Lunken Airfield flew headlong into the golden age of aviation in the 1920s. World War I veterans became gutsy barnstormers who had only roads and railroad tracks as navigational landmarks. They grew into courageous pilots who flew airmail, as well as record makers who flew for the joie de vivre and fame under conditions fraught with danger. These aviators gave way to aircraft engineers and designers who would craft the next generation of planes. Flyers were seduced by the allure of international recognition and wealth, as well as the feeling of freedom experienced in the air. Along the way, they assumed the status of of movie stars. On any given day, anyone from a spectator to a mechanic might hobnob with Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Roscoe Turner, or Jimmy Doolittle, who routinely flew in and out of Lunken. Over the decades, Lunken has undergone many changes, but today, as it approaches its centennial, planes still take off and land daily, and crowds still flock to special events. 

For their book, Images of Aviation: Lunken Airfield, Stephan Johnson and Cheryl Bauer sifted through archives from historical societies and personal collections to discover many exciting, never-before-published images of people, classic aircraft, and events at the airport. Lunken Airfield is available wherever books are sold, including online at Arcadiapublishing.com and Amazon.com. This blog celebrates old Lunken with stories that do not appear in the book. Enjoy your journey to this historic airfield.

Lindy at Lunken 
The Arrival, 1927

 

This publicity photo of Lindbergh with the Spirit of St. Louis is 

probably one of hundreds handed out by Army recruiters to 

Cincinnatians just before the 1927 visit. Photo courtesy of the 

Cincinnati Aviation Heritage Society.


 

 

 

           Eighty-five years ago, the most revered man on the planet climbed out of the Spirit of St. Louis at Turkey Bottoms to the unbridled adoration of a large crowd. Charles Lindbergh's post cross-Atlantic visit to Cincinnati provided the final push for the birth of Lunken Airport, motivating the public that fall to approve a bond issue that would make Lunken one of the world's larger airports. The August 6, 1927, stop was part of his official 75-city tour to promote aviation and the creation of municipal airports across the nation. In an advance story, the Cincinnati Enquirer endorsed the popular sentiment that Lindbergh be treated as a genuine hero. “Hero worship, after all, is a fine thing,” an uncredited reporter wrote. “It stimulates the spirit. It inspires the soul. It plants in the hearts of men the seeds of aspiration and emulation.”

            Even the weather welcomed the Lone Eagle on August 6. Just an hour before he was scheduled to land, rain clouds threatened to drench the estimated 200,000 onlookers around the city who waited in sweltering heat. At the last minute, the wind swept away the clouds and the sun emerged.

            Above Lunken,  Lindbergh did a quick sideslip stunt, racing the motor, then cutting if off, allowing the plane to briefly slip sideways. At precisely 2 p.m., he touched down “amid a clatter of automobile horns and lusty cheers from the crowd.”

            Lindbergh’s solo crossing of the Atlantic that May had been not only a momentous boon for aviation, but a morale boost for a world beset by terror, a precarious economy, and political unrest. His visit shared Cincinnati newspapers’ front pages with news that Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti’s long-contested murder convictions had been upheld by the governor of Massachusetts. The Associated Press reported that police around the nation and the world were on alert to prevent retaliatory attacks by the alleged anarchists’s supporters. New York City subways had already suffered two bombings attributed to sympathizers.

A more immediate threat to Cincinnatians that summer were the pickpockets who worked the dense crowds that lined Lindbergh’s parade from Lunken to Redlands Field. At least six street thefts were reported that day and two arrests were made.

            To Americans everywhere, Lindbergh was seen a symbol of a wholesome, courageous, innovative nation that could triumph over Bolsheviks, economic collapse, and petty criminals. He did not disappoint. Speaking at Redland baseball field to an audience that included many children, he predicted that within a decade airmail service would connect all major cities in the country.

“If America is to become a flying country, the movement must have the cooperation of the citizens,” Lindbergh said. “Unless they back the movement, commercial aviation will not attain its natural growth in the shortest possible time.” The public’s duty in this new era was to use air mail whenever possible, begin to travel on commercial flights, and –most importantly—support tax issues to build sufficient municipal airports throughout the country.

Plans were already solidly underway in Cincinnati to make Lunken the region’s major airport. The Lunken Airport Company (LAC) had formed in the early 1920s with that goal in mind. Led by Eshelby F. Lunken, his father, Edmund H. Lunken, John Sage, and John W. Pattison, LAC had 126 stockholders. The organization worked closely with the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, former city manager C.O. Sherrill, and former mayor Murray Seasongood on plans for what was then called Lunken Field.

