Friday, October 15, 2010
Lost Memphis Wilson Field and Amelia Earhart
Posted by Vance Lauderdale on Fri, Oct 15, 2010 at 1:03 PM
If that sounds like an episode from The Twilight Zone, let me explain. A Lockheed Vega was one of the first airplanes that Earhart purchased, but she replaced it with a larger plane before attempting her doomed flight around the world in 1937. The Vega crashed upon takeoff at Wilson Field on August 26, 1943, while it was being ferried across the country by a new owner. Blurry pictures taken right after the crash (such as the one below) are filed away in the Memphis Room at the main library.
The wreckage remained visible for years, joining a fleet of other demolished and dismantled aircraft that caught the eye of anyone driving past the cluster of hangars and dirt runways at the northeast corner of Ridgeway and Raines Road.
Wilson Field was owned and operated by Harry T. Wilson. A self-taught pilot since 1915, Wilson had flown in the Signal Corps during World War I and teamed up with Vernon Omlie, one of this area's first aviators, in the 1920s. He took over Omlie's Mid-South Airways Corporation after the older pilot died in a plane crash near St. Louis in 1938.
Wilson moved the company to Memphis Municipal Airport, but had to relocate several miles east when the U.S. Army commandeered the city's main airfield during World War II. During the war, he supervised pilot training for the military. In later years, he provided flight classes, aircraft maintenance, and other services, and slowly built up a sprawling "boneyard" of vintage airplanes and parts.
In the 1960s, a reporter visited Wilson Field "in the quiet countryside" and noted that "airplanes remain on the field from World War II training days. Weeds and young trees grow through their fuselages. Wilson says one man wants one of the old planes as a plaything for his children."
It was certainly an odd place. Many years ago, I confess to a bit of trespassing, when I went with some friends to explore it at night. At the time, there was even a big old DC-3 parked there, and we climbed through a door, roamed through the cluttered cabin, and sat in the cockpit. Suddenly, a light flashed on in the hangar across the field — we didn't know anyone stayed there at night! — so we got spooked and scurried away, half-expecting to get shot before we reached our cars.
Wilson, hailed by the Memphis Press-Scimitar as "a pioneer figure in aviation in Memphis," died in 1975. I don't really know what became of all the wrecked airplanes, but rows of houses now stand atop the old grass runways of Wilson Field.
PHOTO OF HARRY WILSON COURTESY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS LIBRARIES. PHOTO BELOW COURTESY BENJAMIN HOOKS CENTRAL LIBRARY.
Comments (9)
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I lived in that area almost my whole life and I did not know that. Too cool, Vance. Thanks!
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Always heartbreaking to think of abandoned planes left in the weeds...especially when you think of the value of some nowadays. I can imagine young Captain Vance making engine noises in the cockpit and no doubt machine-gun noises ebven in an old DC-3!
Years ago I found an aerial photo of that area, and you could plainly see the landing strip and a hangar or two. If I can find it, I'll post it.
Several years ago, I worked in the hangar beside Wilson Air @ the airport. I'm curious if that is the same family.
vwbug: I know Wilson Air Centers (around the country) are part of the Kemmons Wilson (Holiday Inn ) group. I don't think they are related to Wilson Field, which would've been before Kemmons' time, but I am no Vance Lauderdale so will let him delve deeper!
Wow! Thanks Vance! I met Harry when my uncle took me for my 1st flight (at 8 years of age). He had three Navy SNJ trainers and a Beech C-18 as well as Stearman airframes and all sorts of exotic aeronitica scattered around guarded by a dozen cats. Used to be a Civil Air Patrol detachment there too. Great place for a kid to visit and later on fun to fly into and out of!
I've been collecting info to post onto a website called "abandoned and little-known airfields." I've got some air photos from the early '70s showing the field I'd like to get to you.
Captain Planner: I'd certainly like to see those photos. Email them to askvance@memphismagazine.com, and I'll post them here so others can see them as well. Memphis had a lot of small, privately owned air fields, and I'd certainly share any images you have of them. Thanks, Vance
I knew Mr. Wilson rather well. I attended Memphis State University in the early 70's and had a small airplane which Mr. Wilson allowed me to park at his field. It took a bit of talking to get the privilege too! Mr. Wilson had hundreds of stories of the figures and characters who had passed through his airport through the years. He showed me the remains of Earhart's crashed plane, which consisted primarily of the burned engines and a few other parts. The airport was a literal museum of old, old planes and their parts, all jealously watched over by Mr. Wilson. He was very protective of ALL of his stuff. I remember several people who were trying to buy historic wrecks to restore and save but I don't recall Harry selling any. I would spend hours listening to his story and petting his cats, there were scores, and we became good friends. I know this because he offered to sell me one of his old planes, an old Waco cabin biplane for $700 with a spare engine for parts! Although I knew this was an incredible honor, $700 was the same as seven million to me at the time. In the last days, Harry lost his lease for the field and the development company gave him time to move all his junk. Harry was overwhelmed, as anyone would have been, but he and Jerome moved some but by no means all of the priceless aviation heritage that was lying in the grass at Wilson Field. Most of it was buried by bulldozers in holes where Wilson Field used to be.
