About | Ford Airport

ABOUT US

Ford Airport is a county-owned public-use airport in Dickinson County, Michigan, United States.

It is located three miles west of the central business district of Iron Mountain, in the central Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

As an Essential Air Service (EAS) airport, Ford Airport receives federal support to ensure reliable air service for the region, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) classifies it as a non‑hub primary commercial service airport in its national plan.

The airport offers daily commercial air service through Delta's Connection service SkyWest, providing seamless connections to destinations across the country. In addition to passenger travel, Ford Airport supports general aviation, business aviation, and air cargo operations.

Our History

The airport was established on land originally donated by the Ford Motor Company. During World War II the adjacent Ford plant built CG‑4A gliders for the U.S. military, a portion of which were handled through the airport’s grounds.

In June 1942, a contract was arranged with the Ford Motor Company for 1,000 CG-4A gliders. Ford established its glider plant in Kingsford, Michigan, where it had been manufacturing wooden-sided station wagons since 1931.

The entire Kingsford facility was converted to glider production, with 4,500 people working around the clock in eight-hour shifts. During their peak production period the workers at Kingsford turned out eight gliders per day.

Military inspectors at the plant would check each CG-4A after it had been fully assembled. If the gliders passed inspection they would then be disassembled by Ford employees and crated for rail shipment to glider training schools.

From 1942 to 1945, the Ford Motor Company's "Iron Mountain" plant in Kingsford, Michigan, built 4,190 CG-4A gliders (more than any other company in the nation) at a lower per-unit cost than any other manufacturer.

Starting in 1944, the shipping process was speeded up considerably when Ford cut a 120-foot-wide swath through wooded areas leading from its assembly line to the airport one mile away in Kingsford. Fully assembled gliders could then be pulled off the assembly line by Ford farm tractors and hauled through the woods to the airport. From there military airplanes would tow them to their destinations around the country.

Sourced: https://www.exploringthenorth.com/gliders/display.html