I work/worked at Detroit City Airport

[Dfd]

UPDATE May 24, 2014
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Any former or current employees care to share your experiences while working at the airport?
Thanks,Dfd

[Maxine1958]

When did you work there?

[Dfd]

I'm just an out of towner learning about Detroit's past. The threads by the people who worked in Detroit's factories and stores are fascinating!

[Hypestyles]

The Coleman A. Young City Airport needs to be expanded vastly. It can serve both consumer use for air travel as well as an air-transportation hub for assorted businesses. City leaders should be looking at the land near the airport for expansion purposes. Ideally, the Detroit City Airport should have at least 2-3 commercial airliners. This can provide jobs for hundreds of city residents. Detroit city schools can have academies that train students for jobs as pilots, airplane maintenance/mechanics, air traffic control, and security.

[313WX]

Detroit city schools can have academies that train students for jobs as pilots, airplane maintenance/mechanics, air traffic control, and security.

We already have Davis Aerospace [[very nice school) behind City Airport for what it's worth.

But I agree, City Airport and the land around it has so much potential. It could be Detroit's equivalent to Chicago's Midway.

[fryar]

The Coleman A. Young City Airport needs to be expanded vastly. It can serve both consumer use for air travel as well as an air-transportation hub for assorted businesses. City leaders should be looking at the land near the airport for expansion purposes. Ideally, the Detroit City Airport should have at least 2-3 commercial airliners. This can provide jobs for hundreds of city residents. Detroit city schools can have academies that train students for jobs as pilots, airplane maintenance/mechanics, air traffic control, and security.

That's a nice idea, but see this thread for more info on the likelihood of that happening. That area is specifically mentioned in the News article as being replete with lots owned by Mike Kelly and other speculators.

Not that it's a bad idea.

[bartock]

The Coleman A. Young City Airport needs to be expanded vastly. It can serve both consumer use for air travel as well as an air-transportation hub for assorted businesses. City leaders should be looking at the land near the airport for expansion purposes. Ideally, the Detroit City Airport should have at least 2-3 commercial airliners. This can provide jobs for hundreds of city residents. Detroit city schools can have academies that train students for jobs as pilots, airplane maintenance/mechanics, air traffic control, and security.

Maroun certainly hopes your idea comes to fruition. He owns a bunch of land around the airport.

[MikeM]

I worked there for an air freight company, Executive Aviation, in the summer of '85. They had hangar and office space in the old terminal building but their operations were run out of a trailer parked in an area called the freight circle, on the south side of the airport, west of French Road.

I would enter the grounds through the gate at the end of French Road and drive past the DPD hangar and a set of T-hangars to get to the freight circle. A couple of dispatchers in the trailer took orders for pickup or delivery by phone and assigned pilots to the job. They would also dispatch truck drivers to pickup local freight. Most of the business was from auto companies or suppliers. I worked as a driver and aircraft loader.

On a typical day a call would come from someone like Chrysler: they needed some door springs at their St Louis plant ASAP. I would drive to somewhere like Sterling Heights or Livonia, to some small shop, pick up a pallet or two of springs, and bring them to the freight circle. A few pilots slept in bunks in one of the nearby T-hangars. When I arrived, the dispatcher would fetch them, the pilots would stumble into the trailer, unshaved, wearing t-shirts and sandals, plot out their flight to Spirt of St Louis airport and file a flight plan. While they were getting ready, other drivers and I would load an aircraft, usually a Lear 23 or 24, and within 10 minutes they were blasting off like the space shuttle.

The business seemed to be feast or famine. Some days it was rush, rush, rush like this all day long. The next week you might go days without anything. I think the company was always in trouble and cooking the books - both financial and aircraft maintenance records. The company had a mixed fleet of Lear Jets, Aero Commanders, Beech 18s, and various twin Cessnas or Pipers. Common destinations were the auto assembly locations: St Louis, Janesville, Oshawa, Kansas City, Kenosha; sometimes St Paul, Atlanta, or El Paso. It seemed like more freight went out than came in, but I delivered plenty parts to Cadillac Clark Street, Chrysler Jefferson and Warren, Ford Wayne, Lake Orion, etc. Sometimes the pilots would fly out empty, pick up something elsewhere and deliver it to a third location. Most of the freight was indescribable: bins weighing hundreds of pounds full of some small auto part or a solid steel plate cut in some odd shape that also weighed hundreds of pounds.

I went along on a few flights and got to fly an empty leg here or there, but going into the auto plants was much more interesting to me. I don't remember much else about the airport activities outside of that south end. Our competitor on the field was Bard Air, owned by a Grosse Pointe resident who was also a pilot. He was killed when he crashed the Lear he was flying into Mt Elliot Cemetery. I don't think either company is still around and I doubt the business is a active with the closing of so many area plants since then.

[eastland]

Worked at Aero Quality Sales in 1976; forget which hanger it was in. Used to take trash to a city dump on French Road. Sonny Eliot kept his plane in the hanger; had a caricature of him with an umbrella and raindrops on the tail.

[Gistok]

Isn't one of the major problems with City Airport... that the major runway [[North/South) is hemmed in by Mt. Olivet Cemetary on the north, and Gethsemane Cemetary on the south??

And what is the deal with McNichols [[6 Mile)?? They closed it for Southwest flights, and now that they're gone, they've never reopened that stretch of roadway...

