History Happenings: First commercial flight

Recently, your elder scribe was awaiting the arrival your younger scribe’s flight home for winter break at The Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids.

He used the opportunity to explore a small but photographically rich display about the history of air travel in Cedar Rapids.

The display — tucked in a corner in a spot near where the lobby, the rental car counter, and baggage claim come together — could be easy to miss, especially since the area also includes a prominently placed and colorful display devoted to legendary University of Iowa football coach Hayden Fry.

The photographs looking back on commercial flight in Linn County are worth seeking out.

Through the years

Three explanatory banners sketch out the history:

“Daniel Hunter purchased property on Highway 30 in 1927 and incorporated Cedar Rapids Airways, Inc. … (A) new, upgraded airfield (was) funded as part of the war effort in World War II and completed in the fall of 1944. ….

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“The dedication of the Cedar Rapids Municipal Airport was held April 27, 1947, with more than 20,000 people attending to witness the first commercial air service flight, provided by United Airlines. … The present CID terminal was completed in 1986. In 2014, a complete terminal modernization project began.”

The fourth and final phase of that modernization project is ongoing.

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1947 dedication

We were interested in what sort of festivities those 20,000 people might have enjoyed during the 1947 dedication of the Cedar Rapids Municipal Airport. Fortunately, Mary Stevenson of The Gazette was on hand that Sunday to record the momentous occasion:

“We feel in our hearts that today is a great day,” W.C. Mentzger, vice president of United Air Lines, told the crowd that came out for the inaugural United Air Lines Mainliner service.

“And that summed up the feeling of everyone connected with the airport opening,” Stevenson reported.

“The weather was ideal. Saturday’s near-gale had eased down to a 6-mile-an-hour breeze. The sun never stopped shining until its usual retiring hour, 6:45 p.m., when CAA operators shut down the control tower. They had brought in and directed out about 200 planes.”

A fair number of military planes were among those in the sky that day, and they “buzzed the field, dived, banked and maneuvered.” One Lt. Col. W.J. Fieler, however, “was forced to make an emergency dead stick landing in a cornfield adjacent to the airport when his motor failed during the run. The plane tipped over on landing, but Fieler walked away with a scratch.”

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Plane was late

The main attraction for the day was delayed.

As Stevenson reported, “United’s inaugural flight, originating in Washington, D.C., was more than an hour late because, airline officials said, of changeover schedules Sunday. Most major cities went on daylight saving time, and the flights had to be adjusted accordingly.”

Stevenson also reported on the late arrival of a cargo plane coming from San Francisco. “The only passenger, a collie bound from Omaha to Greenwood, Miss., made no comment,” the reporter quipped.

Following a spate of speeches, Mentzer led Industrial League Queen Helen Row to United’s ”Mainliner Cedar Rapids“ plane, parked nearby on the ramp, for the christening ceremony.

“Mrs. Row, who wore a pinstriped gray suit, gray topper and carried a cascade of deep red roses, painted in the ‘i’ of Cedar Rapids to complete the lettering on the fuselage of the city’s namesake.

“United’s gift to the queen was a gold pin, engraved on the back, with the date and occasion.”

Leis and strawberries

Cedar Rapids wasn’t the only new destination for United that week.

“United’s stewardesses all are wearing leis this week to mark inauguration of United service to Honolulu. ‘They should wear a string of corn,’ someone said, to mark inauguration of Cedar Rapids service. ‘That’s corny,’ ” retorted Allen E. Towne, United district and sales manager.

Stevenson recorded another sweet arrival that may have been overshadowed by the much-anticipated departure of Mainliner Cedar Rapids:

“As the Cedar Rapids … await(ed) tower clearance, a Kansas City Southern Airways converted DC-3 landed with 350 cases of strawberries for Cedar Rapids fruit and vegetable jobbers.

“The strawberries were picked Saturday in Hammond, La., and flown here for distribution Monday. They contributed another ‘first’ to the airport opening — the first planeload of perishables to arrive in Cedar Rapids.”

Here is something that isn’t perishable: Our ongoing thanks to each and every one of you who take the time to read these columns. We wish you joyous holidays and a happy new year.

Jessica Cline is a Leadership & Character Scholar at Wake Forest University. Her dad, Rob Cline, is not a scholar of any kind. They write this monthly column for The History Center. Comments: HistoricalClines@gmail.com