Timeline: Cape Girardeau aviation, 1948-1973

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is one of a series of files presenting a timeline of aviation in Cape Girardeau. The timeline accompanies a series of stories on the history of the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, the first of which was published Sunday, June 13, 2010.

1948

Jan. 13: Low bidder on contract for which $40,000 has been appropriated, Gerhardt Construction Co. has been notified by Navy that it has been awarded remodeling project of Hangar No. 1 at Harris Field as training center for 129th Naval Reserve Division; complete new heating and wiring systems are to be installed, new sewer and water lines are to be placed for training center and will be connected to existing facilities at Harris Field.

Feb. 7: Near complete development of Harris Field into municipal airport during spring and summer months appears probable with receipt by Mayor R.E. Beckman, on behalf of Municipal Airport Board, of letter informing him that Civil Aeronautics Authority has made tentative allocation of $67,565 for development of airport.

Feb. 9: Airport board recommends to city council that official name of city-owned airfield be changed to Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport; airport has been known as Harris Field since it was established as Army training base.

Feb. 16: Ordinances naming two parks and airport are passed by city council; recognizing recommendation of City Planning Commission for two park names, council approves selection of Capaha Park for currently named Fairground Park on Broadway and Arena Park for new city park on U.S. 61; following similar recommendation of Municipal Airport Board, council renames Harris Field as Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport.

March 1: Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport Board enters into contract with Pate Engineering Co. of Tulsa, Okla., for its services in preparing master plan for development of airport into Class 3 field; board members explain that it is necessary to hire firm of engineers familiar with Civil Aeronautics Administration requirements because of minute details necessary in transacting business with that agency.

April 3: Fugitives from flooded areas of Smelterville suburb are residing in three temporary shelters provided by Red Cross; three tents have been erected in Houck Woods in south end of town, providing shelter for 28 families; other quarters are being provided at link trainer building at municipal airport, in which 11 families are living, and at Masonic Hall on Sprigg Street, where 14 families are quartered temporarily.

May 2: Four California business men escape injury when their twin-engine plane crashes at municipal airport; four occupants crawl from wreckage uninjured, although craft is demolished; carried to east by wind, plane strikes ground east of runway, plows across open area, noses down and comes to stop on airport automobile driveway.

July 2: Bids of three contractors for improvements at municipal airport are rejected by Airport Board, which orders advertising for second bid opening July 28; rejection of contractual offers comes at closed session of board following public opening of sealed bids; board members explain after meeting that bids were too high on paving portion of improvements. Cape Girardeau Airport Board accepts bid of R.B. Potashnick Construction Co. for runway construction and other improvements; however, E.L. Peerson, owner of Allied Construction Co., informs board that he will file written list of exceptions to enjoin city from what he terms "irregularity" in manner in which bids were made; notice given to bidders stated that board had right to reject any and all bids; contract for lengthening 2,000-foot northeast-southwest runway by 2,000 feet is awarded to Potashnick on bid of $107,629. Airplane pilots of Cape Girardeau and immediate area meet at home of Dr. and Mrs. D.B. Elrod on Karau Lane, and formulate plans for permanent pilots' club; 60 pilots have already joined club; A.A. Bullack is president, John T. Seesing is secretary, and Edwin Landgraf is treasurer

Dec. 14: Municipal Airport Board has appointed Rush H. Limbaugh Jr. and C.A. Juden as negotiators to select type of beacon tower to be installed at airfield; beacon tower will be 50 feet high and will be topped by rotating light; its location and kind of tower to be installed will be left to Limbaugh and Juden.

1949

Jan. 8: John T. Seesing has been named manager of Consolidated School of Aviation and of municipal airport; he succeeds John E. Godwin Jr., who resigned first of year; former Army Air Force pilot, Seesing was instructor for Consolidated for 18 months; he is native of Leopold.

May 8: James R. LaGrand, 29, Cape Girardeau carpenter and commercial pilot, is killed instantly when his airplane crashes and burns near Commerce as 25 people look on; eyewitnesses say plane stalled at approximately 700 feet, following takeoff, nosed over and crashed, immediately bursting into flames; accident occurs after LaGrand had taken off in BT-13 Army Trainer from landing strip on Frank W. Mabry farm at edge of Commerce.

June 11: Secretary Rush H. Limbaugh Jr. of Municipal Airport Board announces signing of interim lease with Department of Navy for use of hangar and link trainer building at airport by volunteer Naval air squadron from Cape Girardeau and adjacent area; interim lease will stand until permanent lease is prepared by Bureau of Yards and Docks in Washington, D.C.

July 13: Construction of 2,000-foot extension to 2,000-foot northeast-southwest, asphalt runway at municipal airport has been completed, and lighting system for addition installed, making local field capable of accommodating some of largest aircraft, either night or day.

July 18: Municipal airport's newly constructed runways are given their test and approval by Naval Air Station officers and personnel, who give them good going over with fast fighter planes simulating carrier-type landings and takeoffs in preparation for inauguration of Naval Reserve flight training program here Sunday in connection with formal dedication of field.

