AIRPORTS AND AVIATION

Connection to the World

By Patrick Mulvihill, DEd

The story of the pioneering days of aviation would be incomplete if the contributions of the early airfields, aircraft and personalities that emerged from Western Pennsylvania were excluded. Although the larger narrative of powered, heavier-than-air flight deserves to include notable names such as Wright, Curtiss, Lindbergh and Earhart woven into the narrative of this great story, you will also find the names of Pierpont-Langley, Mayer, Rodgers, Bettis and Bell.

The region of Western Pennsylvania, specifically Pittsburgh and its surrounding communities, played an important role in establishing the network of waypoints and airways for aircraft navigating the highway in the sky. It is important to understand that this collection is certainly by no means complete. These airfields and personalities were selected for inclusion because their stories, all of which are connected, provided the infrastructure from which an emerging transportation network would emerge.

THE EMERGENCE OF AVIATION IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA

Hanging quietly in Wesley H. Posvar Hall on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh is Samuel Pierpont Langley’s Aerodrome no. 6. During the 1890s, while serving as the director of the Allegheny Observatory and professor of physics at what would later become the University of Pittsburgh, Langley contributed a significant level of scholarly knowledge to the emerging field of powered, heavier-than-air flight. Although his efforts to create the first manned flying machine fell short, his legacy among aviation pioneers certainly placed Western Pennsylvania on the map in the early days of powered flight.

Less than ten years later, the Wright brothers became the first to successfully achieve manned powered flight in December 1903. Following in their footsteps, Glenn H. Curtiss flew his own “June Bug” aeroplane in 1908. Although many in Western Pennsylvania had not come to fully understand the idea of a flying machine, the arrival of Glenn Curtiss would soon bring about great change to the landscape of the region.

In 1909, real estate broker W.L. Smith conceived of an idea that would be supported by the creation of the Aero Club of Pittsburgh. The Aero Club, located on Brunot’s Island on the Ohio River, would host a one-day exhibition featuring Glenn Curtiss and his team of demonstration pilots. The event, held in August 1910, would be the first time many Pittsburghers would see an aeroplane in flight. Although there are varying accounts within newspapers from the region, it is believed that Curtiss made three successful flights during his time in Pittsburgh. One flight followed a track around Brunot’s Island, over the North Shore of the Ohio River, across the smokestacks located within the mills nearby, above Western Penitentiary toward McKees Rocks and then returned over the mills again as he returned to Brunot’s Island to land.

These early airfields did not often require any infrastructure—just an open field. Therefore, they did not have much need for civil engineers. However, through the work of the early aviation pioneers, the aviation industry evolved to become critical to the fast, efficient transport of people and goods.

This necessity eventually challenged engineers to design supporting infrastructure and complex airports that allowed for the efficient movement of passengers, planes and cargo through the development of advanced road and rail infrastructure to connect passengers to their final destinations.

STEPPINGSTONES: EARLY AIRFIELDS AND AVIATION PIONEERS

It is believed that more than thirty thousand spectators made their way to Brunot’s Island to meet and observe, with great curiosity, Glenn Curtiss and his flying machine. Although it may not have been known at the time, the race to achieve manned powered flight set in motion an entrepreneurial desire within the region to contribute, even if in a small way, to the future of aviation. What emerged from the spectators that day on Brunot’s Island would be a tightly woven series of airfields, events and influential personalities that would shape not only the earliest footprints in our region but also the vision that shapes the Greater Pittsburgh International Airport today. The story begins in a small town south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Mayer Air Field (1919–circa 1950)

With the Great War nearing an end, many of the advances in aviation were beginning to find their way back to the United States. It was not long before visions of a connected transportation system in the sky began to take shape. Mayer Field, located in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania, was one of the region’s earliest airfields that developed from a desire to be a part of this burgeoning industry.

Established in 1919, Mayer Air Field was inspired by the vision of Casper P. Mayer. While serving as the mayor of Bridgeville, Mayer broadened his interests from an already successful paving and brick company to pursue the development of the Mayer Aircraft Corporation. Mayer intended for his fleet of aircraft to operate out of the new airfield, with service between Pittsburgh, New York and other Atlantic coast destinations.

In support of this vision, Mayer secured roughly sixty acres and quickly constructed two unpaved runways along with several small hangars. The timing of this new company and construction of Mayer Field could not have been better. With the U.S. Postal Service beginning airmail service roughly a year earlier in 1918, the airfield was selected as the original airmail delivery site for the Pittsburgh area.

