The first EMSCO (the name stemmed from its founder, E. M. Smith), was built at Long Beach Airport. But the same year EMSCO bought four acres here and built a small aircraft factory and airstrip adjacent to old two-lane Cerritos Road (now Lakewood Boulevard) in Downey.
The second EMSCO aircraft was built at the new Downey plant and flown from the small airstrip that was carved from cow pasture here. Called the Cirrus, the EMSCO plane developed a following when a more powerful version was developed.
The company’s third model, the B-3, became popular for long distance flights which were newsgetters of the time. It was described in ads of the time as a "medium priced, eight place, trimotored monoplane. Offers economical transportation, with extreme safety, for corporation executives, transport operators or private owners. Takes off with full load of fuel using any two motors and lands at 50 mph." The plane’s most noteworthy long-distance effort was when Don Moyle and Cecil Allen flew from Tokyo to Tacoma, Washington in 1931. That particular B-3 was called "The City of Tacoma II."
Moyle and Allen succeeded in the Tokyo-Tacoma hop after another noted flier, Harold Bromley, failed. In fact they did it in his old airplane, which he had discarded in favor of a Lockheed Vega. The Vega made history of its own when it was piloted by Wiley Post and navigator Harold Garry around the world. The Vega, named “Winnie Mae,” was hangared for years at the little Downey airstrip adjacent to the EMSCO plant.
The success of the Tokyo-Tacoma flight catapulted EMSCO into the headlines, and the small factory and its engineers undertook a design that (sadly) proved overly ambitious. A long distance aircraft of unusual design, it featured a single engine in a nacelle that also housed the pilot. The tail was supported by two slender booms mounted on a high aspect ratio wing. The Downey "Live Wire" newspaper of Jan. 23, 1930, proclaimed on its front page "America’s Greatest Airplane Being Built at Plant in Downey."
It has been written that if wishes were horses then beggars would ride. The plane was destroyed on its maiden flight. Sales of other EMSCO designs (and just about everything else) began to lag due to the Depression and the aircraft plant shut down in 1932.
It’s of interest to note that another firm that originally manufactured oil rig equipment had considerably more success in the aircraft industry despite the Depression. Ever hear of Howard Hughes? He started as the Houston based Hughes Oil Tool Co., and parlayed a modest oil fortune into an empire that included Hughes Aircraft, motion picture studios and a good chunk of Las Vegas before his death.
Downey was not rid of EMSCO, despite the closure of the aircraft plant. Far from it. The company had also diversified into the asbestos industry and the manufacture of related products such as brake shoes for cars. That EMSCO Asbestos Co. plant, located adjacent to the railroad tracks on S. Downey Avenue, continued until the city incorporated in 1956. EMSCO had battled long and hard against the city’s incorporation. It seemed management feared an incorporated city would be likely to meddle with the firm’s labor practices.
Whether such fears were justified or not we will never know, because shortly after incorporation the company made good on its threat and left.
Of the old airport which continued in use after EMSCO shut down airplane operations in 1932, there are many colorful stories.
One letter in the files of the Downey Historical Society relates how a somewhat rough gentleman known familiarly as "Joe the Dutchman" grew corn between the runways. Joe became particularly incensed when the help flooded his fields.
When they weren’t turning on the water, youngsters used to sneak into the old hangars to get a look at the legendary "Winnie Mae" still kept there.
There were other famous names which took over the old factory land and airfield later. These included Vultee. But it all began with that oil rig equipment manufacturer and EMSCO.