A shortcut?

One of the many mysteries of the Flyin' Lion Saga is the route of Martin Jensen's flight path from San Diego to the crash site.  Obviously, no one will ever be able to prove Jensen's flight path beyond reasonable doubt.  Consequently, any commentary on the route will always fall into the realm of speculation.  And, therefore, in keeping with the Spirit of Speculation we have coined the phrase "Circumstantial Situational Speculation".

Many accounts of Jensen's flight path either state or speculate that he flew to Phoenix and thence up The Salt River to Roosevelt Lake and then turned left to follow Tonto Creek until crashing in Hells Gate. That is generally the most commonly accepted  and prevailing perspective regarding Jensen's flight path.

We believe a new perspective can be gleaned from an important eye witness account paired with ground truthing to formulate a reasonable "circumstantial situational speculation" that produces an entirely new flight path from San Diego to the crash site in Hells Gate.

Reporter Ralph A. Fisher Sr. interviewed prominent Payson resident William (Bill) Boardman.  Fisher wrote in a 1968 summary of that interview:

"In mid-afternoon the late William (Bill) Boardman, former merchant and postmaster of Payson, Arizona, was traveling south over the rugged Ox Bow will from Payson to Rye when he heard a roaring motor coming from the direction of the Matatzal Mountains lying to the west. Boardman killed the motor in the aged truck he was driving and coasted to a stop in a cloud of dust to watch the small plane that appeared to be lost and in trouble fighting to gain altitude over Tonto Basin.

"It was a small brightly colored monoplane, with some large lettering exposed along the glittering fuselage with what appeared to be a metal cage constructed in the forward portion of the fuselage directly behind where the pilot was seated. The plane was flying very low as it came out of the mountains and followed the old Bush Highway for a distance. It seemed that the pilot was looking for a route that would permit him to get over and above the majestic Mogollon Rim lying dead ahead in the east," stated Mr. Boardman as our interview got underway.

"I watched the pilot guide the heavy laden plane eastward again, then head low over the hills and tree tops towards Kohl's Ranch on the upper Tonto Creek, but still beneath the Rim. Then I lost sight of the small plane and the perfect hum of the single engine; and continued on my afternoon errand to Rye,  some 16 miles south of Payson," continued Bill Boardman.

 "By the way, I did note the time as being 2:00 PM on that sunny and somewhat warm afternoon of September 16,1927,".... "you can well understand my surprise when a few days later I was advised that a pilot had walked into the Booth cabin along the lower Tonto Creek at Gisela, close to Rye, following a crash-landing along Tonto Creek some four days earlier according to my informant."

To read the full interview see: https://en.calameo.com/read/006162086240e12861b2e

On February 24, 2020, we realized we could use our handheld GPS device to attempt to pin down where Boardman might have been on the Oxbow Hill Road.  The Oxbow Hill Road in 1927 was vastly different than it is in 2020.  So, naturally, there would be some "interpolation" involved.  As chance would have it, we used a spot that just so happened to be on the old road itself. We recorded a 57 second video showing the area there.  You can see it here: https://vimeo.com/394041501

There's no doubt based on Boardman's recollection of what he saw that the aircraft was flying from Boardman's right to Boardman's left.  If the plane would have been flying from Roosevelt Lake up The Tonto, it would have been too far out of sight for Boardman to see the details he reported from his encounter.

Using the circumstantial evidence presented in Boardman's interview combined with the situational on-the-ground perspective, we have prepared the maps below.

 The above map shows what we believe to be Jensen's flight path as he approach the Matazal Mountains.  we believe he flew through the Verde Valley, crossing the Verde River near Squaw Peak and then flew a route between the Matazals and Oxbow Hill.

If Jensen would have flown up The Salt and then The Tonto, the red line shows that flight path.  The red "x" marks the approx. location of witness Boardman.  The green line shows the flight crossing from Boardman's right to Boardman's left and represents how Boardman would have observed the aircraft. We haven't yet pieced together how Jensen would have arrived in The Verde Valley from San Diego.

However, we do have some perspectives regarding the local thinking about that theoretical flight path.

