Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, West Virginia Tue, March 31, 1936 – Page 10 –The Chesapeake Airport Site is Approved
Officials reported today that Chesapeake, Ohio, had been approved for the Huntington-Ironton-Chesapeake airport. ..The site will be the Huntington, WV, Ironton, Ohio airport, and Chesapeake, Ohio.
Improvements will cost between $100,000 and $150,000, and a WPA application for funds should be in Washington tomorrow. The selection of an airport site at South Point, Ohio, also had been suggested, but the Chesapeake site was the only one within our reach because of the cost involved in the South Point site.
Portsmouth Times, Portsmouth, Ohio Fri, August 14, 1936 – Page 3
President Roosevelt approved and signed the WPA allocation of $95,000, which was announced today. The money will be used to make airport improvements, including completing the drainage of the field, grading, and constructing two concrete runways, one 3,500 feet long and the other 2,100 feet long.
The present project does not include money for constructing an administration building and hangars. Still, it was announced that the commissioners of Lawrence County, Ohio, will make a supplemental application for the needed funds after the current project is underway.
Portsmouth Times, Portsmouth, Ohio Sun, August 22, 1937—Page 21 Huntington Dedicated New Airport on October 27, 1937 Ceremonies to be combined with Navy Day Program. The dedication of the improved Huntington-Ironton-Chesapeake airport and the observance of Navy Day on October 27 will be combined, and a joint program designed to acquaint the public with recent developments in aviation will be arranged.
…Three newest types of Navy combat planes will give a flight exhibition at the airport in connection with the airport dedication exercises, Lieutenant Commander Klumpp said.
The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 1 1938, Sun, Page 39
AIRPORT CACHET The Chamber of Commerce of Huntington, W. Va., will sponsor a cachet to mark the rededication of the Huntington-Ironton-Chesapeake Airport. To send envelopes addressed and stamped with the required air mail postage to the Postmaster of Huntington, Va. Emaus, Pa., will have air mail.
Beckley Raleigh Register, Beckley, West Virginia Tue, August 16, 1938 – Page 1
Town Will See Airmail Service
Postmaster Jerry Dingess hopes that regular airmail and passenger service will be scheduled for the Huntington-Ironton-Chesapeake airport now that an extensive improvement program has been completed.
The improvements include the laying of two long bituminous paved runways. Inspectors reported the field was in good condition for accommodating large transport planes,
Beckley Raleigh Register, Beckley, West Virginia Mon, July 17, 1939 – Page 1
State Airshow is on Ohio Soil
An annual plane show may become a fixture in Huntington.
Vernon Hinerman of the Junior Chamber of Commerce disclosed plans to repeat the recent Huntington show. The show drew a crowd of more than 10,000 to the Huntington-Ironton-Chesapeake airport despite the rain that threatened to stall the proceedings before they began.
Gov. Holt gave the affair an official tenor by presiding at the ceremonies after having flown to the show with the state aeronautics inspector. But one obstacle remains to the show’s becoming a purely WV fixture: the airport is on Ohio soil.
The Orlando Sentinel, 27 Nov 1939, Mon, Page 5
Two Killed In Plane Crash HUNTINGTON. W. Va. Two men were killed yesterday at the Huntington-Ironton-Chesapeake airport when their plane collided In mid-air. with another as they were coming In for a landing. They were identified as J. C. Robiock. of Huntington, Ind., and Clark B. (Chris) Matthews of Marietta, Ohio, a mechanic at the airport. The collision occurred about 400 feet In the air with a plane piloted by Dr. H. E. Guthrie of Huntington. Dr. Guthrie was unhurt and landed his plane safely.
Portsmouth Times, Portsmouth, Ohio Tue, September 9, 1941 – Page 13
Army Plane Falls Two En Route To Bowman Field, Has Narrow Escape
Two army fliers en route to Bowman Field near Louisville, KY, escaped injured Sunday when their training plane cracked up in a muddy cornfield during take-off from the Huntington-Ironton-Chesapeake airport.
