This piece originally ran in the October 2025 issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine.
On July 26, 1928, the city of Wausau, Wisconsin, declared it to be “Aviation Day,” as airplanes participating in the Ford Reliability National Air Tour made a stop at the local Alexander Airport (now Wausau Downtown Airport [KAUW]). Between 1925 and 1931, the Ford Motor Co. sponsored annual air tours to promote the reliability and safety of commercial aircraft. Pilots flew a 6,000-mile route to predetermined cities and were rated on their takeoffs, landings, and speed. Pilot and hometown hero James P. Wood was in the lead with 22,761.4 points flying a Waco 10 biplane nicknamed The Baby Ruth but informally called the “Waco of Wausau.” When he arrived, he and his mechanic dropped candy bars with tiny parachutes from the sky for the children in attendance. The Wausau Daily Herald reported that “capacity crowds of aviation fans” were expected to welcome all aircraft participating in the air tour with “shrieking whistles, clanging bells and loud noise making bombs.”