The two screen clips below are from a History of The Cottonwood, Arizona, Airport.  Chances are pretty good that the perspectives reported in this history were known to a wider aviation audience than just a few enthusiasts in The Verde. Jensen has spent time in Yuma, Arizona, and was married in an airplane there.  He flew extensively around America as a barnstormer pilot.  It's reasonable speculation that he could have viewed that route as a potential shortcut on his way to the East Coast.

 We will continue our digging into this line of thought and add more to this blog post.

Lion Myths...or Facts?

Graphic Source: Generic eBay search.

Almost as soon as anything happens, human beings begin to tell their own version of what happened.  Over time, different versions of the same event can become entrenched as "the way it was."  Some versions become so prevalent that they take on a mythological context of their own and are repeated as "fact" until such time people simply nod, agree and move on.

One of our goals with the Leo The Flying Lion Project is to eventually present as many of the myths as possible for each aspect of the saga.  Some of those myths might even be facts!  We want our readers to be able to make up their own minds about what might be myth and what might be fact.  With a 93-year-old story such as this one, it's quite likely all of the so-called "actual facts" may never be known.  Therefore readers are free to adopt and retell their own version(s) of the legend.

There are two basic versions of the origin of the lion aboard the plane.  One purports the lion was "borrowed" from a circus.  The other claims the lion was MGM's "Jackie."  Let's take a look at the first myth first.

We found the following snippet amid Martin Jensen's papers at the University of Wyoming in Laramie:

"These are the main things that Pete Smith remembers about the Leo the Lion story. Pete Smith was Director of Publicity for MGM, and Howard Strickling was his assistant. Leo was borrowed from Al G. Barnes circus, which had its winter quarters in Culver City. Leo was displayed for the press for about a week before the flight, at the MGM studio. The flight was to be the first non-stop, Los Angeles to New York. For many years afterward, the Barnes people publicized "Leo as Leo the MGM Flying lion.' "

Furthermore, Scott Gifford said in a February 11, 2020, email to the Editor:

"BTW: Jackie may have been MGM’s first lion, but Jackie wasn’t the lion in the flight. That lion was borrowed from a circus which wintered in Culver City. I think that’s the big reason why MGM was so concerned about rescuing the lion!"

Source: http://bit.ly/3bEHrLH

The Al G. Barnes Circus wasn't in Culver City, California, in September 1927.  Nope.  That particular circus spent the month of September in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana.  On the day Martin Jensen took off from San Diego, the Al G. Barnes circus was in Little Rock, Arkansas.  The 1920's were The Golden Age of The Traveling Circus.  After each season, each circus would print a lavishly illustrated "Route Book."  

Think of the Route Books as you might a high school year book.  The books were sold to admiring fans and also used to promote the upcoming season.  As you can see from the cover of the 1927 Route Book, a male African lion is a key icon of the circus.  The lion acts of any given circus were considered by many to be the highlight of the show.  Judging from the poster show at the top of this article, it appears at the Al G. Barnes needed every trained lion they could keep their hands on. 

Page 21 of 1927 Route Book:
http://digital.library.illinoisstate.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15990coll5/id/10356

Although it's obvious the lion could not have come from the traveling circus itself, the lion COULD have come from a zoo that Barnes once operated in Culver City.  However, there is some trouble with that, too. The land which housed Barnes Zoo was annexed to Culver City in 1925 and Los Angeles in 1926. Upset with tighter regulation and opposition by adjacent homeowners, Barnes moved his winter quarters to unincorporated land in the San Gabriel Valley. In Februrary 1927 he bought a tract of land a quarter of a mile long facing Valley Blvd. between El Monte and Baldwin Park for $1,000,000. Source of above information:
https://www.westland.net/venicehistory/articles/BarnesCircusZoo.htm

Perhaps the lion in Jensen's plane came from the Zoo but at this point we can't find any definitive proof.  We also can't find a nano-scrap of evidence that any Al G. Barnes performing circus lion was billed as "Leo The MGM Flying Lion."  Perhaps one of our astute reader/researchers can dig up more evidence supporting either one or both of those claims.

Meanwhile, a credible source associated with MGM states it was indeed "Jackie" aboard the plane. Jackie was the movie company's second lion after "Slats."

