MIDDLETON, WIS. – The oldest fixed base operator and flight school in Wisconsin still in business today, Morey Airplane Company, located at Middleton Municipal Airport – Morey Field in Middleton, Wis., celebrated its 100th anniversary October 25, 2025, with a gala event! Customers and friends were cordially invited to the reception, dinner and dance, and urged to dress as people did 100 years ago. Third generation owner/operator and airport manager, Richard Morey, hosted the event.
Welcoming guests, Morey played a recording of his late grandfather, Howard Morey, who described one of his early flights.
“Grampa started flight training in 1923 at the Eddie Heath School in Chicago,” said Morey. “He taught there most of 1924. In the fall of 1924, he and a partner bought a used Curtiss Jenny with the idea of barnstorming the Midwest. They landed in Madison, Wisconsin in November 1924 on their way to grampa’s home in Birchwood, Wisconsin. It snowed that night, and they made arrangements to store the Jenny in a barn. In the spring of 1925, grampa started teaching out of Penco Field in Monona, Wisconsin as Penco Company. Sometime before 1932, Royal Rapid Transit bought Penco out, then grampa bought Royal out after the stock market crashed. Morey Airplane Company was incorporated in 1932.”
The Wisconsin Aviation Trades Association (WATA) named Morey Airplane Company “Wisconsin Aviation Business of the Year” in 2014. The award was presented to Richard Morey on May 7 of that year during the Wisconsin Aviation Conference in Wausau-Rothschild, Wis.
Morey Airplane Company is a full-service flight center providing air charter, flight instruction, aircraft maintenance and fuel sales. The company was selected for the award from among 250 aviation businesses in the state, ranging from flight centers like Morey’s, to aircraft manufacturers, avionics service facilities, insurance companies, parts suppliers, fuel vendors, and others. Morey Airplane Company employs 20 people, including aircraft technicians, flight instructors, charter pilots, aircraft fuelers and administrative personnel.
Richard Morey is a third-generation owner of the business, succeeding his father Field Morey, and grandfather, Howard Morey, who was also the first chairman of the Wisconsin Aeronautics Commission, president of Wisconsin Central/North Central Airlines (1953-54), a founding member of the Wisconsin Aviation Trades Association (WATA), and the first manager of what is now Dane County Regional Airport. He later founded Morey Field, which is now Middleton Municipal Airport – Morey Field.
Richard Morey is a graduate of Blackhawk Technical College in Janesville, Wis., and grew up at the airport, working in each of its five departments. Morey is a professional pilot, flight instructor and licensed aircraft inspector and technician (www.MoreyAirport.com).
To read more about the Morey family and Morey Airplane Company, go to the Midwest Flyer website: https://midwestflyer.com/?s=morey+airplane+company
