Saluting an Air Pioneer : Supervisors Name Airport Terminal After the Man Who Gave Orange County Flight

Eddie J. Martin refers to himself as “just a clodhopper off the ranch,” and brushes off praise as though it’s a bothersome bug.

Others, however, see things differently. They describe the crusty Santa Ana resident as the father of flight in Orange County.

Aviation was still in its infancy 65 years ago when Martin established what was to become Orange County Airport, renamed in 1979 in honor of actor John Wayne. Martin also founded Martin Aviation Inc., the county’s oldest and largest fixed-base general aviation operator. His original pilot’s license was signed by Orville Wright. Martin’s aviation accomplishments were recognized Wednesday when the Orange County Board of Supervisers voted unanimously to name the terminal at the county-operated John Wayne Airport the “Eddie J. Martin Terminal.” The honor came on Martin’s 87th birthday.

Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, who spearheaded the move, Wednesday called Martin “a symbol of the free-enterprise spirit in Orange County.”

The existing terminal will retain Martin’s name when a new commercial terminal is completed. The Martin terminal then will become a general aviation administration building and terminal for private aircraft.

“Of course you can’t help but feel honored,” Martin said during an interview at his home Wednesday, after the board voted and then threw him a birthday party. But, he added, “I don’t let anything like that go to my head.”

Vi Smith, author of “From Jennies to Jets,” an account of Orange County’s aviation history, said the entire county airport should be named after Martin, as it was before World War II, when the U.S. military took it over as part of the war effort.

“Had he not seen aviation as a business rather than just fun, there may not have been much aviation history in Orange County,” said Smith. “One of his premises was that there was money to be made. He charged two dollars a ride to take people up” during the 1920s, Smith said.

The then-Eddie Martin Airport was recognized as one of the best airports in the country in the 1930s by the agency that later became the Federal Aviation Administration, according to Smith.

“The flight school from the early days to Martin Aviation today,” she said, “has one of the best safety records in the country.”

Smith said she is happy that Riley chose Martin’s birthday to bring the terminal-naming issue before the board and that the action was taken while he is “still around to appreciate it.”

Though Martin’s gait is now halting and his hearing slightly impaired, he is very much around.

He shares his bungalow in northwest Santa Ana with his 16-year-old blind silky terrier, Jackson. And even though he no longer is officially connected to Martin Aviation, he travels to its headquarters several times a week and takes employees to lunch. He also oversees the management of property he owns in the area and is writing his autobiography.

Martin is most insulted by the suggestion that he is retired.

Fueled Lindbergh’s Plane

Seated in his living room, surrounded by memorabilia from his aviation career--he was a corporate pilot during the Great Depression and later a test pilot for Lockheed Aircraft Co.--he regales a visitor with stories of his early career when he would walk on the wings of bi-planes to draw customers for his air ride business.

“Sure I knew him,” he exclaims when Charles Lindbergh’s name is mentioned. “I fueled his plane to go back East.”

Martin said he took his first flight lesson in 1921 in Santa Ana, and worked as an auto mechanic on the early car-racing circuit before he bought his first plane. It was a double-winged World War I training craft called a Jenny that had been owned by a bicycle shop owner in Placentia.

Martin, along with his brother, sold rides to would-be fliers from a field on property owned by the Irvine family. Later, he established Martin Aviation as an air service company and flight school.

And although he says he liked John Wayne, he has stubbornly refused to call the county airport by the actor’s name.

To Martin, the airfield always has been and always will be “Martin Airport.”

EDDIE J. MARTIN

Birth date: Aug. 31, 1901.

Birth place: Family farm near the present Newhope Street and Heil Avenue in Fountain Valley.

Current residence: Santa Ana.

Began aviation career: With pilot Clarence Bougoneur, offered $5 rides from strip at end of 4th Street in Santa Ana.

1924: Founded Santa Ana Air Club to promote aviation.

1928: Aviator Charles Lindbergh dropped in, looking for what was to become Midway City.

Other jobs: Pilot for Western Air Express (predecessor of Western Airlines), American Airlines and MacMillan Petroleum Corp.; test pilot for Lockheed Corp.

1939: County Board of Supervisors arranged land swap with the Irvine Co. to build new airport about a mile from the Martin operation. Granted brother Floyd Martin and Joe Hager, his partner, a 17-year exclusive lease to operate the new county airport. Moved Martin Aviation to the new county airport--a business that still flourishes there and at two other locations.