[ja!mz]

I remember taking my brother there back in '85 for a flight home to St Louis, I guess the had commercial service back then? I even remember eating dinner in a restaurant there also. Does anyone have recent pics of the airport and terminal? I used to service the copier there for the executive flight service there in the late '90's. I remeber watching the Pro Air planes roaring into the steep take-off angle...very cool...

[MrNittany]

Isn't one of the major problems with City Airport... that the major runway [[North/South) is hemmed in by Mt. Olivet Cemetary on the north, and Gethsemane Cemetary on the south??

And what is the deal with McNichols [[6 Mile)?? They closed it for Southwest flights, and now that they're gone, they've never reopened that stretch of roadway...

Yeah .... the major runway is essentially un-expandable .... and it's damn short to begin with [[under a mile).

That's about 10% shorter than Chicago Midway's longest runways .... and even at that length planes out of Midway have weight-restriction issues during warm summer days.

Back in the day, Pro-Air, and Southwest both ran 737s out of City, but the short runway definitely provide logistical problems.

[Margarite]

Aaah, those were the days...We used to fly Southwest form City Airport to Nashville on a regular basis when our son lived in TN. Fares were cheap, we only lived maybe ten minutes away and the airport was a breeze to navigate. The take offs were pretty steep and the landings a little scary but it was perfect for weekend visits. I remember one winter blizzard landing where the passengers cheered and clapped when we touched down. I wouldn't hesitate to support an airline that resumed passenger service from City. Still have the T-shirt from the grand opening festivities.

[GUSHI]

tHAT WOULD BE GREAT, I WOULD SUPPORT IT, I DON'T LIKE GOING ALL THE WAY TO METRO.

[Jimaz]

tHAT WOULD BE GREAT, I WOULD SUPPORT IT, I DON'T LIKE GOING ALL THE WAY TO METRO.

Look for your Caps Lock key on your keyboard.

[GUSHI]

Why? I like to scream! "that would be great"

look for your caps lock key on your keyboard.

[Jimaz]

Why? I like to scream! "that would be great"

Just trying to help.

[Hamtragedy]

I remember that run-way being about as long as our driveway. The reverse engines on landing was pretty intense.

[Herman Krieger]

I learned to fly at the Detroit City Airport in 1943, then I bought a 10% share in a Taylorcraft. I would fly weekdays after work. The others, engineers from Packard, flew on the week-ends. We would take off on the concrete runways and land on the grass along side the runways. I remember the delicious cherry pie ala mode at the airport coffee shop. In 1945 I was a cadet in the Army Air Corps.

[Hypestyles]

i wonder what the fate of city airport will be, if any, pending the results of the financial review team.. if sold, what could it be converted into? is there an adjacent cemetary that impedes nearby development?

[Gistok]

Look for your Caps Lock key on your keyboard.

Jimaz... I sent some little LEGO elves over to his house to take care of it...

[stasu1213]

i wonder what the fate of city airport will be, if any, pending the results of the financial review team.. if sold, what could it be converted into? is there an adjacent cemetary that impedes nearby development?

I wonder if the airport could expand in the other direction away from the cemetary. When I drive down Gratiot traveling between Connors to Seymour I wonder will the airport buy up all of that area on the north side of Gratiot.

[bartock]

I wonder if the airport could expand in the other direction away from the cemetary. When I drive down Gratiot traveling between Connors to Seymour I wonder will the airport buy up all of that area on the north side of Gratiot.

If I recall correctly, this is one of of the areas where Maroun owns a lot of land. Love what he's done with the place...

[Charlie Malesev AT2 W8EIV]

Any former or current employees care to share your experiences while working at the airport?
Thanks,Dfd

I also had the pleasure of working at Detroit City Airport from 1978 to 1995 with Beacon Avionics in Hanger #13... It was the best years of my life besides being aboard the USS Kitty Hawk CV63, at Beacon Avionics my manager was Clinton Mack a Veit Nam vet that was an AVIONICS technician in Spain and was responsible for avionics aboard the B52 Bombers I truly admired Mack he was a genius, Mack passed away in summer of 2003 of Sickle Cell Anemia. Our hanger was an museum of old fighter planes and a B17 Bomber owned by it's WW2 pilot Kernel Lamont. Sorry got to get out of here for now it is Sabath but I will come back with many stories of Our Detroit City Airport.

Ok I'm back for awhile.. Sonny Elliot, Mort Krim, Paul Newman, Jeff Danials, Atty. Wm. Mc. Carther just a few of the well known pilots that I had opportunity to work on their aircraft.

In 1986 the wife of the owner of Jet Care backed her Lincoln out of the hanger into the props of a plane that was chocked and tied down for a rebuilt engine power test, she hit the brakes in time to save her life but the rear half of the Lincoln was sliced up like a chunk of cheese.

Then as I remember it in 1988 the owner of Jet Care was killed along with one of his pilots and a newly hired pilot , it occurred on a Saturday morning, they were training the new pilot to recover the jet from an engine flame out during take off, n extremely dangerous situation, well they could not restart the engine and the craft went down in the cemetery at the end of the runway at six mile road, they were all three killed in that crash.

Be back tomorrow.





Tnx

Charlie

[Cliffy]

Please come back Charlie. I can't wait for your stories.