Beckley's Flying Circuses

Beckley's Flying Circuses. . , Even before the construction of the airport here in the late 1930s, Raleigh County hosted a variety of air shows and “flying circuses.” Air shows were extremely popular for local coal miners who might never have seen an airplane before., Shows included static displays, barnstormers (stunt flyers), wing walkers, and parachuting demonstrations Plane rides over the city were offered for one dollar, or over the New River for two dollars. A 1932 show featured a parachute race between men and women performers near the White Oak Country Club., At a 1940 Beckley-Mount Hope Airport air show, promoters shared that a local Beckley girl would make her first parachute jump from an airplane, as a fundraiser for the Christmas toy fund. But as a later newspaper article, “Girl ‘Chutist’ is Dummy, But Toy Fund Is Richer” shared, it was all a stunt. Concerned for the safety of an inexperienced jumper, pilot Herb Sessler sneaked the girl out of the plane at the end of the field, and substituted a dummy jumper in her place – all in the name of charity!, [Captions:] , Newspaper advertisement for Beckley air show at Tolley Field, Beckley’s first airport., Herbert Sessler, top right, operated the Beckley Air Transport Corporation for much of the airport’s history. Passengers in his B-25 Mitchell medium bomber received the above memento as a souvenir of their flight. Courtesy Dan Sessler., High speed aerobatics brought crowds to Beckley air shows in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Courtesy Don Davis.