Letter to the Editor: From humble beginnings, Hurricane airport is now the stuff of dreams

Aircraft at the Hurricane Municipal Airport, Hurricane, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of Dan Howard, St. George News

LETTER TO THE EDITOR — The Hurricane Municipal Airport had very humble beginnings. It started out as a small dirt strip. In 1942 Junior Eager, later known for his inventive mind, bought a small airplane called a Taylor Cub. He managed to talk Winferd Spendlove into allowing him to blade a small landing strip on an undeveloped parcel of land south of town, and he  began flying in and out of it.

A Consolidated B-24 Liberator glistens in the sun as it makes a turn at high altitude in the clouds. Location and date unknown | Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Force, St. George News

Other than his personal use, things went along very quietly until May 28, 1945. A B-24 Bomber (a very large 4 engine World War II bomber) was dispatched on a practice bombing mission from Tonopah, Nevada, to the practice bombing range south of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Somewhere near Hurricane, one of the engines caught fire. The pilot ordered the bombardier to drop the bombs on the Sand Dunes south of town, and had the crew prepare to abandon ship.

While preparing to abandon ship, the pilot noticed Junior’s small strip. Since their maps did not show an airport in Hurricane, the pilot and navigator became somewhat confused, because the only dirt strip on the map was at Fredonia, Arizona.

Confused or not, the strip looked irresistible, and the pilot decided to attempt a landing rather than allowing the plane to crash. He lined up on the runway heading north, and came in so low that he took out the south fence. As soon as he touched down, he was on the brakes, causing the wheels to skid in the soft dirt. The plane skidded all the way down the runway, through the fence at the north end, across the road and irrigation ditch, and into what is now Wadsworth’s Alfalfa field to the north. All that skidding made so much dust that it looked like a large fire had started.

Clark Campbell and Ira Bradshaw were hoeing weeds that day in a field south of Three Falls Elementary School. They had watched the bomber land. They couldn’t believe that such a huge bomber could land on that small strip. When they saw the cloud of dust, they were sure that the plane had crashed. They jumped on their bikes, and pedaled out there as fast as they could.

When they arrived, they were surprised to find that the plane and crew were fine. Others came by car, and someone gave the pilot a ride into town so he could call his base for assistance. The crew was soon on their way back to base, but things were not so simple for the plane.

A C-47 cargo plane was dispatched with a new engine, but when the pilot saw how short the strip was, he refused to land and diverted to Nellis Army Airbase, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The engine had to be trucked in from there. Soon, they had the plane repaired, but even with a new engine, the strip was way too short to attempt a takeoff.

The Army obtained permission from Winferd Spendlove to lengthen the strip enough for the takeoff. They then located a test pilot who was eager to be discharged from the service, and they offered him enough extra points to earn his discharge if he would agree to attempt to fly the plane out of Hurricane, and back to base. He agreed, and came down to Hurricane to access the situation.

He had all the guns and armor removed, as well as the radios and navigation equipment. He then went over the performance charts for the plane, and he cross referenced them with the temperature and “density” altitude for the time of the attempted takeoff.

Aircraft at the Hurricane Municipal Airport, Hurricane, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of Dan Howard, St. George News

After establishing the theoretical takeoff roll, he measured the strip, and drove a stake at the “must” liftoff or abort point. He then made several practice attempts, and he determined that he could accelerate enough to fly by that point.

By this time with all the engine roaring of his practice runs, a large crowd had gathered to watch. It was early in the morning to take advantage of the cool air, which gives more lift to the wings and power to the engines. Everyone held their breath as he charged down the runway, hoping he would make it. Clark Campbell remembered it well when I interviewed him about it. He said the plane cleared the fence by only a few inches.

This was a big event for our small town, and was often the subject of conversation at the barber shop, Graff’s Mercantile, and in the halls of the old Stake Center. People began thinking about how they could take advantage of the strip to fly their fruit to the markets in the large cities around. Soon, then, just as now there were very polarized feelings in town, for and against the airport, but the momentum grew, and soon the Hurricane Lions Club took up the challenge to organize the means and materials to build a real airport for Hurricane. Owen Sanders led the effort.

