The Iowa City (Iowa) Municipal Airport is the oldest continuously operating airport west of the Mississippi River. While this particular bit of history may not have the significance of Roosevelt Field (I knew you knew the airport name) or the Laird Aircraft factory, it is nevertheless of value and indicative of the nature of the loss of our aviation heritage, a gradual nibbling away, slowly and steadily, in widely diverse locations quietly, rather than in major, nationwide, publicized fights. Can you name the airport?A couple of our regulars brought up a current dilemma over an aviation artifact that is very much in use but faces the wrecking ball. Likewise, there is no trace of the airport where Charles Lindbergh launched for his successful and world-altering solo flight to Paris, although I’m told there is some sort of a marker in the shopping center that occupies part of the site. There was not any attempt by the city to preserve the place that was arguably the cradle of the industry that caused Wichita to become known as the Air Capital of the World. Laird Aircraft Company and, later, Swallow Aircraft, where Lloyd Stearman and Walter Beech had worked together, just northwest of Wichita State University - was torn down in the late 1980s. It evolved from conversation regarding the staggering sums spent to restore individual airplanes with historic significance, into the surprising lack of interest in the airports, buildings and structures that figured in the development of our air transportation system and the airplanes that made it possible.I recalled that the building that housed the first successful aircraft manufacturers in Wichita, Kan. Over the past two weeks the topic of discussion in the Pilot’s Lounge at the virtual airport has been preserving and restoring our aviation treasures.
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