By William “Skip” Deegans
To promote Ford cars and trucks, the Lewisburg Motor Company offered aerial tours for $1 in 1935 at Boone Field in a Ford airplane. The plane in the photo is a Ford Trimotor that was sometimes called the “tin goose.” In 1925, Henry Ford bought the Stout Metal Aircraft Company and produced airplanes primarily for civil aviation until 1935. As the campaign season heats up, it may be interesting to note that Franklin Roosevelt, traveling in a Ford Trimotor in 1932, was the first presidential candidate to campaign by air.
Boone Field was located in Fairlea along old U.S. 219 near the Eastern Greenbrier Middle School and Greenbrier Valley Medical Center. It was named for the William Franic Boone family that owned the farm where it was built. Boone was a pioneer coal operator who was born in a coal camp in Sewell, WV, on New River in 1856. He and his family moved to Greenbrier County in 1907, bought the Creigh House, and named their farm Montescena.
Wheeler Weikle who was taught to fly by Jim Tolley at the Pence Springs Airport became a manager of Boone Field. The field closed during World War II when Weikle left to serve as an Army flight instructor. After the war, Weikle returned and conducted an aviation training school. Many of his students went on to enjoy successful flying careers. In 1947, Greenbrier Air Service received approval by the West Virginia Public Service Commission to provide non-scheduled commercial flights. Older readers may recall when the field was a base for fights over the state fair.
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Sources: The West Virginia News, The Greenbrier Independent, Hinton Daily News, Beckley Post-Herald, Charleston Daily Mail.