July 24: Despite showers throughout afternoon, Cape Girardeans, joined by hundreds of residents of Southern Illinois and elsewhere in Southeast Missouri, dedicate municipal airport and see Navy officials formally commission Naval Air Reserve unit, which will operate from field; estimated 5,000 air-minded people and hundreds of automobiles jam airport to see program; airshow by Navy and military craft is cut short by inclement weather.

Aug. 2: Army airplane flying from North Carolina arrives with additional equipment for care of polio cases at Saint Francis Hospital, and from here continues to Sikeston with more supplies to be used in polio ward soon to be established at Community Hospital; these are latest developments in Southeast Missouri's effort to quell outbreak of crippling malady that has swept district.

Aug. 8: Electricians of P&G Supply Co., contractors for installation of runway and beacon lighting system at municipal airport, repair slight damage to some wiring that kept lights from burning part of last week; runway lights, and those of beacon and wind direction finder, burn each night; they were turned on for first time last month.

Aug. 12: Illmo residents who are rudely awakened by roar of low-flying airplane take comfort in knowledge that they are sacrificing their sleep in interest of public health; starting promptly at sunrise, John Seesing of Seesing Airways begins spraying operations that by midmorning blanket entire city of Illmo with DDT mixture; Illmo city officials recently decided to have spraying done to combat flies and mosquitoes and as added deterrent to spread of polio.

1950

Jan. 13: Wilbur Hente of Cape Girardeau, instructor at Consolidated School of Aviation since October 1947, has been named field manager of municipal airport; he succeeds Homer Faulkner of Sikeston, who resigned to accept position as salesman in this area for razor blade manufacturing company.

March 27: With $221,650.77 spent on improvements and contingent expenses under municipal airport development program, Airport Board is awaiting final payment from Civil Aeronautics Authority so books may be closed and final 10 percent due contractor paid; near quarter-million figure is what program cost in four categories: land acquisition, construction, engineering and administrative.

May 2: No official action has been taken, but Municipal Airport Board is considering filing formal protest over recommendation by Civil Aeronautics Board examiner that feeder line through here be given to Ozark Air Lines Inc. of St. Louis; board recommended that routes originally awarded to Parks Air Lines Inc., East St. Louis, be divided among three lines; other two are Mid-Continent Airlines Inc. of Kansas City and Turner Airlines Inc. of Indianapolis.

June 5: William J. Kies reports sale of Consolidated Aviation School at municipal airport to John T. Seesing, John E. Godwin Jr. and James Schumacher. Name is changed to Cape Central Airways.

July 14: Maximum amount allowed by federal government for improvements at municipal airport is raised from $94,198 to $101,404 under terms of amendment approved in resolution by city council; additional sum is for removal of trees on southwest approach to northeast-southwest runway.

Nov. 13: Preliminary work necessary before Ozark Airlines can start its scheduled mail and passenger service through Cape Girardeau is placed under way by Philip Newell, superintendent of communications, who is here to survey antenna sites at municipal airport.

1951

Jan. 9: Airline service, connecting this community with hundreds of others in nation, comes to Cape Girardeau; first plane of Ozark Air Lines Inc. lands at municipal airport at 8 a.m. on initial flight from St. Louis; official ceremonies marking inauguration of service comes in afternoon when plane lands from Memphis, Tenn., bearing airline officials and representatives of other communities along route.

June 11: Night passenger and mail service is instituted.

July 11: Final negotiations are being completed with Construction Products Corp. of Los Angeles, firm which manufactures trenching machines, to establish plant in Cape Girardeau; company initially will occupy hangar at municipal airport, but plans are to erect more adequate quarters nearby.

July 19: Initial steps are taken by officials to obtain $185,000 portion of $25,000,000 Missouri-Kansas emergency flood appropriation to repair damage done to runways and taxi-strips at municipal airport and for additional $25,000 for work within Cape Girardeau.

July 25: Rapid breakup of war-built section of main 4,000-foot runway at municipal airport, brought on by continued high-water table beneath, causes Ozark Airlines to cancel all flights in and out of Cape Girardeau; flights won't be resumed until runways are repaired.

Aug. 8: Allocation of additional $15,500 for repair of flood damage to city property and municipal airport is made in Jefferson City; it isn't clear whether amount awarded is final appropriation that will be made from $25,000,000 emergency fund authorized by Congress; previously, city had been authorized $3,250.

Sept. 7: A $14,000 repair program on runway and taxi-strips at municipal airport, made possible by federal flood relief allotment, is nearing completion; authorities believe that airline service by Ozark Airlines will be resumed some time next week; holes in runway and taxi-strip are being patched and 300-foot section in northeast end is being completely redone.

Sept. 19: Flights resume.

Oct. 24: Two members of municipal airport Board fly to Jefferson City to make personal request to governor's flood-relief committee for final allotment of $3,000 to complete flood-caused repair program at city airfield; Rush H. Limbaugh Jr. and William H. Wescoat Jr. are flown by John Godwin of Cape Central Airways.

1952

March 18: Skillful maneuvering by Jackson pilot, Larry Loos, brings his private airplane into municipal airport in belly landing that leaves him unshaken and plane only superficially damaged.