From: MGM LOGO HISTORY AND THE 2008 RESTORATION PROCESS Compiled By Ed Vigdor:

“Jackie” was born circa 1915 and was captured as a cub in the Nubian dessert. He spent much of his life in Hollywood as a performer in jungle pictures, eventually chosen to appear on our logo. He, like “Slats”, would tour the world on behalf of the studio. “Jackie” was nick named “Leo The Lucky” after surviving two train wrecks, an earthquake, a boat sinking, an explosion at the studio and a plane crash."

Source: https://garycoates.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/logo-history-restoration-article.pdf

Ed Vigdor's article is the best summary of the MGM Lions we have yet found.  You will enjoy see the 15 second video of the restoration of Leo The Lion's roaring here: https://youtu.be/OVCxJ1aT24A

So, there you have it.  The choice is yours.  We will continue studying the lion's ownership and origin.

Source of photo below: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_the_Lion_(MGM)

Extra fuel

Arguably one of the most important debates about The Jensen Flight is "extra fuel".  Numerous accounts, including that of expert Scott Gifford say Jensen was carrying 450 gallons of aviation gas.

Bear in mind 450 gallons of "av gas" would weigh 2,700 pounds, PLUS the weight of the tank(s) to carry it.  And bear in mind the gross rated weight of the aircraft was 3,300 pounds.  And bear in mind that the weight of the lion, the cage, the milk tank, the water tank, the pilot, his sandwiches and the 84 gallons of "stock fuel" added up to 1,500 pounds. And that all adds up to at least 3,300 pounds.

So, how did Jensen's Ryan B-1 carry extra fuel? Scott Gifford is "all over that" by telling us the airframe was fitted for an extra wing tank and two belly tanks.  But could those extra three tanks carry 450 gallons?  That's highly unlikely because of the sheer volume 450 gallons would occupy.

There's NO doubt The Jensen Plane was carrying extra fuel.  Is there a doubt about whether it was 450 gallons? You betcha!

 Take a look at a "stock" Ryan B-1 as displayed at the Yanks Air museum in Chino, California.  Look at that sleek underbody of a classic 1920's airframe design!  It's Beautiful.  Now see comment below next photo.

Just check out Martin Jensen's aircraft.  You can clearly see the bottom of the Center of Gravity of the airframe has been modified...presumably to fit in two belly tanks.  There's no doubt the aircraft was at its rated maximum gross weight BEFORE adding the extra fuel.  So, how did that extra fuel affect the final outcome of the famous flight?  Oh, so many questions!

Remaining Research

Martin Jensen just before takeoff.

We hope to close up some loose ends in this project soon.  Here are notes about our remaining research.

1) Martin Jensen's papers

Pilot Jensen donated his personal collection of paper to the Wyoming Heritage Center in Laramie, Wyoming.  We have been in contact with the Center and made arrangement for the 28 pages relating to Leo The Lion to be scanned and sent to us.  We are eagerly awaiting receipt of that material as we have no idea what those pages may contain.

(Update 02/13/20)--We received 44 pages instead of 28.  Unfortunately, a personal narrative by the pilot is not part of the collection. We did transcribe and post an interview with Bill Boardman and you can read the 2,900 word document here:
https://issuu.com/arizonahistorystories/docs/william__bill__boardman_interview

2) Fuel Capacity

Some accounts have speculated the Ryan B-1 aircraft was carrying as much as 450 gallons of extra fuel.  Frankly, that's impossible in such an aircraft.  Even 300 gallons would weigh 2,000 pounds (including tank weight) and take up a space of approximately 45 by 38 by 40 inches.  The aero dynamics of that simple airframe design simply could not support that weight nor could the engine provide enough power to lift such a load off the ground.  We are waiting for information from the Yanks Air Museum in Chino, California regarding insights about fuel capacity.

(Update 02/13/20) We have been in contact with Scott Gifford who salvaged the wreckage remains in 1991.  Gifford said the aircraft contained 5 fuel tanks--three in the wing and two in the belly. Gifford also claims the aircraft was carrying 450 gallons of fuel.  A Yanks Air Museum Staff member says the "stock" fuel capacity was 84 gallons.)

3) Did Jensen refuel in Phoenix?

This is a big question mark in the Flyin' Lion Story. At this point in our research there's nothing whatsoever to indicate he either did or didn't stop in Phoenix.

