My husband and I moved to Norwood a few years ago and
have enjoyed learning about the town and community. One local feature that was a nice surprise
for me is Norwood Airport. I grew up
near a small airport and my family has long been interested in aviation and
airplanes. For me the noise of planes
flying overhead brings back memories of being out in the backyard during the
summer and looking up to see what kind of plane was overhead; one summer there
were some gliders which was exciting.
Many of today’s municipal airports were sites of major
events in aviation history and served as training fields during World War I and
World War II. “Norwood: a history” by
Patricia Fanning provides some history on the Norwood Airport. In 1942 a small airfield was approved by the
town as the site of the Norwood Airport.
The new airport was used for military training until the end of World
War II. After the war, local aviation
company Wiggins Airlines moved their aircraft sales and repairs, and flight
lessons from Canton to Norwood and expanded their business to include passenger
and cargo operations (150-151). This
past fall the Wings of Freedom tour of historic World War II made its annual
stop here on Norwood Day. College Park
Airport in Maryland is considered to be the nation’s longest continuously
operating airport and was the site of the Wrights’ early military
demonstrations. Today it has a small
museum and is used for general aviation.
Pearson Airfield in Vancouver, WA is part of Fort Vancouver National
Historic Site and was the landing site of the first transpolar flight from
Moscow in 1937. My childhood airport was
near several early airplane manufacturers.
Alastair Gordon’s “Naked airport: a cultural history of the world’s most
revolutionary structure “examines the history of airports.
Much like our airport here, there was a restaurant at the
local airport of my childhood. Most of
the windows looked out onto the runway and, in those pre-September 11 days, there
were headphones at many of the tables allowing diners to listen to the air
traffic control tower. I didn’t
understand much of what I heard but the novelty of being allowed to do that
during dinner was always a thrill. It
was pretty upscale so we only went for special occasions but eating at the
Norwood Airport brings back memories of those childhood meals. Norwood is not the only local airport to have
great food; Minute Man Airfield in Stow has a restaurant as well though I
haven’t been there yet. “Favorite New
England airports: a guide to aviation activities and entertainment” by James S.
Kohn has information about things to do at and near thirty-three airports in
New England.
Besides going to airports to see old planes and eat good
food, I am interested in aviation history.
The Wright Brothers and Kitty Hawk are less interesting to me than the
exploits of those who came after them.
Ron Dick and Dan Patterson wrote a five volume series “Aviation century”
that includes information on significant individuals in aviation and aircraft,
as well as aviation history. The first
volume, “The early years”, spans the years 1900-1939. The second volume, “The golden age”, overlaps
the first covering the years 1919-1939.
The third volume is “World War II”.
The fourth volume, “Wings of change”, focuses on commercial
aviation. The fifth volume, “War and
peace in the air” focuses on military aviation after World War II. There are also plenty of books about Charles
Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, and other early aviators. In “Before Amelia: women pilots in the early
days of aviation” Eileen F. Lebow writes about the first women pilots in Europe
and the United States. “Atlantic fever:
Lindbergh, his competitors, and the race to cross the Atlantic” by Joe Jackson
introduces readers to early aviators whose names have been forgotten after they
lost the race to be the first pilot from an Allied Country to cross the
Atlantic from New York to Paris non-stop.
There are also some great kids’ books about early aviation including: “Fantastic
flights: one hundred years of flying on the edge” by Patrick O’Brien, and “The
history of the airplane” by Barbara A. Somervill.
When I think about how traveling by air has changed in my
relatively short lifetime, it’s hard to imagine how travel changed just over a
century ago after the first commercial air flight occurred in January 1914. When I was a child we got dressed up to fly,
tickets were purchased from a travel agent instead of checking several on-line
sites for the best price, and traveling by airplane was still an exciting event. The airlines used to give children little
airplane wings pins, sometimes a deck of cards or even a small model airplane,
and occasionally a look inside the cockpit.
While they weren’t the golden years of air travel, it was very different
than my more recent flying experiences. Books
to help children prepare for their first flight include: “First plane trip” by
Melanie Joyce, “My first trip on an airplane” by Vic Parker, and “Amazing
airplanes” by Tony Mitton.
Whether you’re interested in aviation history or need
some guidebooks to help plan your next trip by air, Morrill Memorial Library
has books to help you find what you need.
If you’d rather watch a movie than read a book, there are some great movies
that feature World War II aviation including: “Memphis Belle”, “Red Tails”, “Flying
leathernecks”, and “Twelve o’clock high”.
We also have a collection of travel DVDs.