This plaque inside the terminal lobby commemorates the 

Lunken family’s initial step in starting the airport. 

Photo by Candi Johnson.

Lindberg’s August visit helped to seal public approval for the project. The public and city officials could not do enough for the visiting hero. He was given the key to the city.  Rookwood Pottery, then one of the world’s premier art potteries, presented the flier with a tall, dark green vase. A troop of Boy Scouts at Redland Field gave him an Indian headdress, which he gamely wore for photographers. At the Hotel Gibson, where 1,300 people attended an evening banquet in his honor, the pastry chef crafted a model of the Spirit of St. Louis out of sugar.

The press analyzed every aspect of Lindbergh’s demeanor as though he were the newest Hollywood heartthrob. His features were “refined but sturdy.” He was not a “ fashion plate,” although his dark, striped suit and nondescript tie were deemed appropriate for the occasion. Several women at the evening banquet were surprised to see him smoking cigarettes. His mood was somber and quiet, and when he rose to speak, he was forceful and quick, suggesting a man who would much rather be high in the sky alone rather than being examined by hordes of curious onlookers. One reporter did note with satisfaction that Lindberg carried his signature heavy leather jacket with him when he landed at Lunken.

While Lindbergh’s August 6, 1927, appearance was the most publicized, it was not his only time in Cincinnati, or at Lunken. Most of his visits at Lunken were routine stops for refueling or checking equipment. It’s likely that he was much more at ease on those occasions when he was just another pilot making a routine flight.

The Enquirer wrote about a refueling stop Lindbergh made at Lunken in March 1928. He and his five traveling companions visited with Paul Riddle, vice-president of the fledgling Embry-Riddle Company, which was poised to help put Lunken into the national spotlight. Their meeting took place “in the rickety brick house that stands at the end of Davis lane,” the Enquirer reported. “In the simple surroundings, Colonel Lindbergh forgot he was the idol of America and again became the rollicking air mail pilot and spoke warmly of the future of air mail and the future of the aircraft industry.”

On that same visit, he visited Thomas Halpin’s new factory where the very first Flamingo airplane was just nearing completion. The flier expressed keen interest in the craft, which became one of the first all-metal planes built in the U.S.

Elmer Schmidt, who with his brother Melville operated the Cincinnati Aircraft Service at Lunken’s Hangar 2 for many years, snapped a photograph of Lindbergh having his Curtiss plane serviced on April 28, 1928. In that snapshot he is wearing a suit and tie. He looks much more relaxed than he probably was at the Hotel Gibson nine months earlier.

Lindbergh was just one of many pioneering fliers—male and female—who used Lunken during the formulative years of commercial aviation. While the famous pilots shone a spotlight on the airport, it was the everyday mechanics, manufacturers, fliers, passengers, business owners and airmail users who ultimately made Lunken a long-term success. Just as Cincinnati’s location at the Miami and Ohio Rivers made it the gateway to the West in the 19^th century, Lunken would propel the region into the age of air travel in the 20^th century.

Sources

“Bomb Menace Alarms World; Judge Thayer to Hear Motion for New Sacco-Vanzetti Trial,” Cincinnati Commerical Tribune, August 7, 1927.

“Colonel Lindbergh Queen City’s Guest at Dinner,” Cincinnati Enquirer, August 7, 1927.

“Col. Lindbergh Urges Cincinnatians to Keep the City on Air Maps,” Cincinnati Commerical Tribune, August 7, 1927.

“Howdy! Lindbergh is Guest of Cincinnati Airport in His Flight to St. Louis,” Cincinnati Enquirer, March 19, 1928.

“ ‘Lindy’ Coming,” The Cincinnati Enquirer, July 20, 1927.

“Pickpockets Fly Trade Among Crowds Awaiting Arrival of Lindbergh,” Cincinnati Commerical Tribune, August 7, 1927.

“Sacco and Vanzetti Are Guilty! Trial Fair! Fuller is Told; Bomb Precautions Taken,”  Cincinnati Enquirer, August 7, 1927.

Schwartz, Isaac H.  “Thousands Cheer Lindbergh As He Lands in Cincinnati,” Cincinnati Commerical Tribune, August 7, 1927.