Washington Airport
Encyclopedia
Washington Airport was the second major airport
to serve the city of Washington, D.C.
, in the United States. Located in Arlington, Virginia, near the intersection of the Highway Bridge and the Mount Vernon Parkway
(where The Pentagon
's south parking lots, Metrobus
bus bays, and a portion of Interstate-395
now exist). The first airport to serve the city was Hoover Field
, a private airfield constructed in 1925. Washington Airport, a private airport triple the size of Hoover Field, was built literally across the road in late 1927. The airfield suffered from short and unpaved runways, numerous life-threatening obstructions around the field, poor visibility (due to a burning garbage dump adjacent to each field), and poor drainage. Washington Airport nearly went bankrupt in 1933, and it was auctioned off to a new owner. The new owner also owned Hoover Field, and merged the two into a single airfield, Washington-Hoover Airport.
Washington-Hoover Airport closed in 1941 when Washington National Airport (now Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
), a replacement facility, was opened.
contract between Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia). An small expansion of the then-unnamed field led to its rededication on July 16, 1926. It was given the name Hoover Field in honor of then-Secretary of Commerce
Herbert Hoover
, a major promoter of civil aviation.
Hoover Field suffered from numerous, highly dangerous safety issues, including nearby hills, high-tension electrical power lines near the field, an amusement park to one side, a landfill that was on fire (and which sometimes obscured the field, unpaved sod runways, tall smokestacks blocking the approaches, and more. Almost as soon as it opened, there were calls to close Hoover Field and build a large, modern airport at another location. In February 1927 a group of aviators and aviation companies, led by aviation pioneer Henry Berliner
, called for the establishment of a new, larger airport across Military Road
(the southern boundary of Hoover Field). When this did not immediately occur, Berliner began leasing and then took a majority ownership in Hoover Field.
A fire at Hoover Field on July 3, 1928, destroyed eight planes and the lone hangar
, causing $100,000 in damages ($1.275 million in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars
). Flights out of Hoover Field were suspended for 18 days. Berliner's finances were significantly damaged by the fire, and he sold his interest in Hoover Field to E.W. Robertson's Mount Vernon Airways on July 20, 1928. Mount Vernon Airways soon sold out to International Airways.
In early 1929, a new holding company, Atlantic Seaboard Airways, took over International Airways and its subsidiary aviation businesses. But on December 30, 1929, a group of investors led by R.H. Reiffen, chairman of the New Standard Aircraft Company
, seized control of Atlantic Seaboard Airways and control of Hoover Field.
. Herbert J. "Hub" Fahy was a Lockheed Aircraft Company
test pilot. The airport added acreage and improved its facilities, and in February 1928 Funkhouser, Fahy and the others formed Seaboard Airways. Seaboard's base of operations was Washington Airport.
But Washington Airport was only marginally safer than Hoover Field. Arlington Beach, a local amusement park
with a Ferris wheel
and high rollercoasters, was located to the northeast (on the downstream side of Highway Bridge), and a landfill
existed on the eastern side. The trash in the landfill was also on fire
. The smoke sometimes obscured the landing field, and the stench was notorious through the city of Washington. The owners also could not afford to pave the runways.
complex of buildings in the District of Columbia, and used them to fill in the sides and ends of the field. An airport office was also constructed at Military Road. The expansion and land reclamation increased the size of the airport six times, to 97.31 acres (39.4 ha). The airport's new size was so impressive that in March 1930 President Herbert Hoover proposed that the federal government loan the government of the District of Columbia $2.5 million to take over both Hoover Field and Washington Airport, fill in the Boundary Channel between the Virginia shoreline and Columbia Island
, and create a new city-owned municipal airport that would be a model for the nation. In August 1930, with construction largely completed on the new facilities, Washington Airport announced that it would begin 10 hourly flights between Washington, Philadelphia, and New York City.