(Update 02/13/20) At this point we can infer that Jensen did not land in Phoenix.  He took off from an airfield near San Diego shortly after 10 AM on September 16, 1927 and crashed shortly after 2 PM the same day at a site approx 350 air miles from the origin of the flight.  There simply would have been no time to land in during the amount of elapsed time between take off and crash.

4) Cruising Range

What would have been the nominal cruising range for a Ryan B-1 Brougham carrying a full load?

(Update 02/13/20) The OEM nominal cruising range for the aircraft was 700 miles.

5) Why Tonto Basin?

Jensen's flight path into Tonto Basin made no sense for that era of flight in the Southwest.  Pilots traveling to Albuquerque normally went out of their way to El Paso and then north to avoid the Central Arizona Mountains and The Mogollon Rim beyond.  Jensen was an accomplished barnstormer pilot with extensive flight time around America.  We may never learn the answer to this question but that doesn't mean we won't stop asking!

6) The Rim Country Museum

The Northern Gila County Historical Society is a huge help!

We visited in person again February 19, 2020 and the NGCHS President Sandy Carson really went the extra mile to help us.  We're going to receive excellent photos including: 1920's Payson Main Street scene; the first Grady Harrison Garage where the lion was kept; a 1926 view of both schools AND a photo of Bill Boardman!  How good is that?  VERY GOOD!  Thank, Sandy.

7) Scott Gifford

There seems to be zero doubt that Scott Gifford recovered the wreckage from Leo Canyon.  We are determined to make contact with him to learn the progress toward his stated goal to restore the aircraft to flyable condition.

(Update 02/13/20)  We have indeed made contact with Scott Gifford.  We are looking forward to working with him to learn more about the many aspects of this incident.

8) Newspaper Dot Com

Supposedly Leo The Lion's crash made copious national news.  We're planning to buy a subscription to the online newspaper archives and try to find as many reports as possible about such coverage.

Well, that pretty well wraps up what we "think" we have to do.  One final possibility would be to buy flying time to fly over Leo Canyon and record some aerial video.  But that sounds mighty expensive and we doubt that we will be able to afford such a luxury.

9) Who was the pilot?

We have accumulated quite a bit of background about pilot Martin Jensen, probably too much, but that's the way it goes sometimes.  Now the chore is to write it up in a way that's readable and goes get annoyingly long.

Thanks for reading!  John Parsons

The Rescue Team

We received an email from Scott Gifford on February 13, 2020, stating: "I had the privilege and honor to sit down with Dave Martin’s family about ten years ago. I placed this photo down during our conversations and said I would like to try to identify all of them. Everyone leaned over and super super fast rattled off everyone’s name except the short guy third from right whom they described as “a city slicker” and that is a direct quote! He is too short to be Marty. I have found out since he was an animal handler “from Hollywood”. I don’t know if he was from MGM or the circus, but I did find his photo in another book with the cage on another truck getting ready to leave Payson. Left to right is Dave
Martin, Walter Haught, Lou Kohl, Henry Steele, the city slicker, Columbus “Boy” Haught, and Sam Haught. I also have the names of the four mules used in the rescue. I’ll have to look them up."

Source: Jensen Papers @ Univ. of Wyoming.

(Editor's Note: It is quite likely that Bill Boardman was on the rescue team since he is credited with taking the photos of the crash scene.  He therefore is the most likely photographer of this picture. It appears that Lewis Pyle and Bill Haley are not pictured. Pyle was definitely on the rescue team as he appears in this photo beside the wreckage. The short "city slicker" referred to above is possibly Leo Kratzberg said by Frank Gillette to be a "sort of trouble shooter for MGM."  However, there is a discrepancy in Gillette's account.  Gillette said Kratzberg was "tall and slim."  Not.

-------Text of original post is below---------

Above are the cowboys most likely on the actual team that rescued the lion. This photo appears on Page 12 of Frank Gillette's book "Pleasant Valley."  We have also seen the photo in other venues.  Our source for this photo is the San Diego Air & Space Museum.

It is a top priority to learn the names of the men in this photo.  According to Gillette, the man on the right is Green Valley Sam Haught.  Supposedly the small man with the odd hat is pilot Martin Jensen,  According to Gillette other members of the team were: Boy Haught, Louie Pyle, Ernie Sweet and Henry Steel.

