Town Of Le Roy
Dedicates Historic Marker
October 12th

OCT. 6, 2003 - The Town of Le Roy will dedicate a historic marker on the site of pioneer D. Woodward Airport on October 12 at 2 p.m.

While the nation prepares to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Wright Brothers' flight at Kittyhawk, the Town of Le Roy (in Upstate New York) will celebrate the 75th Anniversary of another aviation event - the opening of the D.W. Airport, considered at that time to be the finest private airport in the United States. During the weekend of October 12, 1928, Donald Woodward, youngest son of Jell-O magnate Orator Woodward, hosted over 60,000 people at a three-day event that included cross country races, deadstick landings, parachute jumping and boxing matches. Traffic literally came to a standstill as thousands of sightseers jammed the roads leading to the airport. At 2:00 on Saturday, a plane left the field carrying the first pouch of airmail ever to leave Le Roy.

One of the attractions of the event was the flagship of Woodward's fleet of airplanes, the Friendship, a tri-motor Fokker, in which Amelia Earhart became the first woman to make a trans-Atlantic flight. The Friendship made the flight on July 27, 1928, and Woodward purchased the plane for an estimated $60,000 and had it refitted for sightseeing. Woodward also hired Lois Edward Gordon, the co-pilot and mechanic on the trans-Atlantic flight, to join other aviation pioneers, such as Otto Enderton, Harold McKay,Eddie Stafford, Roy DuVal and Russell Holderman at the D.W. Flying Service.

Russell Holderman, who later gained fame as a pilot for the Gannett family in Rochester, was hired by Donald Woodward to design the airport. Ground was broken in May 1928, and the hangar and field were ready for operation in October. Located on 150 acres of land, the T shaped field had four runways. The cement block hangar, which still stands today, was large enough to hold the Friendship with a 72 foot wingspan, and 15 other planes, including a Sternman biplane, a Curtis Robin monoplane, a Challenger biplane and six Waco biplanes - the "hornets of the fleet."

Commemorating the aviation event, the Town of Le Roy will dedicate a large blue and yellow historic marker on Asbury Road near the entrance to the airport at 2 p.m. on Sunday, October 12. Although the airport is no longer commissioned, a demonstration of radio controlled airplanes will be offered by the Batavia Radio Controlled Airplane Club. Free balsa wood gliders will be given out to children on a first come first serve basis. The Le Roy Recreation Department will hold aerial events for the gliders and people are encouraged to bring kites to fly.

A display of Donald Woodward Airport mementos, including an airmail envelope, opening day programs, a rare pilot's wing pin, photographs and tickets are on display at the Le Roy Town Hall, courtesy of the LeRoy Historical Society.

For more historical information, call Lynne Belluscio at LeRoy Historical Society, 768-7433.