The expansion effort ran into serious problems in September 1929 when the Smoot Sand and Gravel Corp. began constructing a rock wall along the high-water mark of the Potomac River. The rock wall was being built by the federal government, and was intended to support the fill dirt
that was being placed there for the construction of Mount Vernon Boulevard (that portion of what is now the George Washington Memorial Parkway
from Arlington Memorial Bridge
to Mount Vernon
). Washington Airport claimed it had title down to the low-water mark. The legal case went all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States
, which held two years later in Smoot Sand & Gravel Corp. v. Washington Airport, Inc., 283 U.S. 348 (1931) that the proper boundary of the state of Virginia was the high-water mark.
Although this changed the company's plans, work still went ahead on the razing of the Arlington Beach amusement park, construction of three paved new runways on the theme park grounds, a new paved runway on the site of the existing airport, razing of the old hangar and office building, construction of a new hangar 160 feet (48.8 m) by 100 feet (30.5 m) in size and a new and larger office building. By year's end, however, the airport had changed its plans. It now intended to build two hangars, one 120 feet (36.6 m) by 100 feet (30.5 m) in size and the other 50 feet (15.2 m) by 110 feet (33.5 m) in size. (Paving of the runways was also canceled in favor of oiled earth.) Construction on the new buildings began in January 1930. The hangars were designed by the firm of Lockwood, Green & Co., while the terminal was designed by the architectural firm of Holden, Stott, & Hutchinson. Total cost of the two structures, whose designs were approved by the United States Commission of Fine Arts
, was $85,000. Forty-five days later, however, some shareholders in the company sued the Funkhouser, Fahy, and others, arguing that they had reneged on a deal to buy them out and further alleging that they were driving the airport into bankruptcy with their profligate spending. As the suit lingered in the courts, Arlington County commissioners stopped the burning of trash at the landfill next to Hoover Field in mid-1932 (but not the one next to Washington Airport).
The improvements at Washington Airport were so significant that in April 1932 the night airmail flight was transferred from Bolling Field
to Washington Airport. A month later, in a continuing effort to improve safety, the airport paid local electric power and telephone companies to bury their lines obstructing the landing and take-off lanes. The airport had improved so much that legislation was introduced in Congress to authorize the lease of the airfield as a municipal airport. Washington Airport authorities conditioned their acceptance on the payment of $25,000 a year and the closure of Military Road. They also suggested that Hoover Field be added to the lease. The lease proposal, however, was complicated by the federal government's claim to the Potomac River up to the high-water mark on the Virginia shore. Local small businesses had sold the airport land they claimed to own. But this land had formerly been part of Roaches Run, a creek that emptied into a bay of the same name on the Potomac River. The creek and a large portion of the bay had silted up and turned to dry land after the construction of the Long Bridge in 1903 changed the flow of water, and it was this property which the businesses were built on, and which had been sold to Washington Airport. The Supreme Court's decision in Smoot Sand & Gravel two years earlier did not apply, parties in the dispute said, because the Roaches Run land had been created naturally rather than artificially. But no legislative action was taken, and the government never leased the airport.
for Seaboard Airways, Washington Airport, and Funkhouser's other aviation businesses. In March 1929, Funkhouser and Fahy formed Atlantic Seaboard Airways with the intent of taking over International Airways and Hoover Field. Ira C. Eaker was named general manager of Atlantic Seaboard, and for about nine months the two airfields were owned by the same company (although they did not merge into a single field).
United States Air Transport was taken over in June 1929 by Federal Aviation Corporation, an airline based in New York City. Federal Aviation announced it was buying an additional 104 acres (42.1 ha) (which included the Arlington Beach theme park) for $675,000, with the goal of expanding into a six-runway airport with one runway dedicated solely to departing flights.