Luiet. E.H. Callahan of San Antonio, TX, who was at the controls, said a gust of wind whipped the plane down on takeoff, and the tail landing wheel ripped through telephone lines.
Charleston Daily Mail, Charleston, West Virginia Sun, December 21, 1941 – Page 9
Youngest Flyer Solos on Birthday
The “Flying Mayes Family” received additional wings today when 16-year-old Bob Mayes, Greenbrier Military school cadet, made his first solo flight.
Bob’s father, Lieutenant Howard G. Mayes, was a World War pilot and the Huntington-Ironton-Chesapeake airport manager. His brother, Howard, Jr., is a United Airlines pilot, and his sister, Mrs. Ruth Nubbock, is a flyer and the wife of a flyer.
Portsmouth Times, Portsmouth, Ohio Tue, June 2, 1942 – Page 11
Huntington-Ironton-Chesapeake Airport Returns to Schedule—After a four-day lapse, American Airlines service resumed following protests by Huntington groups through Congressman George W. Johnson.
Lieutenant Howard Mayers, airport manager, was informed that the planes would resume their Huntington stops. Congressman Johnson made his protest to the civil aeronautics board in Washington at the behest of Postmaster Jerry Dingess, the Huntington Chamber of Commerce Mayor Swann, and local newspapers after it was learned that Elkins had become the airlines’ only WV stop.
They pointed out that Huntington had many more important industries, a larger population, and greater post office receipts than Elkins. Since the abandonment of the Charleston airport, Huntington has served a much greater Area.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 10 1942, Mon, Page 10
Ohio Plane Crash Fatal to Two IRONTON, O., August 9 A light plane crashed and burned in woods 10 miles south of Ironton today, killing two members of the Civil Air Patrol. The dead were identified as J. Harmon Smith, 31, pilot, of Ironton, and Carlos Wyant, 32, of Russell, Ky.
The crash occurred soon after the plane took off from the Huntington-Ironton Chesapeake airport. The plane struck a hillside within sight of Mrs. Maggie Smith’s home. They said he was expected to fly over his mother’s home at nearby Horseshoe Bend. Both William Mapes and Fred Huff near Ironton escaped from the burning wreckage.
Portsmouth Times, Portsmouth, Ohio Thu, August 13, 1942 – Page 2
Civil Air Patrol Drops Flowers During Rites
Ironton, Ohio August 13- The civilian air patrol group based at the Huntington-Ironton-Chesapeake airport yesterday paid final tribute to the second of two of its members who were killed Sunday in a plane crash near here.
Three planes droned overhead and dropped flowers while John Harmon Smith, 31, of Ironton and Raceland, was buried in Woodland Cemetery.
In the planes were Clinton Phillips, flight leader, Walter Sparks, E.E. Worrell, Victor Bond, James Gibson, and D. Hatfield, all of Huntington. Meanwhile, a group of CAP fliers headed by Gordon Chain served as a guard of honor and pallbearers in the cemetery.
On the final pleasure flight, a similar tribute was paid Monday to Carlos Wyant, 30, of Russell, Mr. Smith’s companion.
Sandusky Register, January 15 1943, Fri, Page 3
HANGAR BURNS HUNTINGTON, WV January 15 —A spark from a welding torch touched off a blaze that destroyed a hangar, four airplanes, three spare motors, and shop equipment valued at $20,000 at the Huntington-Ironton-Chesapeake airport last night. Four airplanes were wheeled out of the building undamaged.
The Baltimore Sun, February 10 1943, Wed, Page 7
400 Army Air Cadets Will Train At Marshall Huntington, W. Va. February 9 Marshall College has been selected to train 400 army aviation cadets, who will begin arriving on February 28, Dr. J. D. Williams, president, announced today. Williams said that one hundred of the cadets will be housed on the campus and 300 in a hotel to be designated by the army. All will be fed at the college. In addition to flight training at the Huntington-Ironton-Chesapeake Airport, the cadets will attend classes taught by the Marshall faculty. He emphasized that there would be no interruption of the normal college operations by the arrival of the cadets.
