Detours Through Time

It comes as no surprise that Richmond, Indiana has an airport considering the Wright Brothers, the founders of aviation, lived in Richmond from 1881 to 1884. On July 4^th 1945, the airport was dedicated in its current location six miles south of Richmond. Roughly 50,000 people were in attendance for the grand opening. The seemingly quiet airport serves 7,000 to 10,000 aircraft each year from single-engine planes to Gulf Stream jets. A long list of well-known people have arrived at the Richmond airport. The list includes Sandra Day O’Connor, Dan Quayle, Amy Grant, Alabama, Robert Redford, Jerry Lewis, George Jones, Rudy Giuliani, Robert Kennedy, Ross Perot, Charley Pride, Bill Clinton, Frank Sinatra, and JFK¹.

The Goodyear blimp Enterprise had an overnight stay at the Richmond airport on its way from Wheeling, West Virginia to Chicago, Illinois for the National Little League playoffs. The community treated the blimp as they would a celebrity visit to the airport. Richmond Community Schools made the effort to drive students past the 192-foot long blimp early the next morning. This Enterprise is one of four Goodyear blimps and is known for covering the Indianapolis 500².

In 1978, the National Parachuting Championships took place at the Richmond Municipal Airport. The three-week event began June 24^th and brought in roughly 2,000 skydivers from across the United States. Skydivers competed in both individual and team events in attempt to earn spots in Yugoslovia (now Bosnia and Herzegovovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, and Kosovo) for the 1979 world competition³. Eighty-five teams signed up to compete at the national competition. A few of the team names included the Blazing Nostrils, No Room for Air, and Special Delivery⁴. During the national event, three parachuting world records were set⁵. Disaster struck when a plane crashed during the event, injuring twelve jumpers. Despite the tragedy, safety regulations were praised at the Richmond Municipal Airport by the U.S. Parachute Association’s publicity director, Rosemary Lobes. Lobes mentioned if the crash occurred in Tahlequah, Oklahoma where the competition was formerly held, it would have been more catastrophic as the runways there are shorter and have a building at the end of the strip as opposed to the corn field at Richmond’s airport. Lobes also commended the local authorities and medical staff for their quick actions⁶. The National championship returned to Richmond in 1979⁷ and 1980⁸.

In March of 1985, the installation of an electronic landing system began. The system was put in place to improve the safety for pilots landing at the airport during poor weather conditions. Prior to the electronic system, pilots relied on a visual system which forced them to land at Dayton or Cincinnatti⁹. The landing system installation finished sometime in 1987¹⁰.

Planes aren’t the only vehicles to have raced down the air strips. In July of 2000, the airport hosted the Richmond Grand Prix. Drivers from six states came to race in the inaugural event. The go karts raced on the northern end of the airport. Richmond’s own Raun Battista overtook Kip Back of Connersville for the victory of the four-cycle lite go kart division. This was Battista’s first win on asphalt as she usually raced on dirt tracks. “The course was rough and bumpy. The car bounced around a lot and was hard to turn,” she stated¹¹. The four-day race events officially landed on July 23^rd. Along with the races and the drivers, spectators also got to see Winston mini-cup look-alike cars and WERA motorcycles¹².

A proposal to expand the single baseball field into multiple diamonds for public use was considered in 1976. Boston players used the existing diamond already, but adding more space for players also allowed nearby Garrison Elementary students to have a place to play little league within their district¹³. I am not sure when the first baseball diamond was put in, but my guess is it was relatively new at the time considering the 264 square-foot concession stand was built in 1976¹⁴. The following April, youth from the Charles, Boston, and Garrison school districts had their opportunity to sign up for Little League baseball at the airport¹⁵.

Years of neglect on the ball diamond maintenance led to the closure in spring of 2008. Richmond Youth League operations moved to the FOP Lodge on Abington Pike¹⁶. What was once diamonds for t-ball, softball, and baseball were razed in 2009 to return to fields for agriculture¹⁷. All of the improvements built for the ball diamonds have been removed aside from the former concession stand which appears to be used for storage today.

Sources:

1. Louise Ronald. Serving Richmond and Wayne County from the Sky. Web Retrieved 2026 July 21.
2. Blimp lands plenty of attention. (1984 September 28). Palladium-Item. P A3.
3. Richmond to host parachute jumping event. (1978 June 17). Palladium-Item. P 31.
4. 85 teams sign up to come down at Boogie. (1978 July 1). Palladium-Item. P 2.
5. Skydiving Continues. (1978 July 9). Palladium-Item. P 30.
6. Airport safer. (1978 July 16). Palladium-Item. P 22.
7. Richmond Jaycees to be state, national winners. (1978 May 18). Palladium-Item. P 3.
8. Blimp lands plenty of attention. (1984 September 28). Palladium-Item. P A3.
9. Airport project gets off the ground. (1985 March 22). Palladium-Item. P 10.
10. Palladium-Item. (1987 December 15). P 3.
11. Area drivers enjoy first-day success. (2000 July 23). Palladium-Item. P 23.
12. Checkered flag waves for inaugural Grand Prix. (2000 July 24). Palladium-Item. P 11.
13. Aviation Commission Charged With Land Rental Underbilling. (1976 September 2). Palladium-Item. P 3.
14. Beacon. Parcel 891826000309000033. Web. Retrieved 2026 July 24.
15. Palladium-Item. (1977 March 27). P 5.
16. Youth league baseball not returning to airport. (2008 April 22). Palladium-Item. P 1.
17. (see footnote 3)