Although the Curtiss JN-4 Jenny Biplane gained famed during the war and its role in launching airmail service, several other popular biplanes could be spotted at Mayer Field with regularity. The first, the Laird Swallow, designed and built by the Swallow Airplane Manufacturing Company, was used by Mayer Aircraft Corporation for flight lessons. Mayer also quickly secured rights to market the Ryan B-1 Brougham high wing monoplane shortly after Charles Lindbergh flew solo across the Atlantic to Paris, France. The first of these aircraft to arrive was aptly named the “Pride of Pittsburgh.”

Mayer Field existed until about the mid-1950s, when more modern development began to diminish its presence within Bridgeville. As of today, the previous site of Mayer Field can be located by traveling to the intersection of Route 50 and Mayer Road where the Great Southern Shopping Center currently resides.

Rodgers Air Field (1924–circa 1934)

In about 1922, the same Pittsburgh Aero Club that developed the land on Brunot’s Island negotiated a deal that transferred ownership of roughly forty-two acres of land at the current site of the Fox Chapel Area High School. Once developed, the field came to be known as Rodgers Field, after Calbraith Rodgers, and was used from 1923 through about 1934. Rodgers was a larger-than-life aviator from southwestern Pennsylvania. Although he was known for being the great-grandson of Oliver Perry, whose heroics won the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812, Calbraith Rodgers would eventually distinguish himself by making the first transcontinental flight in 1911.

Rodgers Field did host its own share of notable aviators, some more well known than others. It is believed that in early 1911, John Kowalsky of Verona, Pennsylvania, was one of the first locals to successfully build as well as fly his experimental aircraft on the same land that would eventually become Rodgers Field.

Amelia Earhart also touched down at this famed airport; during her touchdown and rollout, however, she encountered what many Pittsburghers experience throughout the winter months as they travel the roadways: a pothole. As the story goes, Amelia decided to take some time off after the completion of her book and had just taken off after refueling in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. As she approached the Pittsburgh area, she experienced a few mechanical issues that required her to land. Although she made a smooth landing on the grassy runway at Rodgers Field, the aircraft struck a concealed ditch, which caused her gear to collapse and nose over. It is believed that members of the Pittsburgh Aero Club helped repair the plane, allowing Amelia to continue onward across the country after a short stay in Pittsburgh.

In fact, the Earharts are quite connected to the region. In addition to several stops at local airfields by Amelia, her father attended Thiel College in Greenville, Pennsylvania. The college has undertaken significant efforts to preserve this legacy, including a roadway named Amelia Earhart Drive on the campus.

Today, the site of Rodgers Field is still somewhat distinguishable in aerial photos. It is primarily located just north of the Fox Chapel High School in a triangular area between the Fox Chapel Field Club and Powers Run Road. In fact, as of this publication, there remains a residential street in the area named Rodgers Drive.

McKeesport Air Field/Bettis Field (1924–circa 1949)

Clifford Ball, owner of the Diamond Motor Sales Company in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, was often intrigued by the aeroplanes flying around the skies above his dealership. The aircraft were departing and returning to a field owned by Harry Neel, a local farmer. D. Barr Peat, a friend of Neel’s, convinced Neel to allow them to begin using the land north of Dravosburg, Pennsylvania, in 1924 for aerial sightseeing services. Very quickly, Ball and Peat became business partners with a singular vision: building an airfield.

Ball and Peat began lobbying local congressman M. Clyde Kelly about further development of the aviation industry in Pittsburgh. Through a combination of their own efforts and help from the congressman, Ball and Peat raised enough funds to purchase the land from Harry Neel. With a $35,000 investment, they purchased close to forty acres around the original field with the hopes of developing a larger airfield. It was during this period of development in 1925 that several hangars and a machine shop emerged along with a new name, the McKeesport Air Field. The operation flourished, and in short time, the airfield was not only offering plane rides and flight instruction but also hosting airshows for curious spectators from around the region.

In 1918, Ball and Peat leveraged a significant industry shift that occurred as a result of the Kelly Act. No longer would the federal government be the sole proprietors of shipping mail and parcels by air. The Kelly Act required the government to contract with commercial carriers to provide this service. Pittsburgh postmaster George W. Gosser designated Pittsburgh McKeesport Airfield as the best local field for receiving and shipping mail. As a result of this announcement, Ball and Peat began to prepare their bid for the airmail route and founded the Skyline Transport Company to carry both passengers and airmail to and from their airfield.

