Among Other Things: A great project

The early aviation boosters responsible for founding the Polson Airport would be amazed at fly-in events such as the Sept. 10 event.

They no doubt would stare in appreciation and pride at the variety of planes on display — St. Patrick Hospital’s Life Flight ambulance plane, amphibious float planes, kit-built experimental aircraft, a Czech jet fighter trainer, an assortment of single and twin-engine personal planes like Cessnas, Pipers, Navions and more — even a classic 1928 Travelair.

And the airport itself would have astounded them with its village-like appearance of hangars lining the east and west sides of the field. The paved, marked taxi strip and lighted runway is nothing like the original airfield.

Making the original investments in aviation here weren’t easy. In 1928, Polson voters approved by only a four-vote margin an authorization of $1,000 in bonds to purchase the “aviation field.” Two years later, a group of Polson merchants chipped in $25 each to make the down payment on 40 acres owned by Nate Hart.

It took time to bring the area up to usable standards because the field wasn’t officially dedicated until July 4, 1934.

One problem was that additional runway space was needed and the late Bill Voss negotiated with then Agency superintendent Charles E. Coe for permission to extend the field to the south.

Background leading up to the acquisition is interesting. In the late 1920s, Voss was visiting with pioneer Bob Johnson at Missoula’s Hale Field when Johnson told him, “If you find me a good place to land in Polson, I’ll fly up for a little barnstorming.”

Voss asked Hart’s permission to make a landing strip on his property. It was granted and Ernie Claffey, employed by the City of Polson, loaned him a “wooden float” that was used to smooth out city streets. Weeds were about three feet tall and the ground quite dusty.

Voss pulled the float with a 12-cylinder Packard car, occasionally stopping to let the motor cool while he picked rocks — some as big as watermelons. Voss finished the job about 1:30 a.m.

Johnson flew in around 7 a.m. with two men and several cans of aviation gasoline. Neil Keim sold tickets and many folks took rides — $2 for 10 minutes. With five or six passengers aboard, the plane used the entire length of the field to take off. Voss said it was so dusty one couldn’t see the plane until it was about 100 feet in the air.

Johnson returned for several more barnstorming engagements — some in the famous tri-motor Ford “Tin Goose” in which he later hauled smoke-jumpers and fire fighting supplies.

Probably no one appreciated the farsightedness of the early aviation promoters more than the crew of an Army Air Corps B-17 Flying Fortress bomber on Feb. 3, 1943, which made an emergency landing in deep snow after local townspeople lighted the runway with headlights from cars and trucks.

You can read that story in my “Among Other Things” book.