Courtesy of the McLean County Museum of History
Chenoa airport held its second annual air show on a Aug. 29, 1948. This unidentified group of sun-baked spectators sought shade under the wings of a Taylorcraft airplane.
Located roughly two-and-a-half miles southwest of Chenoa, a rural airfield with a “turf” landing strip stands as a reminder of the once high hopes for McLean County’s second commercial airport.
Although Chenoa airport never got off the ground (metaphorically speaking) as a viable commercial enterprise, the airfield emerged from the post-World War II era and its promise of heady days to come for aviation, spurred in part by a surplus of wartime pilots now stateside in civvies looking for opportunities to take to the skies.
In the first winter after the war, 1945-46, the tongue-twistingly named Flying Farmers of Prairie Farmer Land (sponsored, naturally, by Prairie Farmer magazine) captured the imagination of any number of McLean County farmers, including Alvin Dameron of Yates Township. And with military surplus training aircraft available to the public, veterans and others began organizing clubs to buy these hobbyist-friendly planes, though sometimes resources were pooled to acquire civilian aircraft as well.
Accordingly, the Chenoa Flying Club organized in February 1947, though almost immediately members found themselves without a “place to park their planes,” including their jointly owned Piper Super Cruiser. Elza Pick, the father of WWII veterans and aviation buffs Howard R. and Harry E. Pick, then offered a few acres of his farm for the club’s purpose. Soon thereafter, brothers Howard and Harry decided to expand their temporary quarters and establish an airfield on the family farm. It would prove to be McLean County’s second commercial airport after Bloomington’s.
The initial plans for what was called Chenoa airport did not lack for ambition, with flight training offered to both G.I.s and civilians. There was a six-plane, concrete-floored hanger, an operations shack, and two grass runways 1,800 feet long and 300 feet wide. There was also a large circle of limestone, visible from on high, which served as the airport’s identification marker.
The Aug. 17, 1947 grand opening included visiting aircraft competing in a spot landing contest and an air race, in addition to a crop dusting demonstration. The star attraction was Chicago radio personality Tommy Bartlett, still a few years away from discovering water skiing and the Wisconsin Dells. Bartlett was an aviation booster, having served as an Army Air Corps instructor during World War II. He flew into Chenoa on his own Cessna 140, and even gave free rides as prizes.
John Kearney, with two Cessna 120s at his disposal, served as Chenoa airport’s flight instructor. There were 10 students taking classes when the airfield officially opened, “with training facilities for all licenses through commercial grade.”
Chenoa’s was one of four commercial airports to open in The Pantagraph circulation area in 1947. Nine veterans opened the “Chief City” airport in Pontiac, while two airfields were inaugurated in DeWitt County — one in Wapella and another in Clinton.
Chenoa airport’s second annual air show, held Sunday, Aug. 29, 1948, attracted more than 2,500 spectators and 50 private planes. Sponsored by local American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts, the show included the return of Tommy Bartlett and a parachute jump by Fritz Rupert. “On the stage, the bulky, beaming emcee quizzed and wisecracked with a zest that helped sweltering patrons forget the heat for a while,” The Pantagraph’s Gene Smedley wrote of Bartlett.
A 50-mile air race was halved to 25 miles due to time constraints. Gerald Batterton of Colfax finished first, followed by Paul Wilson of Pontiac and Russel Teutsch of Bloomington.
In late January 1948 The Pantagraph paid a visit to what was now called Pick Flying Service, Inc. at the Chenoa airport. One of the flight school students was Chenoa farmer Delmar Stried, who was described by The Pantagraph as, “Typical of thousands of ex-servicemen learning to fly under the GI Bill.”
The golden age of the Chenoa airport and its school was a short one, as instruction apparently ended in the spring of 1949. “When the GI Bill petered out, it really slowed things down,” Harry Pick recalled in 1992. Even so, some 50 would-be pilots received instruction at the school, a none-too-shabby record given the limited resources available at such a small operation.
Chenoa’s days as a commercial, public-use airport came to an end in 1957, though it remained a private airstrip. Both Pick brothers continued farming in the Chenoa area, though Howard spent the last 13 years of his life in Lake Placid, Fla., before dying at the age of 77 in 2002.
Back in the fall of 1990, United Airlines pilot Bill Thacker purchased the Chenoa airport grounds, bringing the old airfield back to life. In the spirit of the Pick brothers, the renamed Thacker Field became a small, out-of-the-way corner of the world for aviation enthusiasts. Bill Thacker gave flight instruction to adults and children alike, and his field became home to several aircraft restoration projects.
Harry Pick passed away last year, Oct. 12, 2014, at his Chenoa home at the age of 87. He was the National Soybean Farmer of the Year in 1967, and for much of his adult life he raced sport and stock cars.
Despite a costly April 2007 fire that destroyed four antique airplanes and a hangar, Thacker Field remains an operational residential landing strip today, nearly 68 years after the Pick brothers opened their small airport amid the corn fields of northern McLean County.
Original article can be found here: http://www.pantagraph.com
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