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    Aviation in Roanoke
    Aviation in Roanoke
    Aviation in Roanoke
    Ebook172 pages45 minutes

    Aviation in Roanoke

    By Marshall Harris and Nelson Harris

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    About this ebook

    In 1910, an awestruck crowd at the Roanoke Fair got its first glimpse of powered flight when a Curtiss biplane soared overhead. Within the next decade, gliders were lifting off from hills in South Roanoke and cow pastures were being converted into airstrips. Once Roanoke Municipal Airport was developed in 1929, earlier local airfields such as Cook, Trout, and Horton Fields were rendered inactive. Then in 1941, when with federal assistance the municipal airport became Woodrum Field, the region s air travel transitioned into the modern era and brought services from major airlines to the area. Roanoke s aviation reputation continued to grow when the city played a critical role in military air travel and training during World War II, leading its airport to become one of the busiest on the East Coast. Aviation in Roanoke tells the stories of early airfields, the growth and transformation of Woodrum Field, and the adventures of Roanoke s aviation pioneers.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateMay 19, 2014
    ISBN9781439645208
    Aviation in Roanoke
    Author

    Marshall Harris

    Marshall Harris and Nelson Harris culled archival photographs from private collections to capture Roanoke�s aviation history. Marshall Harris is a commercial real estate agent who grew up near Woodrum Field, which his late father managed for 30 years. Nelson Harris, the former mayor of Roanoke, has written numerous articles and books on the region�s history.

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      Book preview

      Aviation in Roanoke - Marshall Harris

      Times.

      INTRODUCTION

      The history of aviation in the Roanoke Valley is rich and varied, yet it has been largely overlooked. Aviation in Roanoke hopes to correct this omission. This is a collection of some 200 photographs documenting the development of aviation and our airport over the past century. Through the generous support of many, we are able to provide in this volume images that have never been published. To amass this amount of material, almost all from private collections, and offer it in a single book is quite gratifying to us as the authors.

      Any history involves subjectivity and parameters. We recognize that there are and have been many in the Roanoke Valley who involved themselves in aviation, especially military aviation. This work, as the title suggests, focuses on aviation in and around the Roanoke Valley. Thus, we have intentionally limited the scope of the book to that topic. Aviation in Roanoke is arranged chronologically, in the hope that the reader can better understand and appreciate the growth in aviation in the Roanoke region. By sequencing the photographs this way, one can see the early, pioneering days of aviation and follow it through to the present. While it is impossible to tell every tale, the captions are intended to provide insight and context for the images and, in general, the aviation heritage of the Roanoke region. When compiling a book of this type, it is impossible to collect all of the interesting information and stories related to the subject, and many of those who experienced the early years of aviation are no longer with us. Wes Hillman, however, has memories and experiences of flight in Roanoke that span eight decades. Without his help and enthusiasm, this book might have been impossible. We owe Wes Hillman special gratitude for his assistance, born out of his passion for aviation.

      Displayed at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke are individual photographs of Roanoke’s earliest aviators. We encourage our readers to visit the gallery where this exhibit is displayed, but we wish to list their names here as our tribute to those pioneers who risked much for the cause of advancing aviation. They are Roy Richardson, Earl Bawden, John Senter, Paul Kesler, Charlie Wade, Walter Hunt, Vivian Hylton, Keith Hunt, Gordon Brooks, David Leber, Herbert Gilliam, J.J. Cassidy, Lawrence Bohon, Frank Reynolds, John Lemon, Hunter Turner, Charlie Howell, Archie Hurd, Keith Webster, Marshall L. Harris, Bob Irwin, Bob Kline, Junior Lumpkin, Dave Platnick, Marvin L. Turner, Homer Shropshire, W. Clayton Lemon, Bob Dunahoe, Harry Economy, Bert Wilkerson, Thurston Parker, Squeeks Burnett, Bob Hunt, Contact Lewis, Phil Kavanaugh, John P. Saul III, Karl Grubb, Jack Garrett, J.H. Bailey, Walter Rudd, Loomis Kelly, Jerry Tankersley, George Milliken, Les Cromer, Paul Reynolds, Charlie Hale, Wilk Wilkerson, Kirk Lunsford, M.P. Pop Hanscom, Jim Buford, Ross Robertson, Red Metts, C.R. Burnett, Steve Francis, Wallace Cates, Polly Purdy, Ervin Sharp, Ed Marshall, R.M. DeHart, T. Warren Dyer, Dan Carmine, Gladys Kessler, Clyde Britt, C.B. Deel, Bayne Grubb, Billy Brightwell, Sam Sharp, Carlton Daniel, Joe Feaganes, Johnny Bowers, Leonard Hylton, Boots Frantz, Cris Carper, Luck Nininger, Fred Haase, Jack Skillman, Adeline Dunlop, Howard Hill, Odel Hackler, Jack Hicks, Jack Clark, Ed Venable, George H. Mason, Pete Grimm, Howard Harris, Billy Wade, Charles Newman, S.E. Stanley, Rip Morris, Whimpy Stokes, Kenneth Brugh, Bill Goode, Cricket Thomas, Jumbo Owens, Charlie Smith, Buddy Childress, Bob Garst, G.C. Hayden, Lewis Britts, Bob Sowder, Bill McCutchen, Edward Minter, David Hannah, Nelson Najjum, Calvin Hall, Billy Glenn, and Leigh Huff.

      The story of aviation in Roanoke is certainly about aviators, such as those just mentioned, but it also involves those civic and business leaders who had the foresight to see aviation’s potential and advocate for investing in and developing a regional airport. Roanoke’s aviation heritage encompasses the national and subsidiary airlines that brought to the valley passenger, airmail, and freight services, all of which contributed to the Roanoke region’s economic vitality and growth. Roanoke’s aviation story is not isolated from the events of history, and this work reminds the reader of the strategic role our airport played in military pilot training and plane ferrying during World War II. In fact, Woodrum Field in 1943 was one of the busiest airports on the East Coast.

      Today, interest in flight in the Roanoke Valley has branched beyond runways and aircraft, and now includes such groups as the Blue Ridge Soaring Society (soaring@brss.net), which advocates interest in gliders; the Skywackers, an organization that enjoys the freedom of hang gliding and paragliding; and the Roanoke Valley Radio Control Club (www.rvrc.org), which builds and flies model airplanes. The desire to fly, whatever form it may take, is at the heart of this book and the history it celebrates.

      We commend our work to you, the reader, for your enjoyment and enlightenment and with the hope that your appreciation will deepen for those who pioneered and advanced aviation in our small piece of earth and sky. It is about such men and women that the poet, Royal Canadian Air Force pilot John G. Magee Jr., penned these lines:

      Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth

      And danced the skies

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