But on December 30, 1929, Federal Aviation sold Hoover Field to the New Standard Aircraft Co., ending unified control of the two fields. In July 1931, Federal Aviation was slated to be purchased by National Aviation Corporation, an airline financing corporation originally organized in 1928. This transaction did not occur, but that did not end National Aviation Corp.'s relationship with Washington Airport. Although the two airports were now distinct again, they did enter into a cooperative agreement some time in early 1930. Hoover Field agreed to host all sight-seeing, flight schools, and small planes, while Washington Airport agreed to only be used by larger military, mail, and passenger aircraft.
. In 1933, both airports merged after a series of quick financial transactions.
Washington Airport was the first to be sold, and the buyers were the Ludingtons. Nicholas S. Ludington and his brother, Charles T. Ludington, were co-owners of the Philadelphia Flying Service, a pilot training school and demonstration airplane manufacturer established in 1922. The Ludingtons became quite wealthy, and in 1929 Charles was on the board of directors of the Aviation Corporation—an aviation investment company in which some of the richest men in shipping, railroads, and investment banking had invested. The brothers also were managers of Camden Airport
, near Philadelphia. In June 1930, the Ludingtons founded New York-Philadelphia-Washington Airways (soon to be renamed Ludington Airlines), an eastern seaboard airline which famous aviatrix Amelia Earhart
had agreed to join as Vice President. The Ludingtons sold their airline to Eastern Air Transport
in February 1933, and Eastern Air Transport was in turn acquired by North American Aviation
a month later. These transactions left the Ludingtons with plenty of cash. On July 8, 1933, Federal Aviation put Washington Airport up for auction. D.C. attorney H. Rozier Dulany, Jr. (son of the famous Virginia horse breeder) held a $255,000 first mortgage
against the property and the Ludingtons held a $160,000 second mortgage
, payments on which Washington Airport was unable to make. North American Aviation (the new owner of the former Ludington airline) passed on the chance to buy the property. At auction on July 17, 1933, an unidentified buyer purchased Washington Airport for $432,000.
Hoover Field was sold just days later. New Standard Aircraft Co. had also been unable to make pyaments on Hoover Field's mortgages by July 1933. The Ludingtons owned a $155,442 first mortgage on Hoover Field, while William Morgan (a D.C. physician) held a second mortgage worth $9,500. The Hoover Field auction was set for July 31. At auction, the Ludingtons bought Hoover Field for $174,500.
The evening after the Hoover Field auction, the secret buyer of Washington Airport emerged: National Airport Corporation, a division of National Aviation Corp. Almost unknown in aviation circles, within 24 hours it purchased Hoover Field from the Ludingtons for an undisclosed sum.
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
to serve the city of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, in the United States. Located in Arlington, Virginia, near the intersection of the Highway Bridge and the Mount Vernon Parkway
George Washington Memorial Parkway
The George Washington Memorial Parkway, known to local motorists simply as the "G.W. Parkway", is a parkway maintained by the U.S. National Park Service. It is located mostly in Northern Virginia, although a short section northwest of the Arlington Memorial Bridge passes over Columbia Island,...
(where The Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
's south parking lots, Metrobus
Metrobus (Washington, D.C.)
Metrobus is a bus service operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority . Its fleet consists of 1,480 buses covering an area of in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. There are over 300 bus routes serving 12,216 stops, including 2,398 bus shelters. In fiscal year 2009,...
bus bays, and a portion of Interstate-395
Interstate 395 (District of Columbia-Virginia)
Interstate 395 in Washington, D.C., and Virginia is a 13 mile long spur route that begins at a junction with Interstate 95 in Springfield, Virginia and ends in northwest Washington, D.C. It passes underneath the National Mall near the United States Capitol and ends at a junction with U.S...
now exist). The first airport to serve the city was Hoover Field
Hoover Field
Hoover Field was the first airport to serve the city of Washington, D.C. It was constructed as a private airfield in 1925, but opened to public commercial use on July 16, 1926...
