The first time I remember anything about airplanes was when I was around 3 or 4 years old and we were still living on Princess Place Drive. The house was right in the landing pattern for the main runway at the time. There was still what was left of a small airplane that had gone down in the woods between the airport and our house. This was rumored to have crashed sometime during WWII. It was a small single engine plane; probably what the Army calle
d a L-5 or something similar.
After we moved to Mercer Avenue I still could enjoy the sounds of the airport, in those days the aircraft stay low as compared with today’s aircraft. Back then we had two major airlines flying from Wilmington, one was National which would leave Wilmington by the 60's and leave us with only one airline. This airline was Piedmont and back in the 50's they flew the DC-3. On a
cool morning you could hear them running the engines up as they prepared to head down the runway. Back in those days you could ride your bicycle over to the airport and actually walk out on the parking area and take pictures if you were careful to stay out of the way. If you went inside the terminal the ticket agents would always be willing to give you a Piedmont Airlines luggage label. Over the years there is no telling how many of these labels were given away and now they are selling from $3.00 on up on EBay. Airports have changed in many ways but some of the things I miss most is the deep throbbing sound of those old rotary engines straining the get those old machines into the air or at night seeing the green and white airport beacon light that could be seen for miles. Now you can hardly see the beacon light if you are at the airport and the planes scream with jet engines and even the ones with props have a high pitched whine of a turbine engine, seldom do you hear the musical sound of a rotary engine these days.
d a L-5 or something similar.After we moved to Mercer Avenue I still could enjoy the sounds of the airport, in those days the aircraft stay low as compared with today’s aircraft. Back then we had two major airlines flying from Wilmington, one was National which would leave Wilmington by the 60's and leave us with only one airline. This airline was Piedmont and back in the 50's they flew the DC-3. On a
cool morning you could hear them running the engines up as they prepared to head down the runway. Back in those days you could ride your bicycle over to the airport and actually walk out on the parking area and take pictures if you were careful to stay out of the way. If you went inside the terminal the ticket agents would always be willing to give you a Piedmont Airlines luggage label. Over the years there is no telling how many of these labels were given away and now they are selling from $3.00 on up on EBay. Airports have changed in many ways but some of the things I miss most is the deep throbbing sound of those old rotary engines straining the get those old machines into the air or at night seeing the green and white airport beacon light that could be seen for miles. Now you can hardly see the beacon light if you are at the airport and the planes scream with jet engines and even the ones with props have a high pitched whine of a turbine engine, seldom do you hear the musical sound of a rotary engine these days.
I will always miss those DC3s and the airport terminal. I recall hearing those engines warming up from our house on Renovah Circle. My first trip on one of them was coming home from summer camp once about 1960. Later, when I was away at military high school, we all counted the days and hours until the next break. I learned how to arrange my own flight home and felt very adult and independent whiling away the hours at my connection at Washington National. But that was nothing compared to the feeling of flying through the dark night, returning home from an inhospitable and far away place, as if from one world to another, where my father and family were waiting for me by the luggage collection point at the terminal. It was downright Biblical. In those days there were no pat downs, no luggage scans, no long corridors and no fear. We walked from the plane right across the runway to the terminal and into the arms of family. I drove by the airport a couple of years ago thinking to have a look at that spot and was saddened that the entire building had been demolished. But what has gone by cannot be changed and deep memories are not easily forgotten.
ReplyDeleteI remember...
ReplyDeleteVisits to the airport at night to watch planes and stars from the roof. Usually an ice cream cone was in order.
The knee-high brick wall that separated the plane from the terminal building.
Arriving one hot afternoon and fainting as I got off the plane and greeted family. Dad was close and caught me.
Flying out after visiting family, watch parents waving from the wall, and wondering if that would be my last memory of them. That was 37 years ago, and they're still waving to me from their driveway.