May 19: Airport board asks city council for the first time to help retire remaining portion of $115,000 bond issue; two members of Airport Board, C.A. Juden and Rush H. Limbaugh Jr., appear before city council to officially ask that city include airport bond sinking and interest fund charge in this year's municipal tax table.

Aug. 26: John Seesing, crop-dusting pilot of Cape Central Airways, escapes injury as plane crashes in soybean farm, south of East Prairie.

Dec. 15: First air freight from Cape Girardeau is sent by Central Airways.

1953

May 16: Several types of Navy airplanes are on display at municipal airport by members of Naval Air Reserve as part of observance of Armed Forces Day; planes are flown here by Lt. Cmdr. A.B. Buchanan Jr., commanding officer of reserve.

June 13: All-Missouri Air Tour, expected to include about 50 planes, begins arriving early in afternoon at municipal airport; tour, record mass flight of civil aircraft, is being held in commemoration of golden anniversary of plane flight; among 150 to 160 tourists in statewide excursion will be three men from this area: Richard Hirsch of Cape Girardeau, Frank Mabry of Commerce and John Seesing, local member of tour committee.

1954

Aug. 21: Lt. Cmdr. A. Bryan Buchanan of Cape is fatally injured in plane crash.

Nov. 20: David Blakeney, manager of Ozarks Airlines here since 1950, leaves to take post with National Airlines in Miami, Fla.

1955

Oct. 5: Two members of the school board at Illmo-Fornfelt appeared before the Scott County Court in Benton this week to inquire if state and county taxes can be collected on at least a portion of the Scott County land which constitutes the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport; if the taxes can be collected, the school district would stand to profit.

Dec. 9: The Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission has approved a grant of $14,817 for the city of Cape Girardeau to be used in obtaining a federal grant for improvements at the municipal airport; the state grant has been matched by a similar amount from the city to secure a Federal Aviation Administration grant totaling $260,711.

Dec. 12: Ozark Air Lines has threatened to suspend service to Cape Girardeau unless repairs are made to the runway at the municipal airport; the northeast-southwest strip, used regularly by Ozark pilots, has numerous holes and is soft in places, according to Ozark.

Dec. 13: Rush H. Limbaugh Jr., secretary of the municipal airport board, says taxi-strips at the city-owned field aren't dangerous and there is no reason Ozark Air Lines shouldn't be able to continue its operations throughout the winter.

1956

Feb. 3: Ozark Air Lines, which had threatened to halt service into Cape Girardeau unless some action was taken to improve taxi-strips at the municipal airport, suspended service briefly recently until the south taxi-strip was opened for its use; as a result of the interruption, lasting only a few hours, the Cape Girardeau City Council indicated to Ozark that it would have holes in the taxi-strips repaired with asphalt as soon as the weather moderates.

June 11: Approval by the Civil Aeronautics Administration of a $30,000 grant for improvements at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport is announced in Washington, D.C.; the money will be available after June 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year; part of the money will likely be used to make repairs to the south taxi-strip.

Sept. 13: Ozark Air Lines carried 448 passengers in and out of Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport during August, a record for any month since beginning service here.

Oct. 8: Municipal airport's rundown condition, both in its buildings and its runways and taxi-strips, is brought before the Cape Girardeau City Council by members of the Chamber of Commerce airport committee, who urge a bond issue to provide necessary funds for repairs.

Nov. 25: Fire early in the morning razes the flight control building at municipal airport, destroying the office and communication facilities of Cape Central Airways and Ozark Air Lines, resulting in temporary cancellation of regular service for Cape Girardeau.

Nov. 28: Temporary administration facilities have been created in the north end of the first hangar at municipal airport for Cape Central Airways and Ozark Air Lines, both companies having lost equipment and office facilities Sunday morning in a fire that destroyed the flight control building at the field; efforts are being made to have facilities ready so Ozark flights can be resumed Saturday morning on the regular schedule.

Nov. 30: Ozark Air Lines resumes its normal flight schedule at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport; quarters have been established in the hangar building directly south of the flight control building, which burned Sunday.

Dec. 3: Reconstruction and relocation of burned-out terminal facilities at the municipal airport under a three-way participation program from airport, city and federal funds are approved by the Municipal Airport Board and the Cape Girardeau City Council; city engineer John R. Walter will be asked to draft plans for a rectangular building built of concrete or hadite blocks with built-up roof, slab floor covered with asphalt tile, and steel or aluminum windows.

1957

Jan. 30: The pilot of a light, single-engine airplane, lost at the height of the heaviest snowfall of the season, makes an emergency landing at dusk on the slope of a hill in the new Ford subdivision near Cape Rock Drive and walks away unhurt from the nosed-over plane.

May 14: A helicopter for the use of the air wing of the 140th Infantry, Missouri National Guard is brought to the municipal airport from the air section at Warrensburg, Mo.; the craft will be used by Capt. George Staley for training purposes.

July 1: An unidentified airplane, apparently damaged during takeoff, is found in the morning on the Hobson Bess farm on U.S. 61, eight miles north of Jackson; the pilot of the plane isn't at the scene.