, a private airfield constructed in 1925. Washington Airport, a private airport triple the size of Hoover Field, was built literally across the road in late 1927. The airfield suffered from short and unpaved runways, numerous life-threatening obstructions around the field, poor visibility (due to a burning garbage dump adjacent to each field), and poor drainage. Washington Airport nearly went bankrupt in 1933, and it was auctioned off to a new owner. The new owner also owned Hoover Field, and merged the two into a single airfield, Washington-Hoover Airport.
Washington-Hoover Airport closed in 1941 when Washington National Airport (now Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is a public airport located south of downtown Washington, D.C., in Arlington County, Virginia. It is the commercial airport nearest to Washington, D.C. For many decades, it was called Washington National Airport, but this airport was renamed in 1998 to...
), a replacement facility, was opened.
Hoover Field
Hoover Field was built in 1925 by Thomas E. Mitten, president of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company (which held the airmailAirmail
Airmail is mail that is transported by aircraft. It typically arrives more quickly than surface mail, and usually costs more to send...
contract between Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia). An small expansion of the then-unnamed field led to its rededication on July 16, 1926. It was given the name Hoover Field in honor of then-Secretary of Commerce
United States Secretary of Commerce
The United States Secretary of Commerce is the head of the United States Department of Commerce concerned with business and industry; the Department states its mission to be "to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce"...
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
, a major promoter of civil aviation.
Hoover Field suffered from numerous, highly dangerous safety issues, including nearby hills, high-tension electrical power lines near the field, an amusement park to one side, a landfill that was on fire (and which sometimes obscured the field, unpaved sod runways, tall smokestacks blocking the approaches, and more. Almost as soon as it opened, there were calls to close Hoover Field and build a large, modern airport at another location. In February 1927 a group of aviators and aviation companies, led by aviation pioneer Henry Berliner
Henry Berliner
Henry Adler Berliner was a United States aircraft and helicopter pioneer. Sixth son of inventor Emile Berliner, he was born in Washington, D.C....
, called for the establishment of a new, larger airport across Military Road
Military Road (Arlington, Virginia)
Military Road is a four-lane arterial road approximately in length in Arlington County, Virginia. It runs primarily in a north-south direction, with its northern terminus at North Old Glebe Road near Virginia State Route 120 and its southern terminus at U.S. Route 29. Military Road turns into...
(the southern boundary of Hoover Field). When this did not immediately occur, Berliner began leasing and then took a majority ownership in Hoover Field.
A fire at Hoover Field on July 3, 1928, destroyed eight planes and the lone hangar
Hangar
A hangar is a closed structure to hold aircraft or spacecraft in protective storage. Most hangars are built of metal, but other materials such as wood and concrete are also sometimes used...
, causing $100,000 in damages ($1.275 million in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
). Flights out of Hoover Field were suspended for 18 days. Berliner's finances were significantly damaged by the fire, and he sold his interest in Hoover Field to E.W. Robertson's Mount Vernon Airways on July 20, 1928. Mount Vernon Airways soon sold out to International Airways.
In early 1929, a new holding company, Atlantic Seaboard Airways, took over International Airways and its subsidiary aviation businesses. But on December 30, 1929, a group of investors led by R.H. Reiffen, chairman of the New Standard Aircraft Company
New Standard Aircraft Company
The New Standard Aircraft Company was an airplane manufacturing company based in the United States. It operated from 1927 until 1931.-Corporate history:...
, seized control of Atlantic Seaboard Airways and control of Hoover Field.
Construction of Washington Airport
Washington Airport emerged due to the need of a newly formed airline for a terminal in Washington, D.C. The new Washington Airport opened without fanfare in late 1927 as a field for sight-seeing planes. Its owners included Robert E. Funkhouser, Herbert Fahy, and other investors. Funkhouser was an investor and officer in several different small airlines in the mid-Atlantic regionMid-Atlantic States
The Mid-Atlantic states, also called middle Atlantic states or simply the mid Atlantic, form a region of the United States generally located between New England and the South...
