Livonia Airfield? Plymouth and Middlebelt.

[yaktown]

According to MikeM's post on this thread it was known, believe it or not, as "National Airport."

http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/...tml?1151583808

Nope, it's not National Airport. National used to be called Hartsell Air Terminal and was located at the SE corner of Ford/Lotz Roads. Here's a link to that: http://www.airfields-freeman.com/MI/...Detroit_S.html I'm not sure what the airstrip at Plymouth/Middlebelt was ever called, I'll keep looking for info.

[MikeM]

Nope, it's not National Airport. National used to be called Hartsell Air Terminal and was located at the SE corner of Ford/Lotz Roads. Here's a link to that: http://www.airfields-freeman.com/MI/...Detroit_S.html I'm not sure what the airstrip at Plymouth/Middlebelt was ever called, I'll keep looking for info.

The airport in question - the one where Wonderland Mall was built - was named National on aeronautical charts from at least 1946. Here's a link to a clip of the 1946 chart I posted on another thread. You can see Hartsell is farther west, on Ford Road, as you indicated.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4029/...cceb4f28_o.jpg


The Old Car Factories thread [[p. 17) had this picture of the Ford warehouse, date unknown, with the airport buildings in the foreground. Why the grounds were filled with buses, I don't know.

http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/6790/65117.jpg

http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/6790/65319.jpg

[Richard]

The Old Car Factories thread [[p. 17) had this picture of the Ford warehouse, date unknown, with the airport buildings in the foreground. Why the grounds were filled with buses, I don't know.

http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/6790/65117.jpg

http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/6790/65319.jpg

Do you think the buses are staged to replace the street cars?

or wrong time frame?

[MikeM]

Do you think the buses are staged to replace the street cars?

or wrong time frame?

Time seems right, but I thought maybe they were older buses parked there in storage until they were disposed of.

[DetroitPlanner]

Do you think the buses are staged to replace the street cars?

or wrong time frame?

Not all routes at this time were streetcars. Only the busiest routes had streetcars. Buses have always been the core of a transit system and feed higher level lines.

[Hermod]

Not all routes at this time were streetcars. Only the busiest routes had streetcars. Buses have always been the core of a transit system and feed higher level lines.

The Fords were used on the low ridership routes that never had a streetcar.

[Hermod]

The Old Car Factories thread [[p. 17) had this picture of the Ford warehouse, date unknown, with the airport buildings in the foreground. Why the grounds were filled with buses, I don't know.

In the 1950s, the larger DSR buses were made by Mack and Twin Coach [[GM). The smaller buses for the less traveled routes were made by Ford. DPS chartered DSR buses for school bus purposes where needed. I rode the bus from Berkshire and Nottingham to Jackson Intermediate [[and return) 1951-1953. Most times we got a Mack and less frequently a Twin Coach and most of us had seats. Occasionally DSR would be short and we would get a Ford and more than half of us would have to stand.

[MikeM]

So, you're saying their was a field trip that day?

[Hermod]

So, you're saying their was a field trip that day?

No, Wayne, Arthur, and Clark were feeder elementary schools to Jackson but were far enough away that DPS had top provide daily transportation for their 7th and 8th graders. We rode chartered DSR buses every day and every day would be a different bus and driver. We never knew which bus would show up as Bus #7.

If there was a field trip, that would be still another chartered DSR bus.

[MikeM]

No, Wayne, Arthur, and Clark were feeder elementary schools to Jackson but were far enough away that DPS had top provide daily transportation for their 7th and 8th graders. We rode chartered DSR buses every day and every day would be a different bus and driver. We never knew which bus would show up as Bus #7.

If there was a field trip, that would be still another chartered DSR bus.

Okay, I'm not following the connection to the airfield/Ford warehouse you're trying to make. Sorry.

[Hermod]

Okay, I'm not following the connection to the airfield/Ford warehouse you're trying to make. Sorry.

I was just noting that DSR had a lot of the small Ford buses in the 50s and providing a basis for my experience with them.