July 8: The Municipal Airport Board meets with the Cape Girardeau City Council to ask that a special election be called to vote a $295,000 bond issue for improvements at the airport; among improvements projected are construction of an administration building and airplane ramp, rebuilding 2,200 feet of the original 4,000-foot main runway and rebuilding of a taxi-strip along the runway.

July 11: An ordinance calling a special election Aug. 27 to vote on a $295,000 bond issue for improvements at the municipal airport is passed unanimously at a meeting of the Cape Girardeau City Council.

Aug. 27: Cape Girardeau voters, by a substantial majority, approve at a special election a proposal to issue $295,000 in bonds to make improvements at the municipal airport.

Dec. 5: The Cape Girardeau airport board employs Harold Long, a local architect, to design new administration facilities for the municipal airport; in a companion action, the board votes to hire John R. Walther as engineer for preliminary airport improvement planning.

Southeast Missourian archive A drawing of the proposed layout for Municipal Airport under the pending construction program is viewed here by the Municipal Airport Board. Seated, from left, are: Rush Limbaugh Jr., secretary; Maurice T. Dunklin, chairman; H.I. Himmelberger. Standing, from left, Mayor Walter H. Ford, ex officio member; Dr. Paul B. Nussbaum and Robert J. Earley. Present plans call for bids to be received in May and for construction of runways, taxi-strips and terminal building to begin about July 1. The city's bonds, $295,000 voted last summer, will not be sold until plans and bids are approved by the Civil Aeronautics Authority, which will match the local cost up to the amount of the bonds. (Southeast Missourian, Feb. 1, 1958)

1958

March 21: An allocation by the Department of Commerce of $289,700 in matching funds for use on the pending construction program at municipal airport clears the way for the city to sell $295,000 in municipal bonds voted by Cape Girardeau residents last year.

July 1: Sen. Stuart Symington and Rep. Paul C. Jones notify the Municipal Airport Board that the air traffic control system operated by the Civil Aeronautics Administration will be moved from Farmington, Mo., to the Cape Girardeau airport upon completion of the new administration building.

Dec. 4: Pouring of thousands of cubic yards of concrete for runways and taxiways at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport has begun; the first of eight 12 1/2-foot-wide, 2,000-foot-long slabs going into the runway has been poured.

1959

Feb. 27: A few days of good weather this week enabled Ray Clinton Construction Co. of Sikeston to pave additional stretches of the runway at the municipal airport; the outside strips of the runway, 2,000 feet long, have been paved and forms are being set for part of the inside six strips of concrete.

March 17: With bids submitted yesterday for construction of an administration building at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport running well over the estimates of cost, an effort is being made to see if the contracts can be made to come within the expected cost of $90,000.

April 3: Concrete paving of the main runway at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport is completed; the intersection connecting the new concrete with the asphaltic section with the south taxiway is to be torn up and paved with 9-inch concrete.

May 8: Construction of the administration building at the municipal airport begins; a number of changes were made in the plans to make it less elaborate, whittling down the price tag for the building.

July 14: Construction of the new administration building at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport, delayed by an inability of the contractor to procure steel, is expected to progress rapidly with the arrival Friday of a shipment.

Aug. 4: Unless the Federal Aviation Agency can be persuaded to change its stand, the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport may be without sewage and water facilities when the present $590,000 construction program is completed sometime in midwinter; Rush H. Limbaugh Jr., secretary of the airport board, says the FAA has denied use of a portion of the $30,000 grant for construction of sewage and water facilities

Aug. 31: Running low on fuel and its instruments not functioning properly, an F9F Cougar sought haven at the municipal airport during the rain and windstorm Saturday; the fast Navy jet is still there, pending a decision on how to get it out of the field; the landing area required is much less than the required takeoff area.

1960

May 27: FAA opens new flight station at airport.

June: Cape Girardeau Aviation Day is initiated with an open house to show off the new airport terminal building.

1963

Aug. 31: It is announced two Ozark Airline flights (Cape-to-St. Louis) will be replaced, because runway is too short to handle the new Convair airplanes. Those two flights are to be rerouted through Marion, Ill.

Nov. 1: FAA's flight service station holds an open house at the airport to commemorate the FAA's fifth anniversary.

1964

Feb. 18: Bond issue for $1,250,000, to finance major improvements at the airport, including construction of a new 6,500-foot runway fails.

May 4: Cape Central Airways has purchased a two-seat Schweizer TG-3A glider, and pilots of the firm are spreading the word trying to get others interested in "soaring," a very popular sport in Europe.

June 26: Ozark Air Lines applies to the Civil Aeronautics Board for extension of air service to Memphis.

July 4-8: Municipal airport is stopping place for "Powder Puff Derby."

July 26: Cape Girardeau Avation Day is held at municipal airport.

Sept. 2: The Federal Aviation Agency won't permit the planned sale of property adjacent to the runway at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport, which had been intended as an industrial site. A contract had been signed between the city and Wayne J. Wilkinson, president of Cimron Inc., calling for the sale of four acres near the north end of the runway.

Sept. 23: Flight checks are begun by the Federal Aviation Agency to fix the location for the TVOR instrument landing device to be installed at municipal airport.

