|
THOSE DARING
YOUNG MEN IN THEIR FLYING
MACHINES!
Tex Perin of
the Valley Flying Field, and
Ernie Hannum, who flew out of
Amboy and Nedrow, were featured
on several pages of an old photo
album owned by Mr. Nelson Gray
of Nedrow. I remember hearing
about these fellows from my old
friend, George Houser of
Onondaga Hill. George was also
one of those early daredevils.
In fact, when he died in 1991 at
age 93, he still had his flier’s
license in his wallet!
The following information comes
mostly from Mr. Gray’s albums.
“Tex”
Perin and the Valley Flying
Field
About the year 1923, a young WWI
flyer returned to Syracuse. He
had been wounded in the war, but
despite his injuries, his chief
interest was still in flying. He
became a stunt pilot and
performed in many of the air
shows then touring the
countryside. He was deeply
interested in the growing
business of commercial flying,
and felt that Syracuse should
have a flying field. On several
occasions, he talked with Mayor
Walrath and other city
officials, pointing out the
financial gains to be had from
such an undertaking. He offered
to take the mayor for a spin in
his plane in order to prove that
flying was safe. After some
discussion, it was decided to
build a field and a hanger. The
chosen spot was in the area of
what is now known as Oakdale and
Camp Ave. For several years,
commercial planes were seen
landing and taking off from
there.
Tex still continued his stunt
flying, as well as managing the
Valley Field, and it was in one
of these air shows that he was
severely injured. Performing in
a show at Cohoes, N.Y. his plane
crashed to the ground and he was
thought to be dead. He remained
in the hospital for many months.
Upon his return to Syracuse, he
continued to operate the
airfield, and by the next year
he was back to flying. His
belief in the future of the
airplane never wavered.
Among his other interests, Tex
designed planes and he designed
and flew the smallest plane ever
to be flown. Not able to find
time to build it, he gave the
plans to a friend who built it
for him. Tex tested it and later
entered it in an air show.
There were always tales about
Tex and his flying. One of these
is that he flew into Syracuse to
visit his sister. He landed his
plane on a rise in the Salt
Springs Section. Everyone who
saw him land thought the plane
had crashed and ran to the spot.
Tex emerged from the plane
wearing his usual smile.
He often would fly around the
city and do the Loop, upside
down flying, and other things he
was seen doing at air shows.
This caused some concern among
people over whose homes he was
flying. One man complained that
Tex was always buzzing his house
and he wanted it stopped!
Tex flew until his death in 1958
Ernie Hannam – Flyer
Ernie Hannam of Lafayette Road,
began flying planes as a very
young man. He built his own
hanger at the Amboy Airport at
Amboy, N.Y. It was the first
hanger at the airport.
Ernie had his own planes; his
last one was a Fleet. Besides
the hanger at the airport, he
also had a hanger at his home.
In the 1930s, he took his plane
apart, cleaned and painted all
the parts, and reassembled it.
He then sold it to the Rusyniak
brothers who crashed it shortly
after they purchased it. Ernie
was heartbroken; it had been his
pride and joy.
Ernie lost an eye in an accident
on Onondaga Hill in 1943. He was
driving in a bad blizzard,
veered to avoid a parked car,
and struck a bus head-on. He was
thrown through the windshield,
which resulted in the loss of an
eye, but he was still a pilot
and flew out of Nedrow Airport.
Ernie died Dec. 23, 1962 of a
heart attack. He was 62 years
old.
Today, when we see jet planes
overhead, planes that can cross
oceans, continents, and seas, we
salute those men like Tex and
Ernie, who believed in the
future of flying, and who
pioneered that which had little
to offer but hazards. Wouldn’t
they be amazed, and completely
fulfilled, to visit with someone
like Buzz Aldrin who has been to
the moon!!
Tex Perrin doing a stunt from his "Jenny" 1923
Ernie and his "Fleet"
|