After a review of the bid and visit to the airfield, Ball and Peat were awarded the contract. The new Pittsburgh-Cleveland airmail route was inaugurated on April 21, 1927. Flying the route for the Skyline Transport Company that day were three aircraft appropriately named Miss Youngstown, Miss Pittsburgh and Miss McKeesport. Today, Miss Pittsburgh hangs proudly in the Pittsburgh International Airport and greets millions of passengers annually as they proceed in and out of the landside terminal security checkpoint.

The McKeesport Airfield was eventually renamed in 1926 to Bettis Field after Lieutenant Cyrus Bettis. Aside from being one of the earliest airfields in the region, Bettis Airfield is the original location of one of the first aeronautic schools to be approved by the Civil Aeronautics Authority (later renamed Federal Aviation Administration). Originally incorporated as the Curtiss-Wright Flight Services, Glenn Curtiss and Orville Wright offered both flight training and aircraft sales and service. In 1929, August Becker, then manager for the Curtiss-Wright Corporation, which leased the operation at Bettis Airfield, purchased the school and its facilities. At that time, the name of the operation was changed to the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics.

Bettis Field also hosted a list of notable aircraft and aviators throughout its history. Probably the most famous of these was the Spirit of St. Louis, flown by Charles Lindbergh. Lindbergh arrived at Bettis Field around 2:00 p.m. on August 3, 1927, and was greeted by thousands of Pittsburghers. It was written that when Lindbergh returned to the airfield the next day to continue his tour of America, even more people gathered to wish him well as he departed westward.

In 1932, Allegheny County Airport, located about one mile from Bettis Airfield, officially opened for business. As it was the largest airport in the region at the time, many commercial and transport operations left Bettis Airfield for the county airport, leaving only a handful of small private planes on the field. The Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics did acquire and use the site in the early 1930s to train aircraft and engine mechanics for future careers in both civil and military aviation.

In early 1949, it is believed that Curtiss-Wright sold Bettis Airfield to Westinghouse Electric Company. Westinghouse eventually closed the airfield and redeveloped the land to support the Bettis Laboratory, which developed nuclear propulsion technology for submarines and aircraft carriers. The current site of Bettis Field is located north of the intersection of Pittsburgh McKeesport Boulevard and Bettis Road, one mile east of the Allegheny County Airport.

Longview Flying Club (1924)

While working as a mechanic and car salesman from Scottdale, Pennsylvania, Charles Carroll developed an interest in aviation. He established a flying club in a field near Latrobe, Pennsylvania, that would eventually evolve into Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. As with many of these early aviation pioneers, Carroll’s team, which became known as the “Longview Boys,” supported its flying club by performing stunts at local airshows. In just under two years, the Longview Flying Field had one of the highest numbers of aircraft on its field in Pennsylvania and was ranked fourth in number of flights and passengers as well.

This growth didn’t go unnoticed. Shortly after the field was renamed the J.D. Hill Airport after James DeWitt in 1928, Saint Vincent College began what is believed to be the world’s first aviation program. The relationship was developed out of the idea that the airplane, an emerging technology, would allow the college’s missionaries to reach parts of the world once thought hard to reach. Although the relationship between Carroll’s operation and Saint Vincent did not fully bloom, the college did purchase an aircraft to move the vision forward. Unfortunately, the timing of these events occurred too close to the beginning of the Great Depression to allow either opportunity to really develop.

Although the relationship did not come to fruition in the early 1930s, the late 1930s proved to be better timing for both Carroll and Saint Vincent. With World War II starting to heat up, along with a growing need for pilots to support the United States military, cadets were enrolled in a newly created ground school at Saint Vincent College and conducted flight training at the renamed Latrobe Airport next to campus.

While the relationship between Carroll and the college was developing, a local dentist, Dr. Lytle Adams, had perfected a nonstop airmail pickup system that would allow airmail delivery to rural and isolated communities. In May 1939, All-American Aviation integrated this system at Latrobe Airport, thus establishing what is believed to be the world’s first scheduled airmail pickup. Eventually, in 1949, All-American Aviation began a series of transitions that would change the name from All-American to Allegheny Airlines and, finally, to US Airways.

Since 1940, Latrobe Airport has continued to experience significant growth and investment. The airport was renamed the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport after the local golf icon in September 1999.

WELCOMING MODERN AIRFIELDS

It is believed that members of the original Pittsburgh Aero Club, which first brought Glenn Curtiss to the region with his flying machines, also played a role in selecting and developing the land slated for both the Allegheny and Greater Pittsburgh Airports.