Oct. 10: Mrs. George Blaich of Poplar Bluff, Mo., wins the annual Cape Girardeau Pilot's Club pilot proficiency air race at the municipal airport.

Oct. 18: An Oklahoma man suffers serious injuries and two Iowa men sustain minor injuries in the evening, when their single-engine aircraft crashes minutes after taking off from the municipal airport. The four-seater Beechcraft Bonanaza crashes about 450 yards southwest of the airport runway.

1965

Jan. 7: Aviation experts -- the top executive officers of Ozark Air Lines -- tell Cape Girardeau government and business leaders that unless the city upgrades the municipal airport, it can expect not only a lowering of commercial airline service but also a decline in vital business and industrial aviation.

Feb. 8: The Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport Board takes the first step that may lead to a new bond issue, probably for $880,000, to construct a runway at the airport and otherwise upgrade the facility. The expected amount of the new issue represents a reduction from the $1,250,000 issue defeated by voters a year ago. The board votes to ask a St. Louis engineering firm, Horner and Shifrin, to prepare a revised plan incorporating the changes.

April 15: A 50-foot radio antenna to help extend the range of Cape Girardeau's Federal Aviation Agency's Flight Weather Station is being installed at municipal airport and should be in operation shortly. It will replace a short antenna now perched 20 feet off the ground on the terminal building roof.

May 18: Cape Girardeau is thwarted in its first attempt to obtain sufficient financing for a 6,500-foot runway at the municipal airport. The city is notified it qualifies for funds to build a 5,800-foot runway. It is understood the rejection of the larger amount was based on a high FAA official's view that there is no assurance Cape Girardeau will receive the service of the DC-9 jet airplane by Ozark Airlines, which requires the longer runway for takeoffs.

June 8: A delegation of Cape Girardeau officials announces the Federal Aviation Agency in Washington has approved a 6,500-foot runway for municipal airport; the FAA allowed no more funds for the project beyond $757,000 which had previously been allocated, but approved a change in the specifications.

July 10: The new electronic landing device being installed at the municipal airport, the TVOR, is in position on the west side of the present runway and should be operational by Sept. 1.

Aug. 21: Mr. and Mrs. John Godwin take first place in the Pilots Proficiency Race during the opening of the new Spirit of St. Louis Airport at St. Louis.

Nov. 23: Bond issue for $880,000 for the airport is defeated; although voters support the issue, it doesn't receive the necessary two-thirds majority for passage.

Dec. 28: Cape Girardedau's $880,000 municipal airport bond issue passes with 32 votes to spare, tabulation of absentee ballots show.

1966

Jan. 5: The Cape Girardeau City Council authorizes the Municipal Airport Board to spend up to $5,000 to install two electronic devices to facilitate landings at the port. Rush H. Limbaugh Jr., secretary of the board, had asked for authority to spend the funds from the general revenue fund to install two marker beacons that will enable planes to land here in bad weather.

Jan. 15: Ozark Air Lines announces it will improve commuter flight service between Cape Girardeau and St. Louis by providing more nonstop flights.

March 2: The city council approves an engineering contract with Horner and Shifrin of St. Louis to prepare plans and specifications for airport improvements as well as supervise construction.

May 4: Municipal Airport Board, which since its creation in 1946 has had authority to set general airport policy, has become advisory body to city council by action of council.

May 17: A supplemental grant of $55,000 for improvements to the municipal airport is awarded by the Federal Aviation Agency; the sum will be added to a $702,000 grant previously approved for the project; the additional money will enable the city to buy more land for the port.

May 22: Six Stearman biplanes, the last of which was manufactured in the early 1930s, flies over Cape Girardeau on a northward course; the pilots are sprayer operators who assemble here for a three-day flight to Canada; there they have a contract with the Canadian government to spray thousands of acres of timberland threatened by the spruce bud worm.

June 6: About 10,000 people visit the municipal airport for Cape Girardeau Aviation Day; activities include demonstrations by a parachute club from Southern Illinois University and plane rides.

June 16: Byford L. Lowry of Cape Girardeau is injured in morning when his light airplane crashed in field near Fruitland; Lowry, 39, is on his way to municipal airport when Piper two-seater goes down.

June 24: Federal Aviation Agency announces that Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport will receive $891,000 in federal matching funds and that original runway width and thickness has been approved; runway will be 6,500 feet long and 150 feet wide; width had been reduced to 100 feet recently.

July 1: The FAA has approved an airport for grant for nearly the amount requested, making cuts only in land for a clear zone and in ramp construction; authorization of the larger grant means, in essence, that a runway 6,500 feet long and 150 feet wide at thicknesses of nine and 11 inches can be built.

July 11: The city, to avoid possible complications in federal support of its airport improvement project, will repurchase four areas of property it sold last year for industrial purposes; Lear-Siegler Inc. has agreed to sell the land back to the city at the original purchase price, heading off potential trouble in regard to a federal matching funds grant for the planned work at the airport.

July 15: Bolt of lightning during electrical storm ignites World War II-built No. 3 hangar at Municipal Airport, setting spectacular fire that destroyed barnlike structure and eight airplanes inside at total loss of at least $100,000; workers are able to wheel five other planes from burning hangar.

