
come came not from high-speed
transportation but from fro
zen custard stand, tourist sight
seeing flights over the District,
and a dump that the company
operated near the field to re-
claim old bottles, metal, rags
and other junked items.
SmOkestacks and Power Lines
But back to the other pit
falls confronting the airman
coming in for landing. He
had to look out for high smoke
stacks, power lines and the Po-
tomac River. And, until 1880,
he navigated by a simple wind
sock stuck to the top of a high
wooden roller coaster at nearby
Arlington Beach Amusement
Park.
The early history of air trans
port operations in Washington
goes back at least to 1926, when
the original part of Hoover
Field was used mainly by the
Potomac Flying Service to take
tourists over the city.
In 1927, Hoover Field had no
landing strip or runway. There
was a sod surface. Internation-
al AirwayS, Inc, of Maryland,
bought the 37-acre field in 1923
for 100000. In the meantime,
development of Washington
Airport had begun on the other
side of Military road. using a
race track as its nucleus.
Washington Airport in 1929
was rs acres, some is acres of
which had been created by fill
ing in an adjacent swamp with
dirt and garbage.
In 1880, Washington and
Hoover airfields we're combined.
In 1888, Hoover Field was pur-
cboced nu NofiOy,o1 A,,iaf;oy,