The land was acquired, materials and manpower were donated and on November 13, 1947, the Hurricane Municipal Airport was dedicated. The runway was gravel, with a dirt crosswind strip, and there was a taxiway that led to the single hanger that had been built. They also constructed several archery targets, so the land would have additional use. Soon a flying club was organized, and several airplanes were acquired. Of those original flyers, Kent Wilson is the only surviving one I’m aware of.

When I became aware of the airport in 1963, Stratton Brothers Construction was the only one using the airport. They had a Cessna 336 that they kept there and used to fly to their construction sites. When I began flying in 1966, Stanley Aviation had the contract for Ejection Systems on the Hurricane Mesa, and they used the Hurricane Airport to keep their North American T6, and Aero Commander. I never got a ride with Griff in the T6, but I did get a ride in the Aero Commander.

Dan Howard with children Ronn, 5, Suzanne, 3, and Wendy, 6, Hurricane airport, Utah, circa 1975 | Photo courtesy of Dan Howard, St. George News

My brother Alan Howard used the Hurricane airport with his Aeronca Chief and Champion CITABRIA. He was working on his Commercial Pilot and Flight Instructor Licenses. Those where the first planes I took lessons in. He was the one who introduced me to landing after dark there with no lights. Later, I got my own Aeronca Chief, and I soloed in it. I used to keep my plane in the old hangar, but while I was away in the Army in November 1970, some vandals burned it down. Thankfully, my plane was at the Cedar City Airport at the time.

By 1975 the runway had been overgrown with tumbleweeds. There was just one narrow path down the runway through them. I was flying a Bonanza back and forth to Las Vegas at that time, and was the only regular user of the airport at that time.

In the spring of 1976 a new growth of tumbleweeds made it almost impossible to use the runway, so I scheduled myself on the City Council Agenda, and made a request for help with the tumbleweeds. The city grader would make short work of scraping them off, and I didn’t think a couple of hours of use of it was too much to ask for.

I was surprised by the hostility my request received. I was informed that they weren’t going to build me a personal airport. I felt rudely rebuffed. They did have a point, though, because I was the only user at the time.

At that point I decided to become a flight instructor and train enough people to fly to get the support needed to get the airport renovated. This strategy worked, and by 1979 we had enough money, machinery (provided by Russell Limb) and volunteer help to get the airport renovated. We resurfaced the runway and made a tiedown ramp. We then formed a new Hurricane Flying Club, bought 2 airplanes, and had about 20 people flying in and out regularly.

Aircraft at the Hurricane Municipal Airport, Hurricane, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of Dan Howard, St. George News

Since that time, the airport has had ever-increasing use, and several renovations. It is now the airport of my dreams, lacking only lights to land with at night. I think we currently have 52 hangars on the field, with about 70 airplanes based here. We have FAA funding, and a city airport board. Movie crews come on occasion, and the Air Force conducts search and rescue operations here. Turbo props and gliders operate here on occasion. I even operated the Deseret Laboratories Sabre 40 Jet here. The Governor and environmental groups use it with regularity. I believe there are 11 businesses located here now.

For those who oppose it, it is a noisy irritation; for those of us who love it and have nurtured it over the years, it is a treasure. Come on out sometime, and let us give you an aerial tour of our beautiful valley, and show you what a wonderful asset our Hurricane Municipal Airport is. Who knows, maybe you too may want to learn how to fly, right here in Hurricane.

A few years ago I attended a funeral for my wife’s cousin in Redlands, California. After it was over I noticed an old man wearing a B24 tiepin. I asked him if he had flown the B-24 during World War II. He said he had. I told him that my home airport was built because of a B-24 landing there in 1945. He was intrigued, and asked me where it was. I told him Hurricane. He told me that he was the copilot that flew that bomber out of there back in 1945. His name is George Huettig. He was 96 years old then. He couldn’t remember the pilot’s name. He is now 102. I was amazed to discover that connection. I believe Than Naegle, of Toquerville, and Kent Wilson are the only people still alive who witnessed the B-24 Bomber that landed here in 1945.

Written by DAN E. HOWARD, Hurricane.

Letters to the Editor are not the product of St. George News, its editors, staff or news contributors. The matters stated and opinions given are the responsibility of the person submitting them. They do not reflect the product or opinion of St. George News and are given only light edit for technical style and formatting.

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