Aug. 15: Ozark Airlines drops its night "turnaround" flight from Cape Girardeau to St. Louis because of the nationwide airline strike, which is now in its 39th day.

Aug. 27: Mrs. Doggie Haupt of St. Louis takes nearly all the marbles at the third annual Pilot Proficiency Air Race held at municipal airport; she wins the race and is awarded the traveling trophy; she also wins best woman pilot trophy and Cessna Aircraft trophy. Flights to St. Louis from Cape Girardeau by Ozark Air Lines returned to normal this week after being thrown off schedule by the recent nationwide strike.

Nov. 1: Unable to negotiate the purchase of any of the land needed construct a new 6,500-foot runway at the municipal airport, the city of Cape Girardeau has decided to acquire the land through condemnation; the city is attempting to purchase 251.2 acres near the port.

Nov. 3: A $15,000 state grant to the city for airport purposes is received; the funds will be used to help finance the major improvement to the facility.

Nov. 19: Keith Eilermann, a State College senior from Florissant, Mo., captures the all-events trophy during the Mid-Winter Air Meet of the Flying Indians, the college's aviation club.

1967

Jan. 6: Commissioners in Cape Girardeau's condemnation of land near municipal airport have set average value at about $960 per acre in report they filed with Scott County Circuit Court; city seeks to acquire 245.79 acres needed for construction of new 6,500-foot runway and adjacent clear zones.

Jan. 11: Both sides in the city's condemnation of the 245.79 acres of land it needs for a major airport improvement program have filed exceptions to the commissioners' award in Scott County Circuit Court.

Jan. 18: A break in the airport land condemnation is reported by city manager Paul F. Frederick; he tells the city council that owners of four of the five parcels of land under condemnation have agreed to the sale figures as submitted by the court-appointed commissioners, freeing the city to move ahead with the project.

Jan. 25: City and owner of last 29.43 acres of land needed for improvement to municipal airport reach agreement on its purchase; owner W.A. Georger is paid $23,000 for land.

Feb. 21: The low bid received for the construction of a new airport runway is well below estimates for the work; the low bidder for the construction of a 6,500-foot runway and allied work is Gammon, Barter and Zeller Construction Co. of Keokuk, Iowa, whose price is $1,197,449.45.

March 15: The city council of Scott City files a protest over the alignment of the new runway at the municipal airport with the Federal Aviation Agency and the city of Cape Girardeau; the protest is based on noise and safety factors.

March 17: City council of Scott City withdraws its protest to alignment of new runway planned at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport, thus clearing major obstacle to awarding of construction contract.

March 21: Declaring "This is a fine day for Cape Girardeau," Mayor J. Ronald Fischer signs first copy of contract for construction of 6,500-foot runway at municipal airport.

March 30: Cape Girardeau may have new commuter-type airline soon; Sun Airline Corp. of Rolla, Mo., has announced plans to start twice-a-day cargo and passenger flights April 10, pending Municipal Airport Board approval.

April 26: The FAA is resurveying itinerant air traffic at the municipal airport to determine if it meets the criterion for a control tower.

May 9: After three years of what seemed to be unsurmountable stumbling blocks to city officials, work on new runway at Cape Girardeau's airport begins; runway will be 6,500 feet long, 150 feet wide and 9 and 11 inches thick.

May 13: City officials have purchased 1952 Howe pumper fire truck for use at municipal airport; pumper also carries auxiliary tank, and equipment for foam-type fire fighting will be added.

June 14: The old TWIKA sign is being remodeled to form a decorative identification marker for the municipal airport.

July 18: A leading aviation figure has charged in a speech entered in the Congressional Record that Cape Girardeau was "bamboozled and brainwashed" in connection with the airport improvement project now underway; J.B. Hartranft Jr., president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, speaking to a gathering of airport executives in Louisville, Ky., last May 23, referred to Cape Girardeau as an example of what he considers a poor pattern of spending of federal airport money. He also stated there is no jet service scheduled for Cape Girardeau, as the community has been led to believe and that sparked the improvements to the airport.

July 19: Responding to charges made by J.B. Hartranft Jr., an Ozark Air Lines executive says Cape Girardeau is listed as one of the cities that Ozark expects to serve with jet aircraft within five years.

Aug. 3: Sun Airlines, the St. Louis-based air taxi operator, announces it will begin serving Cape Girardeau on Aug. 14.

Aug. 5: A young couple in their early twenties, Donna Rae Hopper, as pilot, and John Henke, co-pilot, outperform veteran pilots to win the annual Missouri Sky Derby at municipal airport. Hopper is from St. Louis and Henke from St. Peters.

Aug. 9: In brief but controversial meeting, city council by 3-2 vote passes ordinance authorizing city to purchase cement for contractor constructing new runway at municipal airport; new supplementary agreement with contractor, Gammon, Barter and Zeller of Keokuk, Iowa, will permit city to buy cement needed from Marquette Cement Mfg. Co. here.

Aug. 16: Paving begins on the airport's new 6,500-foot runway.