Meanwhile, a 1968 document written by Ralph A. Fisher Sr. summarizes an prior interview with Bill Boardman.  Fisher indicated Boardman said the rescue team included Dave Martin, Lewis Pyle, Walter Haught and Bill Haley, as well as Sam Haught.  It appears to be inferred that Boardman came along as well.  See: https://issuu.com/arizonahistorystories/docs/william__bill__boardman_interview

A 1962 Arizona Republic newspaper article included Walter Haught, Dave Martin and Bill Haley in the rescue team.  The further complicate matters, a 2010 Rim Country Gazette article says Lou Kohl participated.  Hopefully, someone can help us straight out the identities of the men in this picture.
Below is a screen clip of the 1962 AZREP article.
Source: http://bit.ly/31Fdjvl

Scott Gifford's Restoration

Scott Gifford stands with what appears to be remaining artifacts of the wrecked Ryan B-1.
Image retrieved from Gifford's Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/151270144970814/photos/rpp.151270144970814/151282828302879/

(Editor's Note: Here is an article about how Scott Gifford removed the wrecked and began restoration efforts.  We are making every attempt to contact Mr. Giffords to learn "the rest of the story.")

A Brougham Fit For a King

By Gail Hearn
AIR & SPACE MAGAZINE
MARCH 2006

https://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/a-brougham-fit-for-a-king-11607497/

In 1927, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios staged a stunt flight carrying Leo, the MGM Lion, from San Diego to New York. (Moviegoers are still greeted by Leo’s roar at the beginning of MGM films.)

MGM contracted with the B.F. Mahoney Aircraft Corporation (formerly Ryan Airlines) to modify a Ryan B-1 Brougham, similar to the Spirit of St. Louis but with a shorter wing, extra fuel tanks, a cage for Leo, and tanks for milk and water. The pilot was Martin Jensen, who had recently won $10,000 in the Dole Derby, a race staged by the pineapple company for a flight from Oakland, California, to Honolulu. Jensen came in both second and last; only two aircraft made it to Honolulu.

With much fanfare and press coverage, Jensen took off from Camp Kearney, just outside San Diego, shortly after 10 a.m. on September 16. Less than five hours later, he was trapped in a box canyon in what is now known as the Hellsgate Wilderness, near Payson, Arizona. Realizing he could not clear the 6,300-foot-high rim ahead, Jensen landed the airplane in a clump of scrub oaks. The wings and landing gear were torn off before the fuselage tumbled to a stop on its side.

After giving the lion milk, water, and some of his sandwiches, Jensen set off for help. On day four, nearly done in by hunger and exhaustion, he encountered some cowboys, who took him to a telephone. Jensen joked later that, as had happened in the Dole Race, he again came in second: When he called MGM, their first question was “How’s the lion?” Leo was returned in good health by land routes to San Diego.

Scott Gifford, a pilot and owner of a restoration and maintenance company, NostalgAire, at Ernest A. Love Field in Prescott, Arizona, first heard about the MGM Special in 1982. From a book about aviation in Arizona, he learned about the flight and focused on one sentence: “The wreckage of the plane still lies in Hells Canyon near Payson.” Gifford contacted family members of the rescue team and Payson residents, but the project to find the remnants of the Ryan stalled until 1990. That year Gifford was flying a Beechcraft Baron over the Tonto National Forest for the U.S. Forest Service. Looking for Hells Canyon on the charts, he came across a spot called Leo Canyon, named in honor of the lion.

Gifford backpacked into the remote wilderness area several times to search for the remains of the wreckage before he finally found it. “I thought I calmly called everybody down, but I was later teased unmercifully for yelling my fool head off,” he recalls. In 1991, he obtained legal ownership of the wreckage and arranged to have it hoisted out by helicopter. He has since acquired another Ryan Brougham and hopes to eventually restore both to airworthiness.

Because so many years had passed before the wreckage was recovered, parts of the MGM Special are either missing or in poor condition. “Right now, it looks like parts of the landing gear and the shock struts can be restored to airworthy condition,” Gifford says. “Some of the wing attach fittings will be useable.” He uses parts from other Broughams if they are airworthy or can be made so. Otherwise, some components can be used as patterns for reproductions.

