Chicago's Midway Airport: The First Seventy-five Years |
by Christopher Lynch Lake Claremont Press |
|
Chicago's Midway Airport: The First Seventy-five Years |
by Christopher Lynch Lake Claremont Press |
The beauty of the Internet is that those with common interests can share stories. Marshall Massengale, from Atlanta Georgia sent a description of his memories of Midway to an online site for aviation enthusiasts that was so impressive, I wrote to him, asking if I could post it here, and he agreed.
During the 1940's and '50's, when Midway Airport was the Crossroads of the World, traveling through its gates was an experience. On this website, as well as in the book I've written, there are photos that capture the hustle and bustle of that era. However, recordings, whether on film or tape, are rare. So it is with pleasure that thanks to the following account, the cacophony of sounds at the airport can be appreciated, and almost be heard again, a half century later.
"I have a pretty vivid memory" Massengale writes. He can remember his first flight through Midway Airport in 1956, in a United DC-7, the immediate result of which was a life-long love of flying. But it would be the summer of '59 that sticks out after all these years, when as an eight year old boy, Marshall took a flight on an Eastern Airlines Electra. "And I recall that it was a particularly overcast June day with a fairly low ceiling, but no rain." Even after many decades, his recollections of that era paint a picture of what it was like to travel through the Crossroads of the World."My last visit to Midway was during the summer of 1959," Massengale writes. "We flew in on one of Northwest Airlines' DC-7Cs and made a connection to Eastern Airlines. It was the first time I recall having traveled First Class and tasted boiled shrimp for first time. That was on our Northwest's "Regal Imperial Service" flight.
"Our connection to Eastern brought a delightful surprise in that the aircraft we boarded was not the anticipated Lockheed Super-G Constellation on which we traveled on at least once before. Instead, First Class meant we got to fly on one of Eastern's brand new "Golden Falcon" Lockheed L-188 Prop-Jet Electras!
"I well remember how beautiful this aircraft looked picked out in blue and white with red prop nacelles and red prop spinners. A huge red Falcon filled the vertical tail assembly and great red and white letters atop the window line bordered by stars proclaimed Fly Eastern's Prop-Jet Electra
"For many years I held to the notion that behind the ticket counter at Northwest, I somehow remembered having seen photographs of Northwest's Boeing Stratocruiser and DC-6B. Indeed this turned out to be correct for they are plainly visible in a scene from the classic 1959 Hitchcock movie, North By Northwest.
"Other trips my family made earlier through MDW, again in transit between Portland and Atlanta or vice versa, were via Delta between ATL and MDW and United between MDW and PDX. Highlights of these trips included lunch or dinner during the long layovers at the The Cloud Room Restaurant and plane spotting from the observation deck...The Capital Viscounts were especially wonderful to watch from the observation deck as they screamed into the air on takeoff, thoroughly eclipsing the sounds of even the most thunderous piston-engine big Dougs and Connies.
"Midway, like other airports of the fifties, had open-air concourses or passages to the various gate positions. In those days, passengers stood in line literally behind "gates" until the flight was called. There was generally no seating area in these passages as they extended out into the tarmac. Instead, there was a general waiting room in the terminal building."
"Flight announcements, together with other information or passenger pages were of the general sort, broadcast throughout the entire building. By contrast, today's announcements are limited to the immediate departure lounge areas. The old general announcements were also more colorful, usually including some aspect of the type of service. In those days, too, broadcasts from the various airlines would frequently run back-to-back creating a wondrous but noisy atmosphere. The following will give you some idea:
May I have your attention please: This will be your final call for Delta Air Lines, Flight 785, 'Golden Crown' DC-7 Service for Atlanta and Jacksonville, now boarding at Gate H-11. Passengers holding confirmed seats for Flight 785 should be on board.
Eastern Skycap to Gate C-21 with a wheelchair. Rush!
Your attention please: For those persons awaiting the arrival of Northwest Airlines, Flight 12 from Minneapolis, Flight 12 has been delayed due to weather and is now expected to arrive at 5:35.
May I have your attention please: Capital Airlines, Viscount Service, Flight 786 for Detroit, Pittsburgh and New York LaGuardia Airport is now ready for passenger boarding at Gate D-6. Please have your ticket and boarding pass ready and proceed directly to Gate D-6 for immediate check in."
"Boarding the old propliners at Midway and elsewhere meant walking out onto the tarmac and up the boarding steps at the aircraft. When it was raining, a gate attendant would hand you an open umbrella which would be taken up at the top of the steps. I still recall the magical mixture of smells that bespoke the mysteries of piston flight: They consisted of a combination of high octane aviation gasoline, Skydrol, leather interior trim, deodar, freshly brewed coffee and whatever had been stowed away in the galley warming ovens that would be served for the in-flight meal.
"The sound of little thumps and bumps of luggage, mail and freight being stowed below would mix with little whines and whirs of various pumps, servos and switches being checked from the flight deck. When all was ready, you'd look out the window where a ground mechanic would give two or three fingered signal to the cockpit and then rotate his forefinger through a circular motion. Almost immediately, you'd watch as a great prop began to turn one-two-three-four-five-six blades over the top. A huge billow of bluish-gray smoke would belch forth from the exhaust stacks and one of either port or starboard inboard props would rumble to life. The other engines would come to life in succession in a similar manner and was an entrancing experience to watch. Sometimes, the motors would get a "hot start" where a tongue of flame would roar from the stacks. That added to the thrill, especially at night.
"Somewhere en route to the runway, prop planes would be paused to run up the engines while the flight crew ran through the final takeoff checklist and performed engine magneto checks on each engine, running up first the two engines on one side and then the other."
"To a small child of the time, such rituals, sights and sounds made commercial flight from the era all the more exciting and adventuresome. Today, by comparison, commercial flight seems more or less routine. You can actually have a normal conversation in flight. On a DC-6 or DC-7, however, one's voice in-flight sounded gravelly or gruff and tinny because of the piston vibrations.
"Those were the days when "stewardesses," as they were called back then, passed out sticks of gum before takeoff and to youngsters, small metal wings designating the wearer as a 'Junior Pilot' or 'Junior Stewardess'. Meal trays came furnished also with sample packages of Tareyton Cigarettes.
"That was truly the golden age of air travel . . . 'the only way to fly!'"
Marshall H. Massengale
Atlanta, GA USA
atlooda@yahoo.com