Aug. 31: The city has negotiated a contract with Cape Girardeau architect Harold W. Long to prepare plans for a 50 percent enlargement of the terminal building at the municipal airport that the city administration is considering.

Sept. 23: The Municipal Airport Board is looking for a new restaurant operator; Freeman Lewis, co-owner of Wimpy's Skyway Restaurant, says for business reasons he wants to sell his equipment, hopefully within the next 60 days; Wimpy's has been serving the airport since 1960.

Oct. 2: All concrete for the new 6,500-foot runway has been poured; after an aging process of several days, the full runway can be used.

Oct. 9: Ozark Air Lines, which suspended service here Sept. 5 because of runway construction, resumes morning flights.

Oct. 20: John E. Godwin Jr., co-manager of the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport and a partner in Cape Central Airways, has been elected as a member of the board of directors of the National Pilots Association.

Oct. 30: Sun Airlines inaugurates its new jet service to Cape Girardeau, using 18-passenger Lear jets; commercial flights will begin Nov. 1.

Oct. 30 Cape Girardeau's new municipal airport firetruck makes its first official appearance here, putting out staged diesel-fuel blaze.

Nov. 7: City workers have constructed a temporary building just west of the terminal for use by Sun Airlines and Ozark Air Lines for storing freight.

Nov. 28: Go-cart enthusiasts may not be allowed to use track at municipal airport again after runway construction is completed about Jan. 1; in past years go-cart races have been held on oval track just west of Interstate 55.

Dec. 4: The Municipal Airport Board passes a recommendation that the original airport plan be followed and a go-cart track located there now be abandoned; the track is in the construction area and was originally scheduled for landscaping in the FAA's overall plan; the oval track is just west of Interstate 55.

1968

Jan. 9: The city council accepts easements for the cutting of trees which had stood in the municipal airport runway's glidepath; about 12 trees were cut in accordance with the easements.

Feb. 8: Two Cape Girardeau men -- William F. Suedekum Jr. and Carlton J. Lorberg -- credit their flight training for their escape from serious injury when their airplane makes an emergency landing near East Prairie, Mo.

Feb. 22: Work has resumed on runway lighting after about a two-month delay because of bad weather.

April 8: Tentative plans for Municipal Airport terminal expansion are forwarded to city council by Airport Board; board also accepts proposal by Wimpy's Skyway Restaurant to vacate by May 1 and voices strong dissatisfaction on runway lighting construction.

April 23: The FAA is conducting an aircraft traffic count at municipal airport to establish guidelines used in determining the airport's qualification for a control tower; by the last count, made in early 1967, the airport did not qualify for a tower.

April 30: City council and Municipal Airport Board, in joint session, announce that construction is tentatively set to begin in early fall on about $80,000 addition to airport terminal, but all will depend upon when work on 6,500-foot runway project ends.

April 30: Cape Girardeau has met requirements for a FAA control tower; a count last week recorded 999 total operations (landings and takeoffs); of these, there were 587 itinerant operations; using those figures, an estimated 30,524 itinerant operations occur at the airport yearly.

May 8: After inspecting three hangars at municipal airport, the city council agrees to have the buildings painted before dedication ceremonies in June for the new runway.

1968 May 10: Twin-engine private airplane belonging to R.B. Potashnick, Cape Girardeau contractor, crashes and partly burns near municipal airport, killing pilot, Jack D. Starkweather, and injuring daughter of plane's owner, Mrs. Donald L. Harrison.

June 1: Mayor A. Robert Pierce Jr. is presented a model of the FH-227B prop jet aircraft from Ozark Air Lines personnel, when the inaugural flight lands here from St. Louis; the flight crew takes a number of Girardeans on a flight over the city in the afternoon to celebrate the start of the new airline service. The Cape Girardeau Airport Board plans to equalize amounts being paid for rental space at the airport terminal on the per foot basis within the next few summer months; at present, contracts with agencies renting space show discrepancies. The restaurant at the municipal airport is now being operated on an oral agreement with Herb E. Kyllon; he pays the city $30 per month rent for six month; this is the first time the city has obtained any rent from the restaurant space. Lights on the new 6,500-foot runway at municipal airport go on as scheduled, marking the final step in the total runway project.

June 10: Blue Angels, U.S. Navy flight demonstration team, land at Municipal Airport in morning and are met by city and Chamber of Commerce representatives; seven fighter aircraft land in single file, one after another, on new 6,500-foot runway; after talking briefly with newsmen and meeting with city and Chamber of Commerce officials, the pilots fly on to St. Louis to spend the night.

June 12: Crowd estimated at about 25,000, one of largest to assemble in Cape Girardeau, watch five of Blue Angels' six aircraft fly 40-minute precision air show during runway dedication at municipal airport, after one plane was grounded at last minute. The city of Cape Girardeau and the Chamber of Commerce jointly honor Rush H. Limbaugh Jr. for his 20 years of dedicated service on the Cape Girardeau Airport Board and to aviation in the community in general.

June 17: Three law enforcement officers who aided in rescue operations when R.B. Potashnick airplane crashed south of municipal airport May 10 have been awarded "Citation for Bravery" by National Police Officers Association: Cpl. Norman W. Copeland and trooper Bill J. Adams, both of Missouri State Highway Patrol, and Cape Girardeau County deputy sheriff Gene E. Huckstep.

