Kansas City Aviation Heritage Trail

1. Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base and Memorial Airport (1941-1994)

First established in 1941 as Grandview Airport, this location has a long history of military and commercial aviation. Starting in 1944, the airport's capacity was expanded to support the needs of the United States Army Air Corps. The city continued to own the property through 1952, but in the early years of the Cold War, the Air Force took control of the area and opened Grandview Air Force Base, which began flying missions in 1954. The base was named in honor of two Kansas City war heroes in 1957, and was home to a large fighter squadron in the 1950s and 1960s. The base reduced operations in later decades and closed in 1994. Kansas City also maintained a municipal airport at this location between 1983 and 1997. Today, the area is home to intermodal facilities, Kansas City Southern Railroad cargo facilities, the National Nuclear Security Administration, and numerous commercial facilities.

2. State Line Airpark (1946-1982)

Built by pilots LeRoy and Murl Johnston in 1946, this small airport was located on the Kansas Side of State Line Road from 133rd Street to 135th. Began as an alternative for a small number of enthusiastic aircraft owners, the landing strip offered a flight school and four sod runways by 1950. The airport offered hangars and a runway for aircraft owners until 1982 and even offered a short-lived daily passenger service to Kansas City International Airport.

3. Morse Field, (Johnson County Executive Airport)

Established in the early 1940s as an auxiliary airfield for the Navy in support of Olathe Naval Air Station (New Century AirCenter today), this airfield was later deeded to the city of Olathe in 1951. Johnson County took over operations in 1967 and it is the fourth-busiest airport in the state of Kansas.

4. Olathe Naval Air Station (New Century AirCenter)

Originally a small civilian airstrip, the military acquired the site and expanded it as a training base for pilots in World War II, Olathe Naval Air Station later served as the headquarters of the Naval Air Transport Service.

5. World War II Bomber Builders Monument

Dedicated in 1998, this small monument near the Wyandotte County Museum honors the men and women who built 6,608 B-25 bombers at the former NAA-K (North American Aviation Inc., Kansas) plant that operated in the Fairfax District of Kansas City, Kansas, during World War II. The plant employed more than 50,000 people, including numerous women known today by the moniker "Rosie the Riveter." The plant operated from December 1941 and abruptly closed in August 1945. Sixteen of the bombers built at NAA-K were used in the Doolittle Raid against Tokyo, Japan, in April of 1942 in response to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The plant reflects Franklin D. Roosevelt's plan to overwhelm the Axis Powers with material superiority, which included a goal of building 50,000 planes a year. The National Defense Advisory Committee established the need for more factories and workers to meet the needs of the war. This memorial recognizes the pride, patriotism, and teamwork of the employees at NAA-K during World War II.

6. Kansas City International Airport

When Kansas City International Airport opened in 1972 at the former location of Mid-Continent Airport, it featured three curved terminals with gates that were only 75 feet from the roadway. With three runways and dozens of gates, along with the growth of Kansas City-based airlines like Braniff and TWA, residents were optimistic that their city would become one of the nation's largest airline hubs. Instead, the jet age made midwestern stopovers a thing of the past, and the airport's three terminals never reached their designed passenger capacity. With increased security measures, the once-convenient and car-centric three-terminal design proved untenable as it required multiple security checkpoints and passenger waiting areas. A new single terminal design was constructed between 2019 and 2023. The single terminal design eliminated the ability to "drive to your gate," a central selling point of the 1972 design. However, the new terminal makes it possible for travelers to move throughout the entire airport after passing through a central security checkpoint. The new terminal is also filled with work from local artists under the city's One Percent for Art program.

7. TWA Overhaul Base - KCI Airport

Trans World Airlines’ enormous overhaul base at Kansas City International Airport was one of the largest airline maintenance facilities in the U.S. and is partly responsible for the current location of KCI. At its peak, the base handled repairs for additional airlines and even government aviation. The site became part of American Airlines’ maintenance facilities following TWA’s bankruptcy and sale to American in 2001, and operated for almost another decade before American closed the building in 2010. The facility enjoyed new life as Aviation Technical Services expanded there in 2014, where they can service up to 12 aircraft at once inside their hangars.

8. TWA Administrative Offices Building

Trans World Airlines (TWA) established its home in Kansas City during the 1930s, and the airline built its now-historic TWA Administrative Offices Building from 1968 to 1972 to use as its corporate headquarters. TWA, a leader in international travel and an airline giant in the 1960s and 1970s, constructed the building with the impression that Kansas City and its International Airport would experience robust growth. More than 2,000 people worked in the historic TWA Administrative Offices Building at the company’s peak, a time when TWA was Kansas City's largest employer and contributed roughly $200 million annually to the local economy.

9. North American Aviation, Kansas City (1941-1945)

Constructed and staffed in just thirteen months and operating between 1941 and 1945, Kansas City's North American Aviation was an aircraft manufacturing plant that produced many of the B-25 bombers used by the United States military during WWII. The plant ceased production in 1945 after completing 6,608 B-25 bombers. The factory was converted to automobile production by General Motors and the first car came off the assembly line in 1946. The large factory sat on the bank of the Missouri River adjacent to Fairfax Airport.

