Lake Havasu City, Arizona

We left Las Vegas this morning and after 2 and 1/2 hours we arrived in Lake Havasu City around 12:30 mountain time. This area has a very interesting history that only dates back to the 60's. Kathy always wants me to write in the blog so here I go. Let's start with thinking back to the 60's and see how many of you remember the adds in the newspaper every Sunday selling you on the idea of flying free to Lake Havasu including a night stay at a posh hotel, meals, and a chance to buy land in the beautiful Lake Havasu area. Being in the frozen north, this sounded too good to be true. This was the same time I was starting Viking Airlines and remember people boarding the Lockheed Electra at Northern Airmotive, the same place we loaded our freighters.

So how did all this start? It started with a vision of one man. Robert McCulloch discovered the area when flying over looking for a place to set up a test facility for the boat motors he manufactured. The lake itself was created in the 30's with the building of the Parker Dam on the Colorado River. At the same time, McCulloch Engineering of Milwaukee, Wi. was sold to Borg Warner for 1 million dollars. Later his niche, as you probably recognize was the chainsaw. He was the first to make a light weight one-man chainsaw. After selling to Borg Warner he started the McCulloch Oil Company. In the mid 60's he bought 26 square miles of barren desert, the largest purchase of land to that date in Arizona, for just under $75 dollars per acre. He also purchase 11 Lockheed Electras forming McCulloch international airlines. He flew these aircraft until 1978, flying over 27,000 flights and 137,000 prospective buyers. When you arrived, you were taxied in 1 of 40 white Jeeps, the largest fleet of Jeeps at the time, to your hotel and your future land purchase. McCulloch also built three plants to make the McCulloch chainsaw employing over 400 people to help promote the area.

Now I am sure you have all heard of the London Bridge, remember London Bridges falling down? If you don't remember this, then you are clearly too young to even read this. In 1968 McCulloch bought the London Bridge for 2.4 million dollars and transported it stone by stone to Lake Havasu and completed the project in three years with the bridge opening in 1971. He dredged a one mile channel in order to have something to put the bridge over which also formed the island we are presently staying on. Oh yes, he had to build an airport to land these aircraft on. The pictures I have included shows you the original terminal, tower, and the second looking down the original runway at the large expanse of Lake Havasu City in the back ground as it is today with over 60,000 residents. The island for the past 30 years has been used as the airport, now moved out of the city limits, and RV resorts for those snowbirds that don't want to purchase property. The are just starting to develop this Island for single family housing. The old teminal is in the process of being torn down.

Well, there you go.... after this, I am sure I will not be asked to input the blog for some time. I would be curious though as to how many of you remember these flights or adds or possibly even took one of these flights.