July 26, 2022 Cool Places

The Liberty Gazette

July 26, 2022

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Historic vacation spots are cool. Here’s one for fellow history lovers and aviation kindred spirits: The Grosse Ile Pilot House in Grosse Ile, Michigan (“Big Island,” named by creative French explorers in 1679). The Pilot House, now a hotel, was formerly the mess hall and dormitory for the U.S. Navy Reserves, which moved to the island in 1929, during the Golden Age of Aviation. 

Also at the Grosse Ile Air Field was the Aircraft Development Corporation, building an all-metal blimp, the ZMC-2. The Navy flew it for ten years before retiring it. And, the renowned aviation company, Curtiss-Wright, built gliders there and introduced them into the Navy’s training program at Grosse Ile. Life was so good that the Marines couldn’t let this place pass them up, so they brought a couple of units to the aviation base. 

Sadly, as we all know (and are marching toward a repeat), heading into the 1930’s, bad times were dumped on the citizenry of America the Beautiful. We all know who did this, and it’s the same worthless group inflicting harm today. They put the Curtiss-Wright facility out of business, which made the property ripe for takeover by the federal government. Nothing good about that, except that the Navy then built new runways and taxiways (which surely private enterprise could have and would have done eventually, had they not been sacked).

The airport emerged as a primary flight training base, where many Naval Aviators learned to fly before moving to Pensacola for advanced training. By the time we were nearing our involvement in the Second World War, 2,900 pilots had been accepted into the ramped-up training program in its first three months. Cadets came over from Great Britain, too, making Grosse Ile the leading training center, and by 1944, this place housed over 800 cadets from here and abroad, all learning to fly and to defend freedom in America and the world.

By VJ Day, however, when many training bases became ghost towns, the Navy implemented a postwar program at Grosse Ile, which kept the base going until 1969. That’s when the feds decided not to maintain military aviation training (peace out, man), and Grosse Ile Township took over and turned it into a civilian airport. Today, the airport beckons travelers to land on the little island that sits at the confluence of the Detroit River and Lake Erie.

Today, you can stay in the old Curtiss-Wright barracks. It was first renovated as the Pilot House in 1981, welcoming pilots, aviation enthusiasts, and others. They also host special events, such as weddings and banquets, on the upper floor, and you can see the original dance floor and two original fireplaces in the section that was the Officers’ Club.

If you hadn’t thought of a reason to visit Michigan, perhaps that will give you some incentive. It’s a cool place for your escape from this smothering heat and humidity. We hear the highs in Grosse Ile this week are in the low 80’s.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com