*********************************************************************************				
				Welcome to

			Denver's Municipal Airport

		       "Stapleton Air Field - 1958"

			        1929 - 1995

*********************************************************************************


	Welcome to Stapleton Air Field.  Denver's mayor (1923-1947), Benjamin F. Stapleton, had the vision of a Denver being in the forefront of aviation by building a state-of-the-art facility just 5 miles east of Denver, Colorado.  His dream came true after using his political influence over those that called his dream things like "Stapletons Folly" and "Simpleton's Sand Dunes".  After the purchase of 640 acres in 1928, Denver Municipal Airport opened in October of 1929, bearing the name "Union Station of the Air".

	When it opened, it was regarded as one of the most advanced airfields in the country, with the Northwest/Southeast diagonal hard-surfaced runway measuring 5000' in length.  It also had one East/West and one North/South runway.  By 1937, a Northeast/Southwest diagonal runway had been added, and length of runways had been extended to as much as 6,000'.

	The first control tower was built in 1938, as well as the addition of a restaurant to the 3-story terminal building by 1940.  The original 3 story brick terminal building was replaced by the addition of the freight terminal and the "new" passenger terminal with the clock tower and airport beacon on it.  (The restaurant still stands in this scenery package)  The 2 large hangers in this scenery were added in the early 1940s, with the addition of the Continental Denver Modification Center and Air Transport Command for the duration of World War II.  These are the 2 very large hangars to the northeast of the terminal building.)  "Denver Municipal Airport" was renamed "Denver Stapleton Air Field" in 1944, in honor of Mayor Stapleton.

	COMBS Aviation was originally based at Lowry Field's first location near East 38th Avenue and Dahlia Street.  Lowry Field was moved in 1937 and the original air field closed sometime between 1946 and 1950.  COMBS facilities were moved to Stapleton, just north of the United Air Lines offices.

	This scenery package depicts Denver Stapleton Air Field as appeared in ~1958.  The original hanger stood where the east end of the United Air Lines office building is.  The Combs Aviation hangar was the second of the 2 original hangars built within a year of the airport's opening and remained standing until the 1967 airport expansion project.  The restaurant addition to the original terminal dated back to the early 1940s, and remained til the closing of the aiport in 1995.

**********************************************************************************
			   "About this project"

	I started this project to honor the memory of Denver Stapleton Air Field in about September of 2006.  Denver Stapleton hasn't existed in Flight Simulator since the 1998 edition, and being a vintage/Classic era virtual pilot, I wanted to bring it back to life.  Inspired by Tom Gibson and the many fans of California Classics ("cal-classics.com"), I started construction.  Tom quickly volunteered to provide the Airport Facilities (AFCAD) file and additional structures and hangars and we were off and running.  With Tom's invaluable assistance and shared resources, I was able to build a more detailed aiport than I had originally planned, and learn some new tricks and skills along the way.

	This is my first project for Flight Simulator 2004 and I hope you find it a fair depiction of this memorable airport.  Some liberties have been taken to improve framerates, avoid AI traffic conflicts, and allow final approach from the northwest and southeast to avoid cross-wind landings ALL the time.  (We don't know if this runway was still in use in 1958.)

**********************************************************************************
				"Thank you!"

	The more time I spent gathering information and photographs from this airport from the 1950s and earlier, the more I realized that many of the sources for these photos have been quickly disappearing from the internet.  Many of my source photos came from Mr. Steve Gustafsons' website, "milehifield.topcities.com/main.htm".  This site has since (within days ago) been removed from the web, along with all his photos from the 1940s-50s.  I would like to thank him for his invaluable resources, photos, and information that made this scenery possible.  I couldn't have built this without them.

	Another invaluable source for information and early photographs I used for reference were from Paul Freeman's website, "Abandoned and Little-known Airfields" ("airfields-freeman.com").  Thank you, Mr. Freeman, for all your hard work in maintaining your website.

	I thank all my friends at California Classics for answering questions and helping me out throughout the construction of this model.  Thank you for your interest, your help, and your memories.

	The runways, the dirt, the foundation, the Contintental, United, and Combs Aviation hangars all Tom Gibson.  Without his work and assistance, and packaging of this scenery project, it would just be a 3-D graphic on my computer.  Thanks for your time and your work on this project.  I'm honored.

**********************************************************************************

				"Dedication"

	I would like to dedicate my part in this project to John Howard White (FSDzignguy, FSDzigns.com), who passed away in October of 2006.  He honored me with the privilege of participating with the FSDzigns Team in the construction and beta testing of his L-049 "Star of Switzerland".  It was my participation in that project that led me to download design software and, as he said, "..go build something."


**********************************************************************************

				Credits:

	For my part in this project, the terminal building, tower, fencing, and office buildings....:

	All my work was built with "Flight Simulator Design Shop v3" and "EZ Scenery", both available from Abacus Software. ("Abacuspub.com")  The terminal building, Control Tower, United Air Lines offices, and platforms are originals.

	All airport light fixtures are by EagleSoft Design Group, and are commonly used in California Classics add-on scenery projects.  They were placed using EZScenery.

	Textures for my buildings are original.  I use Jasc's "Paint Shop Pro v8" for my editor. (...now "Corel PaintShopPro".... "Corel.com")

	Chain link fence texture is borrowed from Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004, and used in this scenery under a modified name because I re-mapped it to an original part(s).  Also, thanks to the Flight Simulator 2004 team for making a platform that makes this hobby possible! ("MicroSoft.com" "fsinsider.com")

**********************************************************************************



				Legal "Stuff":

(I really wish that I didnt' have to put this "stuff" in, but here goes..)

	This package is "FREEWARE".  No warranties, expressed or implied, EXIST!  Use at your own risk.  Installation instructions are included, and Tom does a great job describing the process, so please follow them.

	No affilations with ANY city, State, or airline, in or out of business, EXIST!  This package depicts a graphic representation of a time and place in "aviation history", NOT "your" airport, or "your" airline.

	If you like this package, please tell others where to find it.  Please do NOT post this package for download at other websites.  If you had to pay a membership fee in order to download this package, let me know.  That site didn't have permission to host this package for download or distribution.

**********************************************************************************

Yours, 

Randy Cain  4/6/2007

AFCAD modification 8/2011 by Tom Gibson and AFCAD mods, vehicles, and oilspots by Mike Stevens and Tom Gibson 4/2016



	