. Herbert J. "Hub" Fahy was a Lockheed Aircraft Company
Lockheed Corporation
The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace company. Lockheed was founded in 1912 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995.-Origins:...
test pilot. The airport added acreage and improved its facilities, and in February 1928 Funkhouser, Fahy and the others formed Seaboard Airways. Seaboard's base of operations was Washington Airport.
But Washington Airport was only marginally safer than Hoover Field. Arlington Beach, a local amusement park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
with a Ferris wheel
Ferris wheel
A Ferris wheel is a nonbuilding structure consisting of a rotating upright wheel with passenger cars attached to the rim in such a way that as the wheel turns, the cars are kept upright, usually by gravity.Some of the largest and most modern Ferris wheels have cars mounted on...
and high rollercoasters, was located to the northeast (on the downstream side of Highway Bridge), and a landfill
Landfill
A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
existed on the eastern side. The trash in the landfill was also on fire
Landfill fire
A landfill fire occurs when waste disposed of in a landfill ignites and spreads. In landfills that do not cover their waste with daily cover, biological decomposition creates substantial heat and can cause material in the landfills to spontaneously combust. In the U.S...
. The smoke sometimes obscured the landing field, and the stench was notorious through the city of Washington. The owners also could not afford to pave the runways.
Improvements at Washington Airport
The field was dramatically enlarged (and the coastline of the Potomac River altered) in April 1928 when Washington Airport contracted to received tens of thousands of cubic yards of earth, dug during the construction of the Federal TriangleFederal Triangle
The Federal Triangle is a triangular area in Washington, D.C. formed by 15th Street NW, Constitution Avenue NW, Pennsylvania Avenue NW, and E Street NW. Federal Triangle is occupied by 10 large city and federal office buildings, all of which are part of the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic...
complex of buildings in the District of Columbia, and used them to fill in the sides and ends of the field. An airport office was also constructed at Military Road. The expansion and land reclamation increased the size of the airport six times, to 97.31 acres (39.4 ha). The airport's new size was so impressive that in March 1930 President Herbert Hoover proposed that the federal government loan the government of the District of Columbia $2.5 million to take over both Hoover Field and Washington Airport, fill in the Boundary Channel between the Virginia shoreline and Columbia Island
Columbia Island (District of Columbia)
Columbia Island is located in the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., and is part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway. Boundary Channel separates the island from the Virginia shoreline to the southwest...
, and create a new city-owned municipal airport that would be a model for the nation. In August 1930, with construction largely completed on the new facilities, Washington Airport announced that it would begin 10 hourly flights between Washington, Philadelphia, and New York City.
The expansion effort ran into serious problems in September 1929 when the Smoot Sand and Gravel Corp. began constructing a rock wall along the high-water mark of the Potomac River. The rock wall was being built by the federal government, and was intended to support the fill dirt
Fill dirt
Fill dirt is earthy material which is used to fill in a depression or hole in the ground or create mounds or otherwise artificially change the grade or elevation of real property....
that was being placed there for the construction of Mount Vernon Boulevard (that portion of what is now the George Washington Memorial Parkway
George Washington Memorial Parkway
The George Washington Memorial Parkway, known to local motorists simply as the "G.W. Parkway", is a parkway maintained by the U.S. National Park Service. It is located mostly in Northern Virginia, although a short section northwest of the Arlington Memorial Bridge passes over Columbia Island,...
from Arlington Memorial Bridge
Arlington Memorial Bridge
The Arlington Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C. crosses the Potomac River, connecting the Lincoln Memorial and Columbia Island. The northeastern end of the bridge marks the western edge of the National Mall...
to Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon
The name Mount Vernon is a dedication to the English Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon. It was first applied to Mount Vernon, the Virginia estate of George Washington, the first President of the United States...
). Washington Airport claimed it had title down to the low-water mark. The legal case went all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
, which held two years later in Smoot Sand & Gravel Corp. v. Washington Airport, Inc., 283 U.S. 348 (1931) that the proper boundary of the state of Virginia was the high-water mark.
