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| Aug 11, 2007 3:07 am |
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re: re: Been thinking about an introductions thread, so here it is |
greg cryns
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Todd,
I've lived in Illinois most of my life and never knew about Scott AFB. Amazing.
I grew up in the NW burbs of Chicago near O'Hare when it was still and AFB. My dad was a doc so he was, of coure, a Captain without earning it, so to speak.
I recall in about 1954 or so driving through the main gate at O'Hare and the fellow saluted my dad. I was so proud at seven years old. One time my dad was called in the middle of the night to take a guy out of the nose of a fighter jet. He was a goner but my dad said he had no blood on him.
He was relieved of his duty a year or two later and set up medical practice in Wisconsin.
I don't remember exactly when O'Hare became a commercial airport. Wait, gone to Google, brb.....
Back (whew)
"Lieutenant Edward O'Hare was a navy flyer who gave his life when he was just 29 years old. Today his name is still a byword in aviation. His monument is the world's busiest airport in his home town of Chicago - O'Hare International.
It is appropriate that it should be named after a military hero who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1942. Military men shaped it during World War 2. The largest US troop and cargo carrying airplane, the Douglas C-54, was built at a factory on the site and the base, known then as Orchard Field, was almost entirely used by the military.
When the war ended Chicago quickly established itself as the world's busiest civil aviation operation, but it was the city's Municipal Airport, later to become Midway, which held the title. A far-sighted City Council saw the potential for air travel and decided a second major facility would be needed. They bought Orchard Field from the US government together with another 7,000 acres next door. That was in 1946. Three years later $2.4 million was spent on acquiring more land and Orchard Field was re-named O'Hare in honor of that young war hero.
The airport was already busy before it was officially opened to domestic commercial flights in 1955, but Midway was still the star attraction. In its busiest year, 1959, Midway handled ten million passengers compared to the fledgling O'Hare's two million. It was a testing time but for the newcomer change was to be rapid."
Private Reply to greg cryns (new win) |
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