1929-
By the end of World War I, America had become fascinated with the idea of "flying machines." A favorable year-round climate attracted aircraft enthusiasts, daredevil pilots, innovators, and spectators to Southern California. By 1929, the area had become a hub of the airplane industry. Among the airplane enthusiasts was E.M. Smith, a wealthy industrialist who founded the E.M. Smith Company (EMSCO) IN 1911. Among other things, Smith owned the EMSCO Asbestos products factory in Downey and the newly purchased Albatross Company, a small aircraft company in Long Beach. Envisioning a landing field that could be used by both commercial and private pilots, Smith purchased a 73-acre tract of land in Downey owned by a farmer, James Hughan. Mr. Hughan had been farming the land- largely orange groves and castor beans- and there were a few farm buildings standing.

1929-1932
Smith organized and financed the EMSCO Aircraft Corporation at the Downey site to manufacture a complete line of land and water aircraft and hired W.A. "Billy Williams, a well known World War I test pilot, to be his sales manager. One of EMSCO's first planes, the Challenger,  was a tri-motored eight place monoplane. With money in the bank, EMSCO continued to build airplanes, some of which were used for the pioneering of new air routes and the setting of new flying records. These included the first non-stop flight from Downey to Mexico City and a special aircraft manufactured with enough range to complete a flight between Tacoma, Washington, and Tokyo, Japan. In 1931 the company hired Gerard "Jerry" Vultee away from Lockheed to be their chief design engineer. Vultee stayed 1 year, and in 1932 EMSCO leased the plant to
Champion Aircraft Corporation of America.

1932-1936
Security National Aircraft Corporation leased the former EMSCO plant after Champion Aircraft faltered because of poor economic conditions. Security was owned by Walter "Bert" Kinner. An innovative, experienced pilot, Kinner had moved his Kinner Airplane and Motor Corporation from Glendale. Builder of the Kinner motor, Kinner designed and manufactured two airplanes for Amelia Earhart. Kinner had dreams of developing a small plane market that would rival what the automobile market had done for Henry Ford. Kinner patented the "folding wing" design, and, in 1933, flew the new folding wing design at the National Air Races in Los Angeles. The plane was called the "Security Airster" and sold for about $1985.00. At the end of 1933 Kinner moved his operations to the Van Nuys Airport. The plant was then sold to Baker Oil Tools Company. It is believed that Baker Oil tools used the buildings for storage. Continued