Planes

NORTHVILLIANS,

Last week, we started a series on Trains, Planes & Automobiles in Northville. Today we will talk about Planes in all aspects as they relate to Northville, including production of the Stinson Aircrafts. These trailblazing planes were built at our historic industrial area, close to where the Foundry Flask is today on Cady Street. You may remember (from previous Weekly’s) this also was where the largest furniture factory in America was located along with foundries, mills, and manufacturing.  We will look this week at how Planes shaped this community through time.

Let’s take a look at Planes in the Northville area, based on my family’s stories and various writings…

Stinson Aircraft Company in Northville
     Northville pilot & airplane producer Eddie Stinson is said to have spent more hours in a plane than any other pilot of his time. Stinson, the “Dean of the Flyers,” built airplanes in Northville in the 1920’s at the old foundry industrial area by the Northville City Car Wash (Cady & Main).
     Stinson and 15 good men formed the nucleus of the Stinson Aircraft Company, which pioneered the field of modern passenger planes (today many are on display at Henry Ford Museum). The company occupied the Stimpson Scales building in the Globe Furniture complex.  The planes were built at the plant and hauled through town without their wings to the air strip on Beck & 6 Mile. Once there, the wings were installed before their test flight over the Town. This property was the Starkweather Farm, which later was mined for gravel, then served as a premier softball complex and eventually became the Hickory Grove Subdivision. (You can see Eddie in a wingless plane as part of Northville’s 1927 Centennial Parade here.)
     Planes produced in Northville were the first on the scene to aid hurricane-ravaged Florida in 1926 (from the Great Miami Hurricane).  Also, locally produced aircraft were made for the military while others were used in World Record marathon flights. The original 15-member nucleus had grown to a workforce of 250 by the time production ended. Henry Ford knew Eddie Stinson and frequently visited the Northville plant to help speed up the development of bigger, faster, and safer aircraft for the aviation market.

P-51 Mustangs
     Before WWII, when my father played sports in Northville, there was no mascot … it was simply Northville vs. Plymouth. In 1939, the Mustang was chosen to represent our sports teams in honor of Northville’s horse shows and racing.
     Through the sale of War Bonds in 1944, the Northville Schools were able to have “Northville Mustang” painted on a P-51 Military Mustang Pursuit Plane. The plane itself cost $75,000 and every Northville student did his/her best to raise $51,000 through the War Bonds with support from our local businesses. Ever since then, we’ve been cheering for the Mustangs!

Jet Crash in Northville
     In 1959, a screaming jet crashed nose-first on Cady Street, creating a hole more than 10 feet deep in a backyard residence. The impact & explosion hurled burning metal and fuel at the King children in their own yard (all survived).  There were reports of cracked windows and fallen debris in both the Historic District and Orchard Heights. The plane’s canopy ended up over a half mile away on 8 Mile & Novi Road, and the pilot parachuted onto Hines Drive. The aviator visited the injured children in the hospital during their recovery.

In conclusion, you can see Northville has always “reached for the sky”.  As we look to normalcy and life after the pandemic, I encourage you to think likewise as we envision what we truly can be in the future.  We must know our past to soar to new heights tomorrow. Please take time to reach out & connect with all in our community in any way you can. Be safe by masking up, maintain social distance and wash up often.

Keep that Northville Faith!  Let’s move forward together… and reach for the sky!

Brian Turnbull
Mayor – Northville
BTurnbull@ci.northville.mi.us / 248.505.6849

(Reach out to me anytime or forward this communication to others interested.)

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