Western Hills Airport (also known as Frank Airport and Cheviot Airport) was the first airport in western Hamilton County, Ohio. It was located in Bridgetown, and airport operations began in 1929. The airport shut down during World War II, but reopened later. It slowly went into decline, ceasing service in 1949 as aircraft outgrew the facility.
History Background
In 1788, John Cleves Symmes purchased the land now known as the greater Cincinnati area. In 1790, Hamilton County was incorporated. Until 1795, when the Treaty of Greenville was signed, the Native American Shawnee lived in the area. In 1809, settlers established Green Township. The land, largely used for hunting and trapping, was heavily wooded. During the 1820s, the land began to be cleared and cultivated. The site of Western Hamilton County's first airport was owned by Francis Frondorf and Elizabeth A. Groves; It was later owned by Judge George F. Eyrich, Jr. and his wife, Ida R. Eyrich. In 1926, the land was subdivided and roads dedicated for public use. It was known as the Cheviot Heights Subdivision.
"Aviation fever" was sweeping the country and Cincinnati's first airport, Lunken Airport, opened in eastern Hamilton County in 1925. The western part of the county felt the need for an airport in rural Bridgetown.
Frank Airport (1928–1930)
On November 8, 1928, about of the Cheviot Heights Subdivision was purchased by Earl Stanley Simmonds and Harry A. Frank. The airport, with a planned name of Western Hills Airport, would be western Hamilton County's first. The purchase was facilitated by the Western Hills Realty Company, and two of its employees (F. O. Rack and L. J. Mueller) were instrumental in bringing an airport to the area. The land, recently cleared for suburban homes, needed little preparation before planes could use the grass fields.
The land was seen as good for an airport because it was elevated and free from fog and flooding, unlike Lunken Airport. Bids were accepted from local businesses for building hangars and maintenance facilities to house the approximately 50 private airplanes owned and operated in the greater Cincinnati area. Local leaders planned to land postal airplanes on the roof of the Union Terminal building, but abandoned the idea due to lack of space. This led local developers to consider other locations near rail stations to aid in the transport of mail across the county. It was hoped that Western Hills Airport would be a U.S. mail station, but this never happened.
Simmonds' brother, attorney R. E. Simmonds, formed Frank Airport, Inc. on April 4, 1929, to run the airport. Harry A. Frank, who studied airplane-motor construction, service, and repair, was the corporation's initial administrator. Its officers hoped that the airport would become a Midwestern hub for motor service. Frank, a mechanical instructor in the United States Army Signal Corps for two years, was a mechanical and electrical engineer for four years and led a local company for seven years before the airport opened.
The airport was in Green Township, in the neighborhood now known as Bridgetown, and its hangar was near present-day 3615 Neiheisel Avenue. The northeast runway ran from near present-day 3658 Eyrich Road south to 3501 Eyrich Road. The east-west runway extended from near the backyard of 3588 Krierview Drive east to the front yard of present-day 3594 Lakewood Drive. The runways crossed near present-day 3594 Eyrich Road.
Thousands of people were predicted to flock to the airport, and excitement was high. Work on hangars was planned to begin in late December 1928; the airport was planned to open in February 1929, but construction was repeatedly delayed.
In March 1929, planes began flying at the airport and a hangar was being built. News coverage in the Western Hills Press was enthusiastic, with plans for the construction of aeronautical-school buildings, office buildings and maintenance facilities. Actual dates, however, were vague.
The metal hangar was finished in May 1929, and the company's two planes were moved to the field from storage at Watson Airport. In May, the Cincinnati Glider Club (a branch of the Cincinnati Aviation Units) began flying at the airport. Carl Hageman of 2978 Wardall Avenue was reportedly the first pilot to make a glider flight at the airport. The club, a national pioneer of gliding, was the seventh in the country to receive a charter from the National Glider Association and the second in Ohio. The glider program became one of the airport's busiest in its early years, and the group formed glider clubs in Middletown and Hamilton in 1929.
The airport began to advertise, hoping to capitalize on the area's aviation excitement. In its early days, the airport was called Frank Airport and Western Hills Airport. Its opening was scheduled for May, June, and August, and it opened on August 10, 1929. The Sohio Air Pullman plane was on display. The airplane, a red, white, and blue six-seat monoplane similar to Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, had a larger engine and was used by Standard Oil of Ohio to promote the company in particular and aviation in general; it became a frequent visitor to the airport. Prominent community members were invited to take flights. Local businessman L. J. Mueller was the master of ceremonies. An official from the Ohio State Department of Aeronautics addressed the crowd; visitors watched an aerobatics demonstration and were invited to tour the facilities. Lafayette Escadrille member and aviation instructor Robert Rockwell made a speech. Frank Manson, parachute supervisor at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio, instructed student aviator William Fowler in a parachute jump the following day.
