On this day in 1911, J. Clifford Turpin made the first flight over Grand Rapids at the West Michigan State Fair. His Model B plane, with wheels for takeoff and landing, soared above Comstock Park. Also today, in 1942, Michigan opened its first expressway along US 12 to support wartime production at the Willow Run Bomber plant.
TRANSCRIPT
It was a good day to look to the sky at the West Michigan State Fair today in 1911. It was there that the very first flight over Grand Rapids took place at Comstock Park. J. Clifford Turpin, who learned how to pilot from Orville Wright himself, took his 26-foot-long, 39 feet wide plane into the skies. Rather than the Wright Brothers skids, this new Model B aircraft featured wheels to aid in takeoff and landing. And speaking of speedy transportation, in order to better shuttle workers to the wartime production of the Willow Run Bomber plant, Michigan’s first expressway opened along US 12 today in 1942.