Allegheny County Airport (1931)

Less than one mile from Bettis Airfield and built on a former steel industry slag dump, Stanley Roush, the architect for City of Pittsburgh in the 1920s and 1930s and then the County of Allegheny, led the construction of the main terminal for the Allegheny County Airport in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. In addition to the engineering that went into building the terminal, hangars, runways and more, the county built Saw Mill Run Boulevard and Lebanon Church Road to connect Pittsburgh to the airport after a bond issued in 1928.

When it was dedicated on September 11, 1931, the new airport encompassed roughly 432 acres and was considered to be the third-largest airport in the country. It was also believed to have, at the time, the largest amount of runway paving in the world with more than fifty combined miles of paved surface.

As one of the highest points within Allegheny County at an elevation of 1,252 feet above mean sea level, the airport’s acreage and location are certainly visible to aircraft traveling through the region. In fact, in addition to his visit in 1927, Charles Lindbergh made two additional unexpected stops at Allegheny County Airport in 1930 and 1933 due to mechanical issues with his aircraft.

Clifford Ball, whose legacy of service to aviation in the region included the opening of Bettis Field, had some early influence within the county airport project. The original Clifford Ball Airline, which operated out of Bettis Airfield, eventually became Pennsylvania Airlines in the early 1930s. Around that same time, Central Airlines was formed by a group that had originally formed Pittsburgh Airlines in 1929. Of historical importance, Central Airlines is noted for hiring the first female commercial pilot, Helen Richey, in the United States. Richey was a Pittsburgh native, having been born and raised in the McKeesport area.

The competition between Pennsylvania Airlines and Central Airlines did significantly affect the commercial tenants of the new Allegheny County Airport. Because of a severe price war between the two airlines, the economic conditions that resulted forced the two airlines to merge in November 1936 to remain solvent. This resulted in the newly created Pennsylvania Central Airlines, based at the new county airport. Although the airline continued to expand its routes, by 1941 PCA had opted to relocate its headquarters to the newer Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia. Although Pennsylvania Central Airlines eventually changed its name to Capital Airlines, it did retain Allegheny County Airport as a stop on the Chicago–New York route so that it could continue to compete with railroad service between these two destinations.

Although the county airport continued to serve as the primary commercial airport for the region for some time, the beginning of World War II set into motion a series of events that would shift commercial airlines from the Allegheny County Airport to the significantly larger Greater Pittsburgh Airport in 1952.

Greater Pittsburgh Airport (1952)

Before World War II, Moon Township was primarily an agricultural area. One of the more significant landowners in the area, John Bell of Carnegie, Pennsylvania, had established a 1,900-acre commercial dairy farm on his land. Eventually, Bell sold his successful operation to Rieck’s Dairy, which nearly doubled the size of the operation in later years.

By the 1940s, it had become apparent that the United States was becoming more involved in World War II. The Works Progress Administration (WPA), developed to help employ those affected by the Great Depression, identified the need to protect the industrial resources of the region. More specifically, it was seeking military presence to serve as a deterrent, training base and en route facility for military aircraft. Alongside planners from the region, the WPA identified the vast undeveloped agricultural land in Moon Township as a primary site for development. Eventually, the WPA purchased the Bell Farm acreage and broke ground for the construction of runways.

In 1944, Allegheny County officials decided to expand the original military field to include commercial air service. The decision to replace Allegheny County Airport became a reality on July 18, 1946, when ground was broken for the expansion. That same year, ground was broken on the Penn Lincoln Parkway (in Churchill, Pennsylvania). The original parkway was completed in 1960 with the opening of the Fort Pitt Tunnel, providing a high-speed connection from Pittsburgh to its airport for the first time. With the new terminal building complete, the Greater Pittsburgh Airport opened on May 31, 1952, as one of the largest airports in the United States. During its first year of operation, more than 1.4 million passengers traveled through the airport.

Although the airport would undergo numerous expansions to support growth within the aviation industry, by the early 1980s, the main terminal was quickly becoming outdated and overcrowded. Just as the city of Pittsburgh transformed itself from an economy based on steel manufacturing to an emerging international economy rooted within technology and healthcare, the Greater Pittsburgh Airport would have to undertake a purposeful and strategic evolution.

Through the leadership of the Allegheny Country Airport Authority and visionaries from around the region, a new midfield terminal introduced a new vision for air travel within the region and beyond. The airport and supporting infrastructure formed one of the largest public works programs of the 1990s, engaging both architects and a wide range engineering disciplines.