Although this changed the company's plans, work still went ahead on the razing of the Arlington Beach amusement park, construction of three paved new runways on the theme park grounds, a new paved runway on the site of the existing airport, razing of the old hangar and office building, construction of a new hangar 160 feet (48.8 m) by 100 feet (30.5 m) in size and a new and larger office building. By year's end, however, the airport had changed its plans. It now intended to build two hangars, one 120 feet (36.6 m) by 100 feet (30.5 m) in size and the other 50 feet (15.2 m) by 110 feet (33.5 m) in size. (Paving of the runways was also canceled in favor of oiled earth.) Construction on the new buildings began in January 1930. The hangars were designed by the firm of Lockwood, Green & Co., while the terminal was designed by the architectural firm of Holden, Stott, & Hutchinson. Total cost of the two structures, whose designs were approved by the United States Commission of Fine Arts
United States Commission of Fine Arts
The United States Commission of Fine Arts , established in 1910 by an act of Congress, is an advisory agency of the Federal government.The CFA is mandated to review and provide advice on "matters of design and aesthetics", involving federal projects and planning in Washington, D.C...
, was $85,000. Forty-five days later, however, some shareholders in the company sued the Funkhouser, Fahy, and others, arguing that they had reneged on a deal to buy them out and further alleging that they were driving the airport into bankruptcy with their profligate spending. As the suit lingered in the courts, Arlington County commissioners stopped the burning of trash at the landfill next to Hoover Field in mid-1932 (but not the one next to Washington Airport).
The improvements at Washington Airport were so significant that in April 1932 the night airmail flight was transferred from Bolling Field
Bolling Air Force Base
Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling is a military installation, located in Southeast Washington, D.C., established on 1 October 2010 in accordance with congressional legislation implementing the recommendations of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission...
to Washington Airport. A month later, in a continuing effort to improve safety, the airport paid local electric power and telephone companies to bury their lines obstructing the landing and take-off lanes. The airport had improved so much that legislation was introduced in Congress to authorize the lease of the airfield as a municipal airport. Washington Airport authorities conditioned their acceptance on the payment of $25,000 a year and the closure of Military Road. They also suggested that Hoover Field be added to the lease. The lease proposal, however, was complicated by the federal government's claim to the Potomac River up to the high-water mark on the Virginia shore. Local small businesses had sold the airport land they claimed to own. But this land had formerly been part of Roaches Run, a creek that emptied into a bay of the same name on the Potomac River. The creek and a large portion of the bay had silted up and turned to dry land after the construction of the Long Bridge in 1903 changed the flow of water, and it was this property which the businesses were built on, and which had been sold to Washington Airport. The Supreme Court's decision in Smoot Sand & Gravel two years earlier did not apply, parties in the dispute said, because the Roaches Run land had been created naturally rather than artificially. But no legislative action was taken, and the government never leased the airport.
First merger effort
In June 1928, Funkhouser and Fahy created United States Air Transport as a holding companyHolding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
for Seaboard Airways, Washington Airport, and Funkhouser's other aviation businesses. In March 1929, Funkhouser and Fahy formed Atlantic Seaboard Airways with the intent of taking over International Airways and Hoover Field. Ira C. Eaker was named general manager of Atlantic Seaboard, and for about nine months the two airfields were owned by the same company (although they did not merge into a single field).
United States Air Transport was taken over in June 1929 by Federal Aviation Corporation, an airline based in New York City. Federal Aviation announced it was buying an additional 104 acres (42.1 ha) (which included the Arlington Beach theme park) for $675,000, with the goal of expanding into a six-runway airport with one runway dedicated solely to departing flights.
