Misplaced Pages

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31-612: The original Fairfax assembly plant was located next to Fairfax Airport which was the former location of the North American Bomber Production Plant where the B-25 Mitchell was manufactured during World War II . After the war, GM purchased the building and converted it to an automobile assembly plant, and was under the management of GM's newly created Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac Assembly Division created in 1945. In 1952, alongside car production,

62-637: A "government-owned, contractor-operated" plant of North American Aviation was on March 8, 1941. (a USAAF Modification Center was built May–October 1942 —a different modification center was at Kansas City, Missouri.) Fairfax's civilian manufacturing facility for Rearwin airplanes was bought in early 1942 by "Australian-owned" Commonwealth Aircraft Company which also opened a 2nd airplane factory in Kansas City, Missouri, at West Bottoms . Military Air Transport Service moved an air freight terminal to Fairfax on 2 March 1945 from Kansas City, Missouri , and

93-513: A big blow, when one another Fokker design, the Fokker F-10 , crashed near Bazaar, Kansas on March 31, 1931, with Knute Rockne , famous Notre Dame Football coach while en route to participate in the production of the film The Spirit of Notre Dame. Both pilots and all six passengers were killed. A long, thorough and well-publicized investigation concluded that the Fokker, operated by a company of

124-462: A new wing that eliminated the requirement for struts, bringing it in line with the rest of Fokker's designs. The preceding Fokker Universal was built with an open cockpit but many were converted. Construction was as per standard Fokker practice, with the wing being made almost entirely of wood with two main spars and light ribs covered in thin sheets of plywood. The fuselage was built up from welded steel tubes, largely cross-braced with wires. Fairings,

155-643: The Union Pacific Railroad Company owned 32.80 acres; eight private owners owned 72.18 acres; two railroads other than the Union Pacific owned 66.47 acres; land set aside for dedicated roads was 31.54 acres; [and] land on which dikes were built was 57.23 acres." Sweeney Airport was mapped by the United States Department of Commerce on July 17, 1928, as a trapezoid with 150 acres (61 ha). Fairfax Airport

186-600: The Universal Aviation Corporation . The Southwest Air Service Express airline scheduled flights from "Fairfax Airport" to Dallas/Ft Worth in March 1929, and a " Travelair six-passenger carrier of Central Air Lines crashed on approach to Fairfax in January 1930. An "impressive structure" costing $ 60,000 and with pay toilets for extra profit was built in 193x as a new administration building, and

217-545: The Works Projects Administration allotted $ 1,536,717 for improvements and expansion of the 240-acre (97 ha) airport. The 4 civilian runways were improved with concrete of 150 feet in width and 185,000 square yards of parking apron. —the government also purchased an alfalfa field of 75 acres (30 ha) for the AAF plant and for right-of-way to the airfield. Groundbreaking for Air Force Plant NC ,

248-500: The "United States Government [area of] 2 acres" and the airport's 925.8 acres (374.7 ha) with 13 buildings—the "Fairfax plat" was the area within the northeast corner of the Fairfax Industrial District of ~2,300 acres (930 ha). On May 22, 1950, Fairfax's 2472d AF Reserve Training Center and 442d Troop Carrier Wing moved to Naval Air Technical Training Center Olathe . In 1950 Mid-Continent Airlines

279-421: The 4101st Army Air Force Base Unit ( Reserve Training ) on July 12, 1946 and the 564th Bombardment Squadron on January 6, 1947. Despite a 1948 plan for the base to "be withdrawn from surplus ", in "October 1949 the U.S. Air Force terminated its lease on Fairfax Airport, and the city of Kansas City, Kansas, regained control of the facility". An "annexation ordinance" expanded the city limits to encompass

310-608: The Fairfax military installation became an operating location of Rosecrans Army Airfield on April 15, 1945 (the Air Transport Command operating location at Fairfax was discontinued by December 6, 1945.) By late 1945 Transcontinental and Western Air used the former modification center for aircraft maintenance until the Great Flood of 1951 —the city of Kansas City, Mo., built the new Mid-Continent Airport for

