Somehow, Stuart Vance of Starkville knew that recording the history of aviation in the Golden Triangle was going to be his “thing.” As a founding commissioner of the Golden Triangle Regional Airport (GTRA), he has been both advocate and witness to the region’s dramatic aviation development.
In “Aviation in the Golden Triangle,” Vance traces the factual stories, from the World War I “Jenny” through the latest unmanned aircraft.
On Sunday, the Columbus Cultural Heritage Foundation will host a book signing with the author from 3-5 p.m. at the Tennessee Williams Home Welcome Center at 300 Main St., Columbus. Refreshments will be served.
Vance’s interest in Golden Triangle aviation began in the early 1960s when he was an early proponent and supporter of a regional airport. He was among a small group of visionaries who stumped to every civic club, church, “anybody that would see us,” with their message about the importance of building an airport to serve all three Triangle cities.
The Mississippi State University graduate would later serve 42 years on the board of the GTRA, which opened in 1971.
“Some people don’t know the father of the B-52 is buried in Friendship Cemetery (in Columbus), or that Honda built their first airplane at Bryan Field,” he said. “There are some great stories that needed to be told, because they are about our friends, our neighbors, the people, the heroes who spent their lives in aviation.”
The 118-page hardback book includes chapters on significant places, such as Mississippi’s first airport, Payne Field near West Point; Columbus Air Force Base; and MSU’s research facilities. It chronicles the night the first jet landed at GTRA and recognizes the industries that have transformed the Golden Triangle into what Gov. Haley Barbour calls in his book introduction “one of the best aviation development sites in the nation.”
Notable airmen are honored, including Samuel Kaye, Jr., who flew with Eddie Rickenbacker in World War I; Col. Henry “Pete” Warden, who nurtured the B-52 from concept to deployment; and Dr. August “Gus” Raspet, who came to MSU in 1949 and left a legacy of flight research and design.
“If we don’t get these things down and in book form, these stories are going to go by the boards because these people are getting on — including me,” chuckled Vance, who is a vibrant 80.
“This was just something I wanted to do,” he stated. “I felt it was important, so that years from now, these stories will be on library shelves, available to our grandchildren and their children.”
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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