Tragedy at the Airmada

by Erin Doane, Curator

On November 5, 1945 the Wings of Victory Airmada buzzed over the city of Elmira. The fleet of ten warplanes landed at the Chemung County Airport and prepared for a three-day event celebrating the Victory Bond campaign. At the conclusion of the event, two airplanes collided. Both were destroyed and six men lost their lives.

Chemung County Airport, November 8, 1945

The Wings of Victory Airmada was a joint operation of the U.S. War and Treasury Departments following World War II. Its mission was to promote the Victory Bond campaign. It was one of several fleets touring the country. The Airmada assembled at the Rome Army Base at the end of October and flew to Rochester and Buffalo before coming to Big Flats on November 5. It was supposed to move on to Stewart Field at West Point after visiting Chemung County.

Maj. Philip D. Wachtel Jr. of Truax Field, Madison, Wisconsin was Commander of the fleet of fourteen military aircrafts. Because of the length of the air field in Big Flats, only ten of the planes could land: B-17 Flying Fortress, B-25 Mitchell, A-26 Invader, P-51 Mustang, P-47 Thunderbolt, P-38 Lightning, C-46 Commando transport, C-47 Skytrain transport, AT-6 Texan trainer, and CG-10 cargo glider. The 34 members of the Airmada’s crew were assembled from eight airfields throughout the country. Most of them had served overseas and been in combat.

Wings of Victory Airmada crew, Star-Gazette, November 2, 1945

The Airmada spent two full days on the ground at the airport, offering tours to the thousands of people who visited. “With the lid off on military secrecy,” as a Star-Gazette reporter put it, visitors could see “many instruments and devices which put the real dent in the Axis powers.” Airmen played tour guides, opening up cargo ships and inviting people to step inside. Of particular interest was the P-38 reconnaissance ship which had five huge cameras, one in the nose, two on each side, and two beneath, to capture various views of the enemy.

While nearly 10,000 people got to explore the airplanes, the main purpose of the Airmada was to raise money through Victory Bonds. Capt. Henry N. Hamington, pilot of the B-17 Flying Fortress, and Capt. Bedford B. Riggan, pilot of the C-47 cargo ship, spoke to a large gathering of employees at Remington Rand. They shared battle stories and urged people to buy bonds “to clinch the peace.” The cargo glider was transformed into a Victory Bond booth on the airfield. The Minute Maids, “the trim special event sales girls,” handed out bond order blanks and signed people up for subscriptions. At the end of the second day of the event, the glider was towed over to Schweizer Aircraft Corp where the employees there held a bond rally around it.

Star-Gazette, November 9, 1945

The Airmada had a successful fundraising visit to Chemung County. Fifty-five county businesses and countless individuals subscribed to Victory Bonds, exceeding the quota and setting the campaign well on its way to meeting its $1.3 million goal. But as the fleet was leaving on Thursday morning, November 8, tragedy struck.

At around 10:30am, as the fleet was taking off to leave, the P-47 Thunderbolt fighter and the B-25 Mitchell bomber collided in midair and burst into flames. The five crewmen of the B-25 and the pilot of the P-47 were killed and debris was strewn over more than 20 acres at the north end of the airport’s north-south runway. Fortunately, the crash occurred far enough away from the nearly 100 spectators who had gathered that none were injured.

Eyewitnesses told the Star-Gazette that the P-47 appeared to be trying to come into formation with the B-25 when it crashed into the bomber. An experienced combat pilot who was there did not think that the pilot of the fighter actually saw the other plane. The blunt nose and forward-set wings of the P-47 may have obstructed his view. Members of the Army Air Forces Board of Inquiry from the Rome Air Base arrived that afternoon to conduct an investigation but I never found a report in the press.

Photograph taken by Myron Mills, former Army Air

Corps pilot and amateur photographer, seconds after

the collision, Star-Gazette, November 9, 1945

On November 9, 1945, the names of those who died in the crash were announced:

·        2nd Lt. William J. Driver, Detroit, pilot

·        1st Lt. Edwin S. Tyler, Saisun, California, pilot

·        1st Lt. John L. Corum, Hopewell, Virginia, bombardier-navigator

·        Pfc. Verrel C. Shook, Aurora, Indiana, engineer

·        Cpl. Wilbur G. Heckner, Rochester, radio operator

·        1st Lt. Merle R. Capp, Springfield, Missouri, P-47 pilot (veteran of 77 European combat missions)

Star-Gazette, November 9, 1945

Come Fly with Me: A History of the Elmira-Corning Regional Airport

by Erin Doane, Curator

In 1927, American Airways leased about 100 acres of farmland in Big Flats to serve as an emergency airfield along its New York-Buffalo route. The airline spent $30,000 preparing two 2,700-foot-long sod runways. Dedication of the airfield took place on September 10 of that year with 4,000 spectators on a specially-built grandstand watching an air carnival with 25 “modern” airplanes. By the early 1930s, the runways were being used twice a day by express and passenger airplanes for ten-minute stopovers during refueling. People came to watch the tri-motor airplanes land and take off again.

American Airways flight at the airport in Big Flats, June 25, 1933

During World War II, the Department of Defense commandeered the airfield for military use. Early in the war, however, the military declared the site surplus and offered it to Chemung County, which purchased 340 acres of land at $125 an acre. With funding from the Civil Aeronautics Authority, the county built three hard-surface runways, several taxi lanes, and guide lights. The county itself paid to clear the land around the runways and to build a parking lot. The Chemung County Airport officially opened on January 1, 1944.

Chemung County Airport, June 8, 1949

Dozens of different airlines have flown into and out of the airport since it was established. In 1945, Pennsylvania Central Airlines flew DC-3s out of Elmira to Washington, Philadelphia, and Buffalo. A year later, Empire Intra-State Airlines and American Airlines came to the airport. In 1947, American Airlines requested that the airport lengthen the runways to accommodate its heavier passenger planes. Mohawk Airlines flew out of Elmira in the 1960s, as did United Airlines. On March 1, 1962, United replaced its DC-3s with new Viscount prop-jet airplanes. This change helped increase passenger traffic through the airport by 27 percent compared to the previous March because the new planes offered faster service and a smoother ride.

Mohawk Airlines planes at the Chemung County Airport, c. 1965

Over the last 70+ years, the airport has undergone numerous changes. In 1959 a new terminal was built and a year later it expanded even further with a new lounge and other amenities for travelers. In 1983, the name of the facility was changed from the Chemung County Airport to the Elmira-Corning Regional Airport.

Aerial view of the airport, c. 1970s or 1980s

The facilities at the airport were renovated and expanded again beginning in 1989. A new 60,000 square foot passenger terminal named for Glenn S. Banfield, the first manager of the airport when the county took over operation in 1944, was opened in 1991. The $6.8 million renovation also included an expanded baggage claim area and a larger departure lounge.

Trophy presented to Glenn S. Banfield
on January 17, 1991 commemorating the
dedication of the Elmira Corning Regional
Airport expansion in his honor

The airport underwent renovations once more in 2000 when the terminal was remodeled with new paint, carpets and flooring, a sprinkler system, and computer connections. And just a couple months ago, on November 11, 2018, Governor Cuomo announced that the latest $61.5 million modernization of the airport was completed.