A few modifications will be necessary: brakes and a tailwheel, for starters. “You landed going into the wind, and you took off going into the wind,” he says. “The airplanes did not have brakes or a tailwheel, just a tailskid. That’s what helped keep the airplane going straight and also acted as a bit of a brake. On today’s asphalt strips, an airplane with a tailskid and no brakes is going to be uncontrollable.”

Gifford got his hands on an overhauled Wright J-5 Whirlwind, the same 220-horsepower engine used in the original aircraft, and a vintage propeller in stellar condition. At the moment he is working on reconstructing the fuselage, rudder, and vertical stabilizer.

He’s also searching for components of a Pioneer Earth inductor compass. “It was the unit to have,” he says. “It was absolute state of the art.” Gifford already has a control head and hopes to find an indicator instrument and a wind-driven generator, which will be mounted on the side of the fuselage.

Gifford has no time table for completion. “It will fly on the first—the first chance I get,” he says. Whenever that is, a reconstructed cage will house a huge stuffed lion made of plush golden fabric, and Gifford hopes to fly the MGM Special to airshows for at least a year.

Gifford recently met with octogenarian Columbus B. “Junior” Haught in Payson. Junior’s father, Columbus “Boy” Haught, was a member of the 1927 cowboy rescue team. Junior, who was just shy of four years old when Leo was brought by their ranch, says he still recalls one incident “like yesterday.” Two of his mother’s chickens were offered to Leo. “It didn’t take him but just a swallow to get rid of one of them chickens,” Haught recalls, adding that his mom was furious when she found out.

The inset photo in lower left apparently shows Scott Gifford with the aircraft fuselage frame salvaged from Leo Canyon near Hells Gate.  Gifford began his restoration efforts at the Prescott airport but moved to Oregon.  The source of this photo is from one of Gifford's Facebook accounts:

https://www.facebook.com/151270144970814/photos/rpp.151270144970814/151278384969990/

Frank V. Gillette Account

Frank V. Gillette's 1984 book "Pleasant Valley" contains a 9,754 word chapter entitled "Leo The Lion."  Frank was born in 1918 to Vern & Jo Gillette who lived at a remote ranch on Haigler Creek in the far Upper Tonto Creek Watershed.   Frank's book was reprinted in 1985, 1989 and 1993.  However, copies are rare and expensive on the used book market with prices starting at $60 and rising sharply.

We are attempting to contact the Family, Heirs, and/or Estate of Frank Gillette to see if there might be any way to get the book reprinted again.  It's a classic book and deserves to be accessible for today's readers and students of Northern Gila County History.

If anyone knows how to contact anyone of the Gillette Family members, please let us know via arizonahistorystories@gmail.com

We have taken the liberty of reproducing Gillette's chapter on"Leo The Lion".  We believe reproduction of this chapter meets with the Spirit & Intent of the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Copyright Law.  The reproduction of the chapter is in no way meant to profit from Gillette's work but to call attention to the merits of his amazing story-telling abilities and the need for the book to be reprinted for broader access and enjoyment.

Here is the chapter: https://issuu.com/arizonahistorystories/docs/leo_the_lion

Frank Gillette's grave is located in Young, Arizona.

Phoenix Airports - 1927

Pilot Martin Jensen is all smiles as he appears to discuss
his "flight plan" with B.F. Mahoney. Jensen is holding
what appears to be a 1924 Air Navigation Map.
Photo Source: San Diego Air & Space Museum.

A major "issue" with Marty Jensen's fateful flight revolves around three key questions:
1) Was Jensen's Ryan B-1 Brougham carrying extra fuel?
2) If not, did Jensen land in Phoenix to refuel?
3) If he landed, which field did he use?

Many questions remain to be answered and much research looms ahead.  However, in this post we will discuss what airports actually existed in the Phoenix area at the time of Jensen's September 1927 flight.

First and foremost, Sky Harbor Airport definitely did not exist at that time.  Construction of Sky Harbor didn't begin until November 16, 1928, more than a year after The Flyin' Lion Incident.

Several airports did exist in 1927.  They are listed in the order of their probable beginning.

The first so-called "airport" was quite likely the infield of the horse racing track at the Fairgrounds.  By 1927, this substandard, dangerous facility was little used and often scorned.

