William Pawley turns his sights on NW 36th Street

In October 1940, Miamian William D. Pawley purchased 103 acres on the northeast corner of 36th Street and LeJeune Road from the Seminole Fruit and Land Company, announcing his plans to build Miami’s first aircraft manufacturing plant there at an estimated cost of $750,000.

Pawley was a charismatic figure who had profited during the Florida land boom. In 1929, he was involved with Clement Keys of North American Aviation in founding the Cuban airline, Compania Nacional Cubana de Aviacion Curtiss, S.A. (Cubana). After Pan Am bought Cubana in 1932, Pawley went on to garner additional fame and fortune in Indochina, producing aircraft and building aircraft manufacturing plants for the Chinese Army. Later still, he was involved in the formation of the famous Flying Tigers, a group of American pilots who fought for China during World War II. He served in the diplomatic corps as U.S. Ambassador to Peru (1945) and to Brazil (1948).

Securing support for the new industry

When he acquired the NW 36th Street property, situated immediately east of Pan American Field, Pawley stated that he intended to manufacture military training planes under contract from the U.S. government. He successfully persuaded the City of Miami and Dade County to agree to assume the cost of clearing the entire tract of land and building two runways, 200 ft. wide and 2900 ft. long, along with the construction of aprons, driveways, a parking area and a 10-year lease on the tract without charge. These improvements were made as the County and City were eager to encourage the growth of an aircraft manufacturing industry in the area.

Wartime transition from Intercontinent to Vultee

The manufacturing facility, called Intercontinent Aircraft Corporation, was completed in early 1941. Although aircraft parts were produced, Intercontinent never manufactured complete airplanes. Instead, after the U.S. entered World War II, Intercontinent sold its interest in the plant to Vultee Aircraft Corporation. Vultee, which was founded in 1939 and had headquarters in Downey, California, had established a good track record of producing aircraft widely used for military purposes. Vultee occupied the former Intercontinent plant on 36th Street in July 1942. In 1943, Vultee merged with Consolidated Aircraft to form Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, or Convair. Throughout the war, the factory produced aircraft parts and components for the U.S. Armed Forces.

Postwar surplus and transition

The end of the war in Europe and the winding down of the need for warplanes resulted in the closure of the Convair NW 36th Street plant on May 31, 1945. In four years, the Miami plant had produced more than 18,500 major warplane components. At the time of its closing, Convair Division Manager A. M. Hall praised the factory’s workforce, saying that division employes and Miami as a community could take great satisfaction in the knowledge that much of the good news which had come as the result of the end of the war in Europe and the continued assault on Japan in the Pacific battlefronts was written by the planes they had helped to build.

The Navy declared the plant to be surplus and its disposition was placed under the authority of the Reconstruction Finance Corp. At the time of its closure, the plant consisted of 13 buildings with floor space of 203,000 sq. feet.