It was reported in the Western Hills Press the following week that "thousands" attended the airport's grand opening, and more than 200 airplane rides were given over the weekend. An additional plane from Dixie Davis Airport was brought in to accommodate crowds hoping for a ride. When it opened, the airport's officers were: Harry A. Frank, president and general manager Abbot A. Thayer (an engineering graduate of Harvard University), vice president and sales manager George H. Schone, secretary Virgie Frank, treasurer
Members of its board of directors were: Earl S. Simmonds G. Mattman Frederick H. Hagemann
During the airport's early months, a "Women's Aviation Contest" invited women between the ages of 18 and 24 were to write a 500–1000 word essay about Frank Airport and its relationship to aviation development. The winner would win a $325 flying course at the airport. Ten other prizes, totaling $1,000, would be divided as aeronautical instruction. The first 25 women to submit essays would receive a "free airplane ride over the Western Hills". The essay judges were:
Dorothy Goodwin, aviation editor of the Cincinnati Times-Star Mrs. L. J. Mueller, president of the Westwood Parent and Teachers' Association and member of the Westwood Women's Club Judge George F. Eyrich, Jr., president of the Westwood Civic Association and former owner of the land the airport was located upon Walter Lay, president of the Western Hills Business Association Judge Alfred K. Nippert, chairman of the Western Hills Viaduct Association
The contest ran from August 16–31, 1929, and announcement of the winners was scheduled for September 7. Virgie Frank, wife of Harry A. Frank and airport treasurer, volunteered for the first class to learn to fly with the contest winners.
When the airport opened, it had three modern buildings: A metal hangar, an adjoining office building and machine shop, and a restaurant that touted as having the "most modern cooking equipment". The machine shop was marketed as a repair and painting facility for automobiles and airplanes. With tools and machines to rebuild and repair mechanical and electrical parts of cars and planes, it also had spraying, rubbing, and polishing machines for servicing and refinishing vehicle surfaces. The airport's phone number was Harrison 3005, and the community was urged to call "day or night".
Airplane rides began at $2.00 and encouraged local residents to "see the Western Hills from the air"; "You will never appreciate the full beauty of the Western Hills until you have viewed them from the air". Another ad read, "Be modern and air-minded".
Frank Airport now owned three airplanes: two Internationals built in Cincinnati and one Travelair built in Wichita, Kansas. Each was powered by Curtiss motors.
On August 16, 1929, former Mt. Healthy Airport chief pilot E. F. Skockdopole became the new chief pilot at Frank Airport. Skockdopole, a graduate of the University of Minnesota, "served in the Army Signal Corps, patrolled the Mexican border for smugglers, owned his own air circus, and was instrumental in establishing the St. Louis-Chicago mail route of Lindbergh fame". Pilot Thomas Cushman, who had been doing most of the flying at Frank Airport, worked with Skockdopole.
Dangers of flight In those early days, flying was a dangerous sport. During the airport's first few months of operation, there were at least three crashes with no reported injuries.
On May 30, 1929, an International plane with a pilot and two passengers clipped high-tension lines near the airport when taking off. The pilot said that they hit an air pocket, struck the wires, and crashed into a nearby wheat field. The crash broke the plane's propeller and landing gear.
On October 14, 1929, 21-year-old pilot instructor Thomas Cushman and 20-year-old student George Waltz flew into a radio antenna and crashed. Waltz had a badly-bruised nose, but Cushman reportedly was uninjured. The crash, which occurred two blocks from Waltz's home, destroyed the plane. On March 1, 1930, George H. Liebel made a weather-related forced landing in a cornfield near Shandon.
Deputy sheriffs reported that pilot Thomas Cushman and student pilot John Hunt took off from Frank Airport before their plane crashed into the Big Miami River. A correction was published on May 28, 1930, saying that the plane originated from West Cincinnati Airport.
Receivership Earl S. Simmonds, owner of the airport land who was leasing it to Frank Airport, filed a suit in Common Pleas Court on June 20, 1930, requesting the appointment of a receiver for the airport. Simmonds cancelled the lease, saying that the $100 monthly lease had not been paid since March 1, 1929, and Frank Airport owed him $1,900 in rent and $1,290.40 for taxes and other expenses.
It was also stated that the company borrowed $2,000 from the Western Bank & Trust Company (co-signed by Simmonds), and the loan was past due. Simmonds said that the company was losing about $600 per month through the first half of 1930. Attorney John W. Cowell was appointed as receiver by Judge Dennis J. Ryan.
Western Hills Airport (1930–1944) The airport continued operations as Western Hills Airport under Mel Wood. It began hosting weekly activities in 1930, including aerial stunt maneuvers, parachute jumping, mystery races, and a bomb-dropping contest. The airport also hosted hangar dances with orchestral music. The Albatross Birdmen Glider Club was active until its fall 1936 move to the larger Watson Airport. The club flew gliders with and without motors, and director Melvin O. Wood instructed students in glider flight.