Decatur Hi-Way Airport

Seven of us rode to Nick's Restaurant in Roanoke, IN for lunch.  Nick's is becoming one of our favorite places to eat as they have good food, fast service, and good prices.  After lunch Merle led us over to I-469 around Ft. Wayne and over to roads along the Maumee River.  We had a nice ride along country roads and traveled through Woodburn, Monroeville, and down to Decatur.  I asked Merle to go over to the Hi-Way  Airport buildings at Decatur as I wanted the guys to know about the place.

The Hi-Way Airport, outside Decatur, was a very important airport as many of the famous pilots of the 1930s had landed there on their record-setting coast-to-coast flights.  The airport was owned by Josephine Richardson and her brother.  Josephine was a member of The Ninety-Nines, an association of female pilots.

Here's a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninety-Nines

Leon Garrett and I flew our Challenger ultralight airplanes there in 2001 and landed.  The buildings are still there but the runway is now a cornfield.  Sad.

The "gang" in front of the old airport building:

Here's some information about the airport and Mrs. Richardson's obituary:

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Decatur Hi-Way Airport serves Decatur and Adams County and is owned by Josephine Richardson. The turf runway extends for 2562 feet. The facility is at an elevation of 842 feet at a distance of about 3 miles east of Decatur.



News-Banner Obituaries, July 1-7, 2003

July 1, 2003

Josephine M. Richardson, 88

Owner and operator of Decatur Hi-Way Airport, Josephine M. Richardson, 88, of rural Decatur, died at 8:15 p.m. Monday, June 30, at Adams County Memorial Hospital in Decatur.

Mrs. Richardson also was a scientific massage and physical therapist.

She was a member of Crossroads Church, Silver Wings, Three Rivers Ninety-Niners and past member of the Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association.

She was born in Chicago, Ill., to James and Helen Zivider Ivetich. Her marriage on Feb. 15, 1959 and was Alden Wesley Richardson, who died March 15, 1994.

Surviving are one niece and one nephew. A brother and a sister are deceased.

Services will be conducted at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the Crossroads Church in Decatur with Rev. Anthony Stidam officiating. Interment will be in Covington Memorial Gardens at Fort Wayne.

Visitation times will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Zwick and Jahn Funeral Home in Decatur and Thursday at the church for one hour prior to services.

Memorials to the donor's choice.

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I told the guys she was in her nineties but she was 88 years old when she died.


After we left the airport we went to McDonald's in Decatur for ice cream.  We then rode home through Berne (saw the new clock tower but didn't get a picture) and then home through Montpelier.

I rode 166 miles.  It was hot (90 degrees) and windy.  Nice ride, thanks Merle.

Seven who rode were Merle Combs, Jerry Cole, Larry Miller, John Nave, Art Adrianson, Charlie Thomas, and myself, Larry Davis.