But on December 30, 1929, Federal Aviation sold Hoover Field to the New Standard Aircraft Co., ending unified control of the two fields. In July 1931, Federal Aviation was slated to be purchased by National Aviation Corporation, an airline financing corporation originally organized in 1928. This transaction did not occur, but that did not end National Aviation Corp.'s relationship with Washington Airport. Although the two airports were now distinct again, they did enter into a cooperative agreement some time in early 1930. Hoover Field agreed to host all sight-seeing, flight schools, and small planes, while Washington Airport agreed to only be used by larger military, mail, and passenger aircraft.
Second merger effort
Hoover Field and Washington Airport both suffered significant financial setbacks during the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. In 1933, both airports merged after a series of quick financial transactions.
Washington Airport was the first to be sold, and the buyers were the Ludingtons. Nicholas S. Ludington and his brother, Charles T. Ludington, were co-owners of the Philadelphia Flying Service, a pilot training school and demonstration airplane manufacturer established in 1922. The Ludingtons became quite wealthy, and in 1929 Charles was on the board of directors of the Aviation Corporation—an aviation investment company in which some of the richest men in shipping, railroads, and investment banking had invested. The brothers also were managers of Camden Airport
Camden County Airport
Camden County Airport is a public-use airport located one nautical mile southwest of the central business district of the borough of Berlin in Camden County, New Jersey, United States. It was founded in March 1929. The airport is privately owned....
, near Philadelphia. In June 1930, the Ludingtons founded New York-Philadelphia-Washington Airways (soon to be renamed Ludington Airlines), an eastern seaboard airline which famous aviatrix Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Mary Earhart was a noted American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first woman to receive the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded for becoming the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean...
had agreed to join as Vice President. The Ludingtons sold their airline to Eastern Air Transport
Eastern Air Lines
Eastern Air Lines was a major United States airline that existed from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida.-History:...
in February 1933, and Eastern Air Transport was in turn acquired by North American Aviation
North American Aviation
North American Aviation was a major US aerospace manufacturer, responsible for a number of historic aircraft, including the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F-86 Sabre jet fighter, the X-15 rocket plane, and the XB-70, as well as Apollo Command and Service...
a month later. These transactions left the Ludingtons with plenty of cash. On July 8, 1933, Federal Aviation put Washington Airport up for auction. D.C. attorney H. Rozier Dulany, Jr. (son of the famous Virginia horse breeder) held a $255,000 first mortgage
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
against the property and the Ludingtons held a $160,000 second mortgage
Second mortgage
A second mortgage typically refers to a secured loan that is subordinate to another loan against the same property.In real estate, a property can have multiple loans or liens against it. The loan which is registered with county or city registry first is called the first mortgage or first position...
, payments on which Washington Airport was unable to make. North American Aviation (the new owner of the former Ludington airline) passed on the chance to buy the property. At auction on July 17, 1933, an unidentified buyer purchased Washington Airport for $432,000.
Hoover Field was sold just days later. New Standard Aircraft Co. had also been unable to make pyaments on Hoover Field's mortgages by July 1933. The Ludingtons owned a $155,442 first mortgage on Hoover Field, while William Morgan (a D.C. physician) held a second mortgage worth $9,500. The Hoover Field auction was set for July 31. At auction, the Ludingtons bought Hoover Field for $174,500.
The evening after the Hoover Field auction, the secret buyer of Washington Airport emerged: National Airport Corporation, a division of National Aviation Corp. Almost unknown in aviation circles, within 24 hours it purchased Hoover Field from the Ludingtons for an undisclosed sum.
Washington-Hoover Airport
Hoover Field and Washington Airport were merged by their new owner and renamed Washington-Hoover Airport. It opened on August 2, 1933, and closed to the public when Washington National Airport opened on June 16, 1941. It remained open as a private field for small aircraft, but closed on September 16, 1941, when the United States Department of War purchased Washington-Hoover Airport for $1 million to construct The Pentagon.External links
- History of Reagan Washington National
- Washington Airport and Washington-Hoover Airport at Virginia Aeronautical Historical Society (photos of both airports in the 1930s and 1940s)