341-734: The IJAAF as the Nakajima Ki-6 and later in the puppet state of Manchukuo as the Manshū Super Universal. It was used on the Byrd Antarctic expedition and was one of the most produced of the Fokker America models. The Super Universal was a conventional, high-wing cantilever monoplane with a fully enclosed flight deck and cabin and a fixed undercarriage. Improvements over its forerunner included an enclosed cockpit and

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372-761: The Super Universal for military service, under the designation XJA-1 , but decided not to purchase the type (the JA designation was later reused for the Noorduyn Norseman ). The Fokker Universal was popular as a bush plane and many found their way into the Canadian north. The first production Super Universal was named the Virginia by Richard E. Byrd and taken to the Antarctic in 1928. This aircraft

403-787: The TWA Kansas City Overhaul Base northwest of the city (the modification center was razed shortly after March 1985). Commonwealth Aircraft produced post-war Skyranger aircraft at Fairfax until "transferred in 1946 to the former Columbia Aircraft factory" in New York , and the Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac Assembly Plant adjacent to Fairfax Field, operating in the leased former bomber plant, "finished its first automobile in June 1946". Post-war military activations at Fairfax included

434-484: The airfield that was first used for a 1921 " American Legion air meet". The airfield was subsequently used by Emory J. Sweeney 's School of Aviation . Sweeney Airport was named in 1925, and the 403 Pursuit Squadron was assigned to Kansas City at the end of 1925. The "Fairfax plat " map with the airport was drawn on April 1, 1925, as an area "of 1,373.07 acres" outside the city limits divided as follows: "The Kansas City Industrial Land Company owned 1,122.85 acres;

465-681: The airport was added to the GNIS on October 13, 1978. Fairfax's longest runway (17/35) was 7,301 ft (2,225 m) long when the airport's last flight departed on March 31, 1985, and on April 1, 1985, the land was added to the Fairfax District industrial area. The General Motors Fairfax Assembly Plant was completed in 1985 on the runways, and auto production at the WWII bomber plant building ceased in May 1987 (GM had purchased it in 1960 and it

496-460: The floor and an internal bulkhead separating the pilot from the cabin were wood. A triangular-shaped door gave the pilot access to the cabin. The tail was also built up from steel tubing but used no internal bracing. The main structural members were larger diameter tubes, while smaller tubes gave the structure a small degree of camber. The standard undercarriage consisted of a tailskid with divided main gear legs sprung with bungee cords and attached to

527-725: The land also had a natural gas field with 14 wells for extra revenue (a post-WWII Phillips Petroleum tract was along tanks of the Great Lakes Pipe Line Company .) In 1933, the airport had hangars; airlines including American , Braniff , and US Airways ; and aircraft manufacturers such as Rearwin Airplanes ( American Eagle Eaglet aircraft were also being produced.) By 1938, the Eddie Fisher Flying Service used Waco RNF aircraft for flight instruction. Adjacent to Fairfax Airport

558-443: The newly-formed TWA, broke up due to fatigue cracks in its famous cantilever stressed plywood wing, around where one of the engine mounting struts joined. However, questions about the crash due the exact weather conditions (it had actually turned back to due to conditions) and other aspects have led to discussions about what happened. (see also 1931 Transcontinental & Western Air Fokker F-10 crash ) The Fokker Super Universal fleet

589-512: The plant produced F-84F jet-powered fighters. The original Fairfax plant ceased production in May 1987, and production was moved to Fairfax II. Fairfax II was developed on the former Fairfax airport in a $ 1 billion project. The new plant began production with the 1988 model Pontiac Grand Prix . In 2003, production of the Chevrolet Malibu was added. On August 23, 2005, the Fairfax facility built its 10 millionth car. Production of

620-417: The second generation Buick LaCrosse began at the plant in 2009 and continued through 2016. In January 2013, GM announced $ 600 million in upgrades to the plant including a new 450,000-square-foot (42,000 m) paint shop and a new stamping press. The renovations were aimed at reducing water consumption and chemical waste, and were not expected to interfere with production. In 2019, the all-new Cadillac XT4

651-638: The wings and the fuselage, but floats or skis could also be fitted. (see also floatplane ) It was also called the Fokker Model 8. The first Fokker Model 8 Super Universal, was used on the Byrd expedition to the Antarctic, and called the Virginia. It arrived was but was destroyed by a freak wind gust that blew it over a mile/kilometer. The wreck was found frozen in the ice in 1988. The Super Universal

