By Andrew Danielson
Southwest of downtown Fort Wayne, the thunderous roar of jet engines pulses through the air at Fort Wayne International Airport. Passengers concentrate on gate departure and arrival times as they hurry through the long corridors of the travel edifice. A voice announces baggage claim details over the PA.
But Fort Wayne International isn’t the only airport in the city.
Across town, located off of West Ludwig Road, the buzz of a small single-propeller plane cuts through the air, sounding like an enormous dragonfly. Suddenly, a small white speck hurtles down a runway, sailing into the air in a graceful arc. Flight operations are in full swing on this crisp, clear day at Smith Field Airport, a small airport on the north side of Fort Wayne.
As I stood and watched that small airplane begin its flight into the wild blue yonder, I realized that I was seeing almost 100 years of aviation history. For this airport is the birthplace of commercial aviation in the Summit City.
Smith Field: The Origins of Fort Wayne Aviation
Smith Field first opened as the Paul Baer Municipal Airport in June of 1925, according to the History of Fort Wayne & Allen County, Volume 1 (History of Fort Wayne).
The History of Fort Wayne article on aviation detailed how Smith Field was named after the first American ace (a pilot who shoots down at least five enemy aircraft) Paul Frank Baer. Baer had served as a pilot during World War 1, first in the French Foreign Legion. When the United States joined the war in 1917, Baer became part of the US military as a pilot.
Following the war, Baer was a hero of his hometown, the Summit City. It was only fitting that Fort Wayne’s first official airport should be named after this American hero.
However, that all changed in World War II.
A documentary by PBS Fort Wayne explained that in 1940, the Army Air Corps (the forerunner of the US Air Force) was building air fields across the country.
For Fort Wayne, the choice came down to either converting Baer Field (as Smith Field was then called) to an army air corps base, or building a brand new airport for the army.
The fear was that if Baer Field became primarily a military airfield, Fort Wayne could lose its bustling commercial air traffic. Baer Field was doing a roaring business, and Fort Wayne didn’t want to lose this valuable asset to the city’s economy and quality of life.
The final decision? Build a brand new air field on the southwest side of Fort Wayne.
At the time of its completion in 1941, the new air field cost $10 million according to the Fort Wayne Airport Authority’s website.
But the new airfield needed a name.
As explained in the History of Fort Wayne, the army’s tradition was to name these kinds of military installations after military aviators.
Fort Wayne residents, on the other hand, preferred to name the new airfield either after the Revolutionary War hero General “Mad” Anthony Wayne or the aviation pioneer and Fort Wayne native Art Smith.
In a compromise, it was decided to rename Baer Field in honor of Art Smith, while the new airport took on the name of Baer Field.
The decision was appropriate, as it honored two of Fort Wayne’s aviation heroes, Paul Baer and Art Smith.
Art Smith: Fort Wayne’s Aviation Pioneer
Art Smith was a rock star of the early aviation world.
The History of Fort Wayne recounts that Art Smith was the first American pilot invited to Japan. Smith had received an invitation extended by the Emperor of Japan to come put on exhibitions of flying.
In the course of his career, which included being a stunt pilot, military pilot instructor, and air mail pilot, Smith amassed an enviable number of awards and a network of famous friends.
The National Air and Space Museum records that Art Smith, known as the “Bird Boy” of Fort Wayne, received a tremendous outpouring of tributes upon his untimely death in an airplane crash in 1926. Tributes came from the giants of aviation, including Orville Wright, the first human to ever fly an airplane. Famed pilot Charles Lindbergh also paid homage, circling the city of Fort Wayne three times in honor of Smith’s legacy.
Today, a monument to Art Smith, at a height of nearly 40 feet, stands in Memorial Park in downtown Fort Wayne on the same location in which Art Smith first took off in his homemade airplanes.
Wartime Innovation at Smith Field
Perhaps one of the most intriguing elements of Smith Field’s history is the fact that it served as a top-secret military installation in addition to its commercial activities during World War II.
According to the History of Fort Wayne, the US military built and designed what is the predecessor to today’s guided missiles or weaponized drones, the TDR-1 Assault Drone. A twin-engine aircraft that could carry explosives and be guided by radio control via an early form of television, the TDR-1 was flown to Smith Field, electronics installed in the cockpit, and then shipped to the military via a rail line that ran alongside the airport.
TDR-1 missiles were unmanned, being remotely piloted. They saw action for a limited period of the war, being deployed against the Japanese in the Pacific Theatre. Eventually, the project was ended by the military for a variety of reasons.
