On
the Wings of Discovery: Muir Stephen Fairchild, The Life and Times of an
Aviation Pioneer and Patriot

     In
the annals of American aviation many individuals and personalities were
familiar to the American public yet some were remarkable airmen little
known outside comradeship of their colleagues. One such innovative and
important pioneering aviator in the 20th century was Muir Stephen
Fairchild born in Bellingham, Wash., on September 2, 1894, to Harry Arson
and Georgia Ann Crockett Fairchild. His father was born near Brantford,
Ontario, Canada, but moved to the United States eventually settling in
Bellingham in 1884 where he became a prominent attorney. With the election
of Albert Edward Mead as the fifth governor (serving from 1905-1909) the
Fairchild family moved to the state capitol of Olympia when Muir’s
father was appointed chairman of the state’s Railroad Commission and its
successor the Public Service Commission from 1905 until his death in 1911.
Before enrolling in the University of Washington in Seattle in 1913,
Fairchild attended public schools in Bellingham and Olympia. While in
college he enlisted in the Washington National Guard and later served as a
radio platoon sergeant on the Mexican border in 1916. He never completed
his degree requirements for a diploma and left the university in 1917.
     Fairchild died at his quarters at Ft. Myer, Va.,
on March 17, 1950. His wife, Francis Alice Rossiter Fairchild, of Omaha,
Neb., whom he had married on April 24, 1924, was with him when he was
stricken. He was attended by Brig. Gen. Dan C. Ogle, the Air Force Deputy
Surgeon. He had recently completed a thorough physical check at the Army
and Navy Hospital at Hot Springs, Ark., and was declared in good
condition, yet shortly thereafter fell ill. Mrs. Fairchild wrote on her
husband’s cousins, Mrs. George Bacon of Bellingham, informing her that
"reports were not good" and that they were returning to their
home in Virginia immediately.
     General Fairchild was honored and memorialized
when the former Spokane Army Air Depot was renamed to Fairchild AFB with
the formal dedication ceremonies taking place on July 20, 1951. The event
coincided with the arrival of the 92nd Bombardment Wing’s (Heavy), the
first B-36 Peacemakers that were stationed there until 1957 when
subsequently replaced by B-52s and KC-135 tankers.
     In addition, the Muir S. Fairchild Research and
Information Center at the Air University, Maxwell AFB, Montgomery, Ala.,
was named in his memory as was Fairchild Hall that is the main academic
building at the United States Air Force Academy housing classrooms,
laboratories, research facilities, faculty offices and the McDermott
Library with the mailing address of 2354 Fairchild Drive, Colorado
Springs, CO 80840-6214.

Early Military Service
     Fairchild began his career by first serving as a
sergeant in the Washington National Guard from June 19 to October 5, 1916,
as a radio sergeant on the Mexican border and subsequently . . .