Beckley Raleigh Register, Beckley, West Virginia Thu, May 17, 1945 – Page 7
The airport May Be Made a Sand Pit.
Joe Wilson of nearby Chesapeake, Ohio, said that if the Huntington-Ironton-Chesapeake airport is discontinued as an airfield, he probably will open a sand and gravel pit on the tract.
Wilson holds a 90-year-old lease on the property, which had been sublet for five years to Airport Manager Howards G. Mayes. American Airlines, Inc., last week suspended use of the field, announcing that it would make no more stops there until the present runway is improved and extended.
The Cincinnati Enquirer, May 17 1945, Thu, KENTUCKY EDITION, Page 2
Cooperation is Urged by Three Cities To Restore Airliner Service at Ironton Airport. Huntington, W. Va., May 18 (AP) A proposal that Huntington and Ironton, Ohio, and Ashland, Ky., join In a cooperative effort to reestablish the Huntington-Ironton-Chesapeake Airport for airliner service was announced today. Mayor Paul O. Fiedler and Chamber of Commerce officials were reported to have started conversations amongst interests In the three cities to defray costs estimated at $62,000 to improve the field and lengthen the single runway. American Airlines, Inc. suspended its scheduled stops at the airport last week, explaining that conditions made land with more than half-loaded planes hazardous.
Detroit Free Press, August 12 1946, Mon, Page 10
4 Killed in Collision of Planes in Midair HUNTINGTON, W. Va. (&) Four persons were killed in a mid-air collision between two airplanes only a few hundred feet above the Huntington Chesapeake Airport. The dead were identified as Navy Lt. Clark V. Henderson, of Staatsburg, N. Y.; Lt. (j. g.) John S. Row of Huntington, Cecil Elbert Whitten, Jr., Hagerstown, Md., all riding in one plane, and J. P. Corkran of Huntington.
From David Smith Facebook Group – Huntington WV You Grew Up In H-Town If…: Huntington-Ironton-Chesapeake Airport was located in Lawrence County, OH, just across the Mighty Ohio River From Huntington, WV. Lawrence County Airpark was also known as the Huntington-Chesapeake Airport or “Huntington’s Airport,” opening on August 31, 1929.
In 1938, American Airlines inaugurated regular passenger service with DC-2 airliners and, later, DC-3s. American discontinued service at the airport in 1945, deeming it no longer adequate. Before World War II, there was much talk about building a larger airport. But the war temporarily halted that discussion. The end of the war and the departure of American Airlines at Chesapeake, Ohio, gave new momentum to the idea of building a modern airport. The result was Tri-State Airport, which opened in 1952.
From David Smith Facebook Group – Huntington WV You Grew Up In H-Town If…: Some additional history here – Efforts toward the development of aviation in the Tri-State areas were initiated on December 8, 1922, when the Chamber of Commerce formed its first aviation Committee to select a site for an airfield.
Their original selection of Kyle Field at Kyle Landing was used until 1927, when a search for a larger and more permanent site was undertaken. Similarly, in February of 1929, the Embry-Riddle Company predecessor of American Airlines proposed to build an airport at their own expense at South Point, Ohio, provided that various cities in the Tri-State area would agree not to build a competing airport. All area cities agreed to this except Huntington; an airport was opened in Chesapeake, Ohio, later that year. This remains the current Lawrence County Airport.
From David Smith’s Facebook Group—Huntington WV You Grew Up In H-Town If…: Lawrence County Airpark, “originally known as Huntington Airport,” opened on August 31, 1929. American Airlines was full-time here from 1938 to 1945 when the runway was too short for the new DC-3 to take off fully loaded. Huntington Airport Authority was created in 1947 to establish a new airport. Tri-State Airport later opened on November 2, 1952. (Herald-Dispatch) These pics are a bit later, but the date is unknown.
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