American Aviation Historical Society

 

In a scene repeated dozens of times around the country, the Byrd North Pole 
Fokker F.VIIA-3M “Josephine Ford” lands at Bakersfield, Calif., on November 5, 1926. 
Kern County’s leading newspaper, The Fresno Bee, reported on page 16 of its November fifth edition (“Polar Plane at Airport Rites”) that several hundred people were on hand for the airport’s dedication that day, timed to coincide with the Fokker’s arrival en route to Los Angeles from Crissy Field, San Francisco. (Note: this airfield, also known as Kern County Airport No. 1, was later named Meadows Field in honor of former county airport commissioner and aviation pioneer Cecil C. Meadows.)  A San Mateo Times article (“Will Visit San Mateo”) on November 4, 1926, reported that NX4204 was expected to stop for a few minutes at Varney Field after Crissy, but lack of subsequent news coverage suggests that the impromptu San Mateo stop may have been scrubbed in the interests of time.  (Photo by Russ Gerow)
 

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