10. Fairfax Municipal Airport (1921-1985)

This entry is under construction

11. Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport

Built in 1927, this small municipal airport was once deemed the “Air Hub of America.” After nearly losing U.S. Army services that were operated from a small airport located several miles out of city limits, Chamber of Commerce president Lou Holland encouraged a new airport that could also serve as an airmail station and aid in the city’s booming economy. Leaders decided that the empty field on the peninsula at the confluence of the Missouri and Kansas Rivers was an ideal location because of its proximity to downtown and rail transportation. Famed aviator Charles Lindbergh dedicated Municipal Airport on August 17, 1927. The airport served as a base of operations for Kansas City-based Trans World Airlines and offered commercial air service until Kansas City International Airport was built in 1972. The airport was renamed in 2002 in honor of prominent Kansas Citian Charles Wheeler and serves private and small business traffic.

12. National Airline History Museum

Visitors to the National Airline History Museum in Hanger 9 of the Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport can enjoy a tour that includes exhibits, aviation artifacts, and several historic aircraft. The museum began with the acquisition and restoration of a Lockheed Constellation in the 1980s. Today, the museum holds a collection of historic aircraft and exhibits. The museum hosts community functions and offers educational programs. One of the most popular additions to the museum is a pair of flight simulators, where visitors can try their hand at flying various historic aircrafts.

13. TWA Museum

Located in the historic Kansas City corporate office building of Trans World Airlines, which was constructed in 1932, the TWA Museum features artifacts from the legendary airline along with general exhibits about the history of aviation. For many years, TWA had its corporate headquarters in downtown Kansas City and operated a massive maintenance hanger at today's Kansas City International Airport. For this reason, Kansas City was referred to as the "Air Hub of America" for many years. Trans World Airlines was known for its luxury passenger experience and top-notch engineering, as well as connections to iconic American businessmen like Howard Hughes. This museum features historic aircraft, pilot and flight attendant uniforms, training simulators, photographs, and artifacts related to aviation and TWA.

14. TWA Jack Frye Training Center (Transportation Training Building) (1957-1988)

The southeast corner of 13th and Baltimore was home to an eight-story structure that was utilized by TWA to train pilots, flight attendants, and other personnel from 1957 to 1988. The company used the building for a variety of training operations along with the Breech Academy in Overland Park. This facility included a training center named in honor of aviation pioneer and TWA founder Jack Frye, which included numerous replicas of aircraft equipment, from cockpit simulators prior to the creation of computer graphics to emergency and maintenance equipment. Here, thousands of pilots learned to utilize instruments on board Boeing 707s and other aircraft that were flown around the world. Several developers considered plans to convert the historic building to lofts, and the structure was purchased by Lou Trigg and Roger Buford in 2003. Having sat vacant since 1988, the cost of each proposal discouraged investment, and the building was demolished in 2005.

15. TWA Corporate Headquarters Building (1956-1964)

This building served as the headquarters for Trans World Airlines (TWA) from 1956 until 1964. Once one of the leading airlines in the world, TWA was in business from 1930 to 2001. The company pioneered many aviation achievements such and was known for being the first to utilize the Lockheed Constellation. TWA’s presence in Kansas City up until the late 1960s was a boon for the city’s economic development, as was the company's flight attendant training school that operated in Kansas City from 1969 to 1988. The corporate headquarters building was the first major commercial structure built in the city in decades. It was notable for being constructed with prefabricated concrete and steel. Howard Hughes commissioned a 1/3 scale model of the Moonliner Rocket attraction TWA sponsored at Disneyland in the 1950s to be placed atop the building. In the early 2000s the building was restored to its original appearance, along with a replica of the Moonliner, and today it houses offices for a local advertising company. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

16. TWA's Breech Academy (1969-1988)

Named in honor of TWA Airlines executive Ernest R. Breech, this complex housed a state-of-the-art training facility for flight attendants and other frontline personnel. The facility was owned and operated by TWA Airlines who also offered paid training to other airlines. The facility included flight attendant dormitories arranged as pods, each with its own decorative motif based on different countries and continents. The school's other buildings held training classes that included flight simulators, simulations inside aircraft fuselages, and even an aquatic facility for emergency training. The facility became known for rigorous training that included everything from serving five-course meals to assisting passengers in emergencies. The complex was later acquired by Wadell and Reed and now serves as an office park.

17. Kellerstrass Farm: Home to Kansas City's First Airfield (1919)

In 1919, distiller and poultry farm operator Ernest Kellerstrass responded to the need for a safe place to land aircraft by turning over part of his farm to the city to build a public landing strip for airplanes. The Kellerstrass property included a hundred acres from 85th Street to 89th Street, spanning from Oak Street to Troost Avenue, and it was here where Kansas City aviators first had a safe place to land after years of landing at golf courses and the open but hilly fields at Swope Park. Two years later, Kansas City, Kansas, converted land along the Missouri River into an airstrip that became Fairfax Industrial Airport. And in 1927, Charles Lindbergh dedicated Kansas City, Missouri's Municipal Airport, still in operation today as Charles Wheeler Municipal Airport.

18. Richard's Flying Field Historical Marker

This historical marker near the Gregory Hines subdivision shares the story of a former airfield named for Lt. John F. Richards II, the first Kansas City soldier in the Army's air service to perish in Europe during World War I. The airfield served Raytown for roughly three decades with the Army Air Corps managing the runway and field. The airfield was used for training along with airshows, and short-lived airmail service. In an era before regular schedules and major airlines, commercial aircraft from all over the country also landed in Raytown at Richard's Field. The Gregory Hines subdivision replaced the airfield during the 1950s. Similar to the airfield's connection to World War II, this development was connected to the major wars of the 20th century as the suburban sprawl that led to the expansion of Kansas City coincided with troops returning from World War II looking for homes.

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Kansas City Aviation Heritage Trail

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