Chapter Nineteen

Aviation and the Marion County Airport

Page 325-326

Since the invention of the airplane by the Wright Brothers and their first historic flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903, aviation and interest in flying has made rapid progress. The people of Marion County, like people throughout the world, have watched with interest and admiration this new method of transportation. In earlier days there were doubters that men would ever fly and these doubters reasoned that "if God had meant for man to fly, HE would have created man with wings as HE did the eagle." Doubt gave way to reality.

The first airborne passenger of record in Marion County took place in the newly created town of Flippin in 1910. It was not an airplane passenger but rather a balloonist who took off from the spot where the Pierce DX Service Station is located near the present site of the Flippin High School. The balloonist entertained an amazed gathering with some acrobatic stunts from the basket of the balloon as he floated in a northeasterly direction to a landing in a field south of the present Marion County Airport at Flippin. A number of those who witnessed the event are living and can relate the thrill of this experience.

Small planes had been seen flying over Marion County, but the best information available indicates that the first plane to land in Marion County was in the early 1920's and landed on the ground now the site of the Yellville Summit School buildings and grounds. The passenger on this plane was Grady Hand, a former citizen of Yellville. The pilot landed on the school grounds while school was in session, and, as could be expected, students and teachers were quite excited and anxious to have a look at this "new machine". A crowd from Yellville and Summit soon gathered and in a short time these eager viewers tore down the fence around the field that they might get a closer look.

For the next several years planes were seen at the picnics. Barnstorming pilots made these picnics often doing acrobatic stunts to the amazement of curious and nervous onlookers. Usually, after having entertained the crowd, the plane would land to take passengers on a short flight. Fare for a short flight was $2.00 and for a longer flight was $5.00. A good number who had the nerve and the necessary money enjoyed these flights and these pilots returned from year to year for these picnics. Cleto Parnell of Flippin who took one of these flights, became interested, and became a pilot, and did barn storming and acrobatic stunt flying over the midwest for two or three summers. Another citizen of Marion County, Thurman Patterson, was an early pilot, flying his plane from Kansas City where he was employed to visit his father's family near Summit. Marvin Melton, a native of Marion County who taught in the public schools of the county for a number of years before moving to Mississippi County to teach there, and who later served in the State Senate from the Craighead County area, was also one of the early Pilots. The county was shocked to learn of his disappearance on a flight from Jonesboro to Dallas. His body was found in the wreckage of his plane months after his dappearance.

One of the earlier flights in Marion County almost resulted in tragedy. A light plane being used by a crew from the Arkansas Power and light Company flying over Flippin crashed-landed on the home of Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Billings near the Flippin depot. The nose of the plane came to rest on the roof of the porch. Mr. Billings said that he carried insurance on his five-room home but could not estimate the damage. The building was shifted six inches on the foundation, wallpaper was ripped, furniture over-turned; and parts of a flue and roofing were torn off. Mr. and Mrs. Billings, Mrs. Eula Matlock and Earl Dew were on the front porch when the plane struck but none were injured.

Aviation had played an important part in the Allied victory in World War II and air travel grew in popularity thereafter. Many service men from the county were transported from their camps or base to the various theaters of overseas conflict. Airplane flights made it possible for many of them to visit home for short leaves before going oversea. With the war over and return of the service men to their homes, realization of the advantage of air travel became apparent but there were no airports near. The nearest landing fields were Springfield, Missouri, one hundred miles to the north; Fayetteville to the west; Conway to the south and Walnut Ridge to the east - all about the same distance from Flippin.