New Zealanders Hewitt, Kay and Stewart took two weeks from Mildenhall to Melbourne in the great 1934 air race. Photo from: Flight

Fancy hangarage for this F-94B Starfire, presumably of 61 FIS. Photo from: Wayne State University

The Stout Metal Airplane Division of Ford didn't want anything to do with the Ford Flivver light aircraft. William Stout left Ford in 1930 and, complaining about a lack of progress in aviation, designed the all-metal Skycar with a 75-hp pusher engine. The sole Skycar I was not a roadable aircraft. The tail was later changed. Updated prototypes were built in the 1940s. Photo assumed taken at Detroit City Airport because of the proximity of houses. Photo from: Wayne State University

'Flivver' was a slang word for a cheap car. It appears that only four examples were built of the aircraft for the masses, which Henry Ford said should fit in his office. #1 was unregistered, #2 was NC268. This is #3, NC3218, with an almost 50% longer wingspan and a much longer nose. It crashed in February 1928 killing the test pilot in the picture, Harry Brooks. Charles Lindbergh was the only other pilot to fly the Flivver, and later said it was one of the worst aircraft he ever encountered. #4 was only completed to represent NC3218 in the Henry Ford Museum. Designations and construction numbers unclear. Photo from: The Henry Ford

Start or finish of the 1930 Ford Reliability Tour. The Waco CRG was designed for this event and the two examples built both took part, John Livingston taking second place in NC600Y / 2 and Art Davis third place in this airframe, NC660Y / 4. Detail of the same original as photo 370617. Number 8 is NC400V. Photo from: Wayne State University

Start or finish of the 1930 Ford Reliability Tour. NC9092 was flown by Eddie August Schneider who was 18 years old and won the Great Lakes Trophy for the fastest light aircraft. Schneider was from New Jersey but we can't decipher the titles. Number 22 is a Bourdon Kitty Hawk, NC30V, which was flown by Nancy Hopkins. Photo from: Wayne State University

A three-seat strategic reconnaissance aircraft, the C.VIII was rejected by the Netherlands army air arm and only the prototype entered service. A seaplane variant sold to the navy. Photo from: Nederlands Instituut voor Militaire Historie

CF-AYW was delivered a few days later to General Airways of Toronto, a small airline founded in 1928 by Roy Brown, the pilot credited with shooting down Manfred von Richthofen. The photo source says Stinson tested seaplanes at Belleville Lake, not far from the Stinson factory airfield in Wayne. Another photo shows this location was opposite the French Landing Dam and Powerhouse that created the lake in the Huron River. Photo from: Wayne State University

Photo presumably taken at DET, then Detroit City Airport. N17331 later flown by Trans Texas Airlines. Photo from: Wayne State University

Early Army version of the Loening OL amphibian. Wears USAAS serial on the rear fuselage and McCook Field code P-384 on the rudder. Also tested by NACA. Crashed on 9 April 1927. Photo from: Wayne State University

A nice clear picture of the Pride of Detroit, presumably taken in the Detroit area before or after Edward Schlee and Billy Brock's attempted flight around the world, which was aborted in Tokyo. As NC4307, the same plane won the Ford Reliability Tour in June 1927, flown by Eddie Stinson and Schlee. It was owned by Schlee's Wayco Air Service and its original name Miss Wayco is also still worn in an Aeroshell logo on the nose. Photo from: Wayne State University

'Passenger service from Toronto to Windsor.' The building reads 'Walker Airport' as CYQG used to be named. Photo from: Wayne State University

Nationwide Airlines of Detroit was formed in 1947, operating aircraft in conjunction with Nationwide Air Transport Service. The former merged with Lake Central Airlines in 1950, and the latter was taken over by Resort Airlines in 1951. This picture is a detail of a photo which also shows C-47A NC54337. That aircraft crashed 11 Nov 1949, which helps to date this photo a bit more precisely. NC57131 seen here is ex 42-100577, a D-Day veteran. Photo from: Wayne State University

Meteor Air Transport was formed in Teterboro, New Jersey in 1946 and operated low-fare flights to Detroit. Detail of picture which also shows C-47A NC57131 of Nationwide Airlines, which helps to date the photo a bit more precisely. NC54337 is ex 43-15670, and it crashed near DET on 19 November 1949. Later repaired by the insurers, it became PP-AOD, PP-AKD, FAB 2072 and PT-KVB. CofA expired Sep 1984. The big airlines left DET for YIP in 1946-1947 but Meteor evidently still used DET at the time of the crash. Photo from: Wayne State University

Fitted with pontoons. The Penobscot Building, then Detroit's tallest, stands on the left. Photo from: Wayne State University

The Model Z was the first Gee Bee Super Sportster, preceding the Model R. The sole example, NR77V, won the Thompson Trophy in September 1931, flown by Lowell Bayles. Re-engined with a 750-hp R-1340 Wasp, it crashed at Wayne County Airport during a world speed record attempt on 5 December 1931, killing Bayles. The replica which is now in the Museum of Flight, Seattle, has larger dimensions to make it easier to fly. Photo from: Wayne State University

Photo may have been taken at Selfridge AFB. Behind the Globemaster is a B-25J, 44-31200 / BD-200. Photo from: Wayne State University

The Rearwin 2000 Ken-Royce was a three-seat touring biplane first flown in 1929. This aircraft took part in the 1930 Ford Reliability Tour. The aircraft in the centre, NC589N / 8, is a twin-engined Curtiss 55 Kingbird D-2. It was flown by Walter Beech, then vice-president of Curtiss. Part of the same original picture as photo 369221. Photo from: Wayne State University

'Heliport opens at Civic Center.' The Bell 47H was an executive model of which only 33 examples were built. Photo from: Wayne State University

Finish of the 1930 Ford Reliability Tour at Ford's own airport near Detroit. NC8485 / 6, piloted by Harry Russell, took first place. It appears that this plane was at this point the sole 7-AT, with one 420-hp P&W Wasp and two 300-hp Wright J-6 engines. NC401H / 5, a 5-AT-C, took fourth place. Note, centre right inside the hangar, the Fokker F.VIIa/3m Josephine Ford, which Richard Byrd flew over or near the North Pole in 1926. This historic aircraft was the very first Fokker trimotor, demonstrated by Tony Fokker in the 1925 Reliability Tour. It is preserved near here in the Henry Ford Museum. Photo from: Wayne State University