On October 1, 1992, the newly developed Pittsburgh International Airport was opened with the intention of becoming a gateway to international commerce. The county’s director of aviation was Scott O’Donnell, and the director of capital projects was John F. Graham Jr. For his work on the airport, Mr. Graham was awarded the Distinguished Civil Engineer Award from the Pittsburgh Section of ASCE in 1992 and named an honorary member of ASCE in 2006, the society’s highest honor. Michael Baker Jr. Inc. was the airport’s project engineer, later relocating its corporate headquarters to the site of the Greater Pittsburgh Airport’s terminal.

The new vision, terminal and name were just one facet of the multidimensional plan created by leadership within the region. In support of this bold endeavor, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation also led the development and construction of the Southern Expressway to support the new airport and the region’s growing economy. In terms of engineering, the new airport’s passenger building was intended to be revolutionary. Early airports had just a terminal building and an apron. With the advent of powerful jet engines and significantly greater numbers of airplanes, airport designers experimented with different ways of creating structures that would be the most efficient passenger buildings. Emerging mid-century airports, like Greater Pittsburgh, tended to be finger-pier concepts, in which linear concourses would extend from a terminal building.

While most convenient for originating and departing passengers, this design was less efficient for aircraft operations. In the 1960s, airport planners looked at ways of creating aircraft movement–focused designs, such as small satellite concourses away from the terminal or transporter concepts in which vehicles such as buses would transport passengers from the terminal to the plane. Later in the 1960s, designers experimented with linear terminals with decentralized operations, with the roadway infrastructure and parking on the long side of a terminal building and gates on the other. This design is most convenient for originating and departing passengers but requires many security checkpoints, long buildings and inconvenient connections. Therefore, major airports began to move to midfield designs, with long concourses in the middle of the airfield, separate from the passenger terminals. While less convenient for origin and destination passengers, this allowed for easy connections and simple airfield movements.

Until Pittsburgh International, all of these designs were arranged in linear configurations. Pittsburgh International pioneered the X-shaped midfield to optimize airfield movements and reduce passenger connections as much as possible. When this design opened, it met the needs of Pittsburgh as a connecting hub. Now that Pittsburgh just serves the needs of local passengers, it is an overbuilt complex with high maintenance costs.

Just as the region’s infrastructure continues to evolve strategically to meet current and future demand, Pittsburgh International Airport in 2017 announced an ambitious plan to reposition the airport for the future. The forward-looking plan includes extensive renovation and merging of the terminals to leverage the paradigm shift away from being a major airline hub to position the airport focus on passengers within the region.

Supporting the development of Pittsburgh International is the Southern Beltway. As of this publication, construction has begun to connect the airport with Interstate 79 and will eventually connect to Interstate 376 in Monroeville. The high-growth areas in the metro region are generally along the airport corridor, both near the airport and in Washington and Butler Counties. The newly redesigned airport will require substantial civil engineering, both in the new building addition and in the supporting roadway infrastructure. This illuminates the challenge of balancing the needs of the airlines with the needs of support infrastructure. The midfield project was designed to be the world’s most efficient connecting hub at the time when the older Greater Pittsburgh Airport served the connection market. Airports built too small have faced many challenges or needed to be replaced entirely, such as Pittsburgh’s airports of the past. However, Pittsburgh’s current airport was likely built too large for industry consolidation and high jet fuel prices.

It is also relevant to consider transportation to and from an airport. The wide median of the Southern Expressway was specifically designed to accommodate rail transit. Today, Pittsburgh is one of the few airports of its size that is not connected to a greater fixed guideway transit system. However, it was also one of the first to designate an area for ride sharing. It will be interesting to see how the autonomous vehicle revolution and potential new market entrants like the hyperloop will both connect to airports and affect the industry in the future.

THE FUTURE

As we continue to scan the horizon, always looking toward the future, the region’s great optimism is balanced with pragmatic uncertainty. Airports such as the Pittsburgh International Airport and local regional airports that support commercial and private air travel will continue to respond and position themselves according to ever-changing market conditions.

The smaller airfields that support general aviation will likely continue to face further uncertainty. Market and industry conditions will force local municipalities and airport managers to make the difficult decisions related to the resources that are required to keep these airfields operational. As exemplified by the region’s early pioneers, the general aviation community will need to move forward with purposeful steps, ensuring that its response stabilizes the operating environment for the foreseeable future.