Today, only one example of a TDR-1 assault drone exists in the world according to the History of Fort Wayne. That example is currently on display in Pensacola, Florida at the U.S. Naval Air Museum.
Historic Hangars and Rare Architecture
But Smith Field is not known for just its wartime efforts.
The airport actually hosts two historically significant architectural elements, both hangers.
Hangar 2, with its three large doors and spacious interior, was unusual at the time of its construction in 1930 as mentioned in the PBS Fort Wayne documentary. Its size was enough to accommodate the large passenger aircraft of the time, such as the Douglas DC-3, which could carry about 20 passengers.
But perhaps the most unusual and rare historic artifact at Smith Field is its Carousel Hangar.
The National Park Service describes the Carousel Hangar at Smith Field as, “…the only example of Clark W. Smith’s patented design ever built.”
Smith’s design was to build a rounder hanger that looks very similar to a grain silo. A door in the side can be rolled back, revealing the interior of the hangar and the carousel network.
The network itself consists of a series of long, metal tracks, sticking out of a central, rotating hub like spokes in a wheel. There are enough tracks to support up to four small planes.
Scott Noble, a local private pilot who stores his small plane in this Carousel Hangar, explained the basic function of the hangar design.
He said that the carousel network can be rotated around the central hub (just like a carousel).
“You could put your airplane in this and then they would just move it to wherever they needed to,” Noble explained.
Basically, if a pilot wants to get his airplane from this hangar, they simply need to open the doors of the hangar, rotate the carousel until their particular plane is pointed to the exit of the hangar, start up the engine, and taxi out on to the runway.
One of the neat features of this carousel method of plane storage is that the entire assembly can be rotated by hand. It does take a little muscle to get the carousel moving, but the entire mechanism is remarkably compact and efficient.
Smith Field’s Role in Modern Aviation
Even though Smith Field is more than a century old, it continues to be a hive of aviation activity.
With the edition of a brand new terminal building in 2013, Smith Field only seems to be increasing both activity and size.
“Look at how big this thing is,” Noble said excitedly. “I mean, this is double or triple the size of what it used to be.”
The reality is that Smith Field serves a vital role in the aviation industry of the Fort Wayne area.
According to the Fort Wayne Airport Authority’s website, Smith Field has been designated the primary reliever airport for Fort Wayne International.
But what is a reliever airport you might ask?
As explained on the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) website, a reliever airport is, “An airport designated by the Secretary of Transportation to relieve congestion at a commercial service airport and to provide more general aviation access to the overall community.”
Basically, a reliever airport takes the pressure off a main commercial airport like Fort Wayne International. For example, while Fort Wayne International handles large aircraft and numerous commercial flights for passengers, Smith Field can handle the smaller planes of general aviation and private pilot flight traffic.
This isn’t to say private pilots can’t fly in and out of Fort Wayne International – it just means that private pilots and general aviation traffic have another option available to them for takeoff, landing, refueling, and storing their personal planes.
That’s good news for everyone. Fort Wayne International can keep an efficient flow of large commercial traffic coming in and out of the city while Smith Field serves all of the smaller airplane traffic.
But Smith Field is important for more than its reliever role.
Sweet Aviation, a local business owned by the founder of Sweetwater Sound Chuck Surack, currently operates out of Smith Field. According to Sweet Aviation’s website, the business provides, “…maintenance, charter, detailing, aircraft rentals, and robust flight training.”
In addition to Sweet Aviation, Smith Field also hosts the Aviation Center, which is home to Ivy Tech’s Aviation Maintenance Technology program. Built in 2012 at a cost of $2.3 million, the Aviation Center is a large facility – 21,000 square feet – and it provides both hangar and classroom space for Ivy Tech’s programs.
Beyond its commercial use, Smith Field also serves as the introductory location to young people to the world of flight.
The Experimental Aircraft Association’s Young Eagles program, which sees young people taken on airplane rides by private pilots, has several upcoming rallies scheduled for the airport, sponsored by the EAA’s Chapter 2. Through this program, young people are introduced to the excitement of soaring into the sky and the world of aviation.
A Historic Airfield with a Modern Mission
Smith Field has so much to offer the northeast Indiana community.
Listed on the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places, Smith Field’s historic past is firmly recognized, an indelible testament to its honored service in times of peace and war.
But Smith Field also looks forward to the future, serving as the birthplace for the flight dreams of young aviators today, and the pilots and aircraft mechanics of tomorrow.