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682-614: Was a 1935–42 naval reserve air base, which by 1940 was a Navy Elimination Air Base ("E-base", colloq. ) for screening aviation candidates. Survey work for an Air Force Plant began in December 1940, and the city purchased the airport in February 1941 for $ 600,000 from the Kansas City Industrial Land Company. The United States Army Air Forces (AAF) leased the city's Fairfax Airport by 1941; when

713-435: Was added. As of Novemberr 2024: Fairfax Airport Fairfax Municipal Airport (known as Fairfax Field during World War II ) was a Kansas City, Kansas airfield from 1921 that was used during 1935–1949 by the military. Federal land adjacent to the airfield included a WWII B-25 Mitchell plant and modification center and a Military Air Transport terminal. After being used as a Cold War -era Air Force Base , it

744-582: Was contracted for airmail out of Fairfax ( North Central Route#106 operations moved to the Mid-Continent Airport after the 1951 flood.) The 4610th Air Base Squadron at Fairfax Field became the April 1951 base operating unit for the nearby Air Force Base under construction at Grandview Airport (Fairfax's Air Defense Command units moved to Grandview Air Force Base after beneficial occupancy on February 16, 1954.) Fairfax Municipal Airport

775-414: Was damaged after being ripped from its tiedowns and thrown backwards over one kilometre in winds estimated to have been at least 150 mph, and was abandoned, although Byrd subsequently revisited it to salvage useful parts. For the operational history of the versions used by Japan and Manchukuo, see the Nakajima Ki-6 article. The Fokker Super Universal which made up TWA fleet of airplanes were dealt

806-583: Was inspected and grounded after similar cracks were found in many examples, ruining the manufacturer's American reputation (the Dutch designer Anthony Fokker was then in business in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey). This resulted in a complete overhaul of standards for new transport aircraft and led to the use of all-metal construction in commercial aircraft such as the Boeing 247 and Douglas DC-2 In 1998,

837-630: Was named by the time of the Great Flood of 1951 and in 1953 the F-84F Thunderflash aircraft assembly line was in the same 53-acre (21 ha) GM Assembly Plant. On June 20, 1954 a Zantop DC-3A crashed on approach to Fairfax, killing 3. Fairfax was the July 12, 1955 landing site of a TWA DC-3 trainer that "had just taken off from Fairfax" before colliding with and destroying a Cessna of Baker's Flying Service. The 1963 fatal journey for Patsy Cline 's Piper Comanche began at Fairfax, and

868-466: Was named in 1928 when Sweeney Airport "was taken over by Wood Brothers Corporation" -- Charles Lindbergh and Phil Love landed at the airport "in Love's Ryan monoplane" on August 2, 1928. Dedicated in 1929, the facility was operated by the "Fairfax Airport Company" ("Fairfax Airports, Inc." in 1931), and the 1st Fairfax passenger service aircraft was a Fokker Super Universal cabin plane (5 passengers) of

899-801: Was razed in 1989). Fokker Super Universal The Fokker Super Universal was an airliner produced in the United States in the late 1920s by Fokker America, an enlarged and improved version of the Fokker Universal , fitted with cantilever wings and an enclosed cockpit . It was also called the Model 8. It was subsequently also manufactured under license in Canada, and in Japan as the Nakajima–Fokker Super Universal and for

930-462: Was received enthusiastically in the marketplace, selling better than any other of Fokker-America's designs (some 80 aircraft), and required the company to expand its factory space to meet demand. A further 15 aircraft were built by Canadian Vickers , and around 100 were built by Nakajima with some of these Japanese aircraft seeing military service as the Ki-6 . The United States Navy also evaluated

961-584: Was used for airliner servicing by TWA and for automobile and jet fighter aircraft production by General Motors , which built a 1985 Fairfax Plant over runways when the municipal airport closed. The airport site is on the Goose Island (Kansas) river bend. At Goose Island, the United States Government constructed flood protection levees and walls around the Fairfax Industrial District , as well as three pump houses including two on

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#51948