Bernard Whelan Collection*

The second airport seems to have been one located near Central and Roanoke in Phoenix.  This facility apparently didn't have a name and may have simply been known as the "Central & Roanoke Strip." Arizona's first Aviation Historian Ruth Reinhold wrote an endearing account of what may have been the last aerial activity operating out of this airstrip located beside the palm-lined charm of Central Avenue.  You can read her account here: https://azitwas.blogspot.com/2020/01/central-roanoke-airport-phoenix-1927.html

Continual stinging criticism about suitability of the Fairgrounds led the city of Phoenix to buy a dairy farm far from town.  According to Arizona's current Aviation Historian, Arv Schultz, it was located near 59th Avenue and McDowell.  Reinhold states it was near Christy Road and 59th Avenue.  It was known as either Phoenix Municipal and/or "Christy".  This airfield was dedicated November 9, 1925.

Two other airports appear to have been in operation.  One was known as the "Van Buren Airport" located near the State Hospital at 24th Street.  The other was called "South Central" and it was located at South Central and Mohave. Aero Corporation of Arizona started South Central in mid-1927.  Aero went belly up in the Depression. Various other operators attempted to keep South Central open.  Eventually it was abandoned in near the mid-1930's (See additional information at end of post.)

Based on this Library of Congress 1924 Air Navigation Map, there was only one airport was indicated for the Phoenix area and it is clearly the infamous Fairgrounds.  Note the location to the Southeast of Alhambra and see map below .Map source: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3701pm.gct00064

The 1934 map above clearly shows the Fairgrounds as being located Southwest of Alhambra in the same approximate location as the 1924 Air Navigation Map.
Map Source: https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/ht-bin/tv_browse.pl?id=86c94ac54de8869978e5e77b856ff9a9

Preliminary Speculation:

Pilot Jensen was well familiar with at least the area around Yuma.  IN fact, he and his wife, Marguerite, were married high above Yuma in 1925 aboard a Curtiss JN-4 and then stood on aircraft's top wing to celebrate their union.  It would seem likely that the "gossip network" among aviators might have given Jensen information about the other airports besides just the Fairgrounds as indicated on the 1924 Air Navigation Map.

Jensen papers are located in the Wyoming Heritage Center in Laramie, Wyoming.  We hope to find additional information in that collection.

*The Bernard Whelan Collection is located here:
https://archivescatalog.udayton.edu/repositories/2/resources/55/collection_organization

Obviously, the South Central Airport continued in usage well after Sky Harbor was opened in 1929.  This photo is entitled: "Amelia Earhart and unidentified man with her Beech Nut autogiro at Phoenix South Central Airport." and it is dated 1931. Note the spectators lined up on the other side of the aircraft. Photo source: https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/digital/collection/ahfrein/id/101/

The old South Central airport rather quickly found new life as the first Phoenix Municipal Stadium which was built in 1937 and funded by the federal Works Progress Administration. It hosted several levels of Minor League Baseball – the Phoenix Senators of the old Class C Arizona-Texas League, the Phoenix Stars of the old Class C Arizona-Mexico League, and the original Phoenix Giants of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League – as well as New York Yankees spring training (1951) and New York Giants (1947-1950, 1952-1963). When it opened, Central Avenue and Mohave Street wasn’t exactly the middle of town; as shown in the above photo, the ballpark was surrounded by farm land and limited housing. Source: https://ballparkdigest.com/2015/03/11/new-life-at-phoenix-municipal-stadium/

Howard M. Rinehart, Bernard Whelan (right)
Founders of the Van Buren Airport.
Source: https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/special_ms152_photographs/37/

John Dillon I have lots of info and first hand documents in my collection about the origins of Sky Harbor, first built by J. Parker Van Zandt and his Scenic Airways. Was in 1928. Not ‘29. The first flight departed in a Ford Tri-Motor on Nov 18, 1928. A charter group for a fishing club headed south to Mexico. Cool stuff!

Esther Robart Daley There was an airport on n.19th Ave. It was a dirt strip,but, so was 19th. It was on the west side of the road, and belonged to a man named Earl Pylant. In 1940 my three brothers bought an old by-plane. It was a Swallow with an OX5 engine. It was a wreck,held together with baling wire.They tied it down at that airport, and hired a man to teach the three of them to fly. They went to work at Thunderbird field training cadets though WW2.