Taking advantage of the beautiful warm, bright, day Sunday, a crowd estimated by Manager Dayton Griffin at around 1,500 people went to the Stamford Airport Sunday to observe the planes in action and to attend the air show program which Griffin had prepared for them. There was one noticeable omission. It was the gliding exhibition by Warren Eaton, president of the Soaring Society of America. Mr. Eaton was to have given his exhibition Sunday of last week but, as everybody knows, a threatening rainstorm and an unfavorable wind caused a postponement of the program. No admissions were charged at that time. Meanwhile, Mr. Eaton had already been booked for an exhibition at the charity pageant held Sunday at Roosevelt Field, so through no fault of Mr. Griffin, this part of the program was necessarily omitted.

However, there was plenty of action and people were present in numbers from Greene and Schoharie counties as well as Delaware county. The program was well organized. State Troopers Bentley and Coons directed traffic, Trooper Coons in charge of parking and Trooper Bentley keeping the crowd out of the way of the planes which were busy all day.

During the afternoon, a breeze developed and the balloon ascension was delayed a bit on that account. Later, when the score of men released the big new bag for the parachute race, it shot upward so straight with the Messrs. Bonette perched on a double trapeze, one above the other, that a “race” was out of the question and it was not attempted, due to the danger of the chutes becoming fouled. Prof. V. C. Bonette dropped first and his son, King Louie, went up several hundred feet farther before the collision hazard was eliminated, then he too dropped, the pair making a pretty exhibition. The balloon came down about three quarters of a mile away on the Frazee and Pierce farm.

The stunt flying of Harold Bowen of Norwich in his taper wing Waco was a clever demonstration, especially his long vertical power dive and his upside down flying. His feats were performed with a cloud for a background, which offered an exceptionally pretty picture. Bowen is a pupil of Rickard, the Schenectady stunt specialist.

One of the visitors to the airport was H. H. Linn, of tractor fame, from Morris. He flew to the Stamford field in his new Stinson cabin monoplane, piloted by George Steed. A Commandaire biplane of the Oneonta Flying Club, with John Willyhard as pilot and accompanied by Lester Haines, also spent a short time at the field.

A glider, constructed by Emerson Stevens, son of Dr. O. G. Stevens, the Stamford veterinary, was a center of interest during the day and afforded the crowd an opportunity to inspect the powerless frail craft. Over in Germany a short time ago a skilled glider pilot kept a similar craft in the air for 36 hours, which at that time constituted a world record.

Clarence Johnson of Oneonta with his amplifier hookup afforded an opportunity for amateur talent in this vicinity to do their stuff. There were solos, duets, instrumental numbers, and every now and then an orchestra record, interspersed with comment on the program and other interesting touches.

The final event of the day was a parachute drop by King Louie Bonette from Manager Griffin’s plane. It was as neatly executed as the others. The crowd was orderly throughout, the parking arrangements were perfect, and there were no accidents, which reflects credit on both the management and the Troopers.

Gilboa air activity 1940s and 1950s

After the Second World War, air activities in the area had a resurgence not only at Airport Farm, but also at several new airfields in the area.

The runway at Airport Farm was again put into use to the delight of the children in South Gilboa and to the consternation of mothers who had taken their families to the South Gilboa Church. Summer services were regularly interrupted by the noise of a plane taking off or landing that never failed to distract the children.

Hooking an airplane ride was a favorite pastime, but it was not without its dangers. Mark Powell recalls he and an older brother begging rides in a 2-seater. Having seniority, his brother got the first ride, but before Mark could take off, both were busted by their irate mother who had forbidden them to beg rides from the pilots.

Another development occurred as a result of aviators returning from the war and wanting to fly recreationally. For instance, Everett Peters cleared a portion of his Curtis Road property in order to store a plane and be able to fly just for the fun of it. Richard Lewis recalls the Bell-Car Restaurant above Broome Center. It had been built down by a large blueberry bog, and the dining room had a large colorful floor made of maple and cherry planks. The tables could be moved aside for large dances or parties.

As an added attraction, the Bell-Car had a landing strip beside the restaurant and offered plane rides for its customers. However, word got out and planes arrived from Albany with hungry pilots and passengers; and sometimes a plane would land only to pick up a “to go” order of the outstanding blueberry pies.