June 24: The Airport Board makes arrangements to permanently station the airport firetruck at the airport; the city purchased the truck last summer but has kept it in the city garage on North Fountain Street.

July 15: Herbert E. Kyllon, operator of municipal airport restaurant, fails to open for business; city Airport Board considers Kyllon's six-month verbal contract with city breached, barring any future developments or explanations.

July 28: Use of new Naval Reserve Training Center on Marie Louise Lane is initiated, when Naval Reserve Unit holds its first meeting in building; all equipment has been transferred from center at municipal airport to new building.

Aug. 3: A Dallas team wins the annual Missouri Sky Derby held in Cape Girardeau; Ed J. Schwarta, the pilot, and Ron Tomme, the co-pilot, are presented trophies and $500 check after their aircraft comes in first under a proficiency formula; the event is sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Aircraft Owners and Pilots Club.

Aug. 12: A field survey of Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport is started by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey; covered in the survey will be a circular area around the airport and fan-shaped approaches to the runway.

Aug. 23: Ozark Airlines has cleared way for city council action on terminal expansion program at municipal airport; airline has given final approval to plans for its additional facilities; Ozark also accepted rental rate of $4 per square foot per year for additional space, increase of $1.57 per square foot for what it is now paying.

Oct. 10: Mr. and Mrs. William F. Stone of Cape Girardeau are aboard a Sun Airlines plane whose landing gear collapses on takeoff from Lambert Airfield, St. Louis; they are among eight passengers and two crew members aboard, none of whom is injured.

Oct. 28: In meeting in morning, city council gives second and third readings to ordinance awarding contracts for addition to and alterations of Municipal Airport terminal building; contractors are Rickard Construction Co., general work; Golightly Air Conditioning, Heating and Sheet Metal Col., heating and air conditioning: A.E. Birk and Son Plumbing and Heating Inc., plumbing, and Electric Supply Co., electrical work.

Dec. 21: Two widely known Piedmont, Mo., men -- lawyer and osteopath -- are killed when their light airplane crashed into mountain near Piedmont about 45 minutes after they take off from Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport; victims, who between them left 11 daughters fatherless, are Roy W. McGhee Jr., former Wayne County prosecuting attorney, and Dr. E.G. Bye, operator of osteopathic clinic in Piedmont.

1969

Jan. 31: Mrs. John Godwin Jr., of Cape Girardeau is first runner-up in the Pilot of the Year competition of the National Pilots Association.

March 10: The Municipal Airport Board approves plans it will submit to the city council for the remodeling of terminal facilities for Cape Central Airways.

April 7: The Municipal Airport Board votes to advertise for an operator for the restaurant in the remodeled terminal building; Chester Gerecke of Jackson, owner of the Wayside Inn, helped set up the layout of the new restaurant.

April 13: Olan Cass Evans of St. Louis is flying from Houston, Mo., to St. Louis, when he runs lown on fuel; the pilot makes an emergency landing in a field near Gordonville and Benton Roads; the craft flips, severely damaging the plane but doing only slight damage to the pilot.

May 27: Municipal airport is the gathering place twice a month during the summer for airplane dealers from all over the nation as they flock here to buy and sell aircraft during Auction-Air's regular auction sales.

May 27: The Municipal Airport Board and Truman Cole are agreed on a contract for his operation of the new restaurant in the terminal building.

June 2: The Cape Girardeau City Council turns back to the Airport Board the proposed restaurant contract with Truman Cole for renegotiation after agreement can't be reached with two council members on the contract's payment provisions.

June 12: Sun Airlines ceases air-taxi operations.

June 30: Cape Girardeau again has a second airline operating out of the airport; Trans-Mo Airlines begins operations with two flights daily out of Cape Girardeau.

July 7: The Municipal Airport Board votes to complain formally that Ozark Airlines isn't providing adequate service here; letters will be sent to the Civil Aeronautics Board, the two U.S. senators from Missouri, Rep. Bill D. Burlison of the 10th District, and area state legislators.

July 28: A leak has been found in the sewage lagoon at municipal airport; a pump that hasn't been operating properly is the cause of the problem.

Aug. 9: A suggestion box placed by airport personnel on the Cape Centrail Airways counter contains numerous complaints from travelers about the lack of restaurant facilities in the enlarged, modernized airport; while the terminal has adequate space for a restaurant, someone willing to operate the business hasn't been found.

Aug. 11: Field survey of municipal airport is started by U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey; survey party, headed by Darrell L. Wright, will take two weeks to complete work; covered in survey will be circular area around airport and fan-shaped approaches to runways; within this area, field party will determine and chart character, elevation and location of obstructions to air traffic and position of all aids to air navigation.

Aug. 22: City council has approved recommendation of Municipal Airport Board allowing Albert L. Underwood of Cape Girardeau to operate restaurant at airport; under terms of agreement, Underwood will pay city rental fee of $100 per month for basic lease period of two years.

Sept. 16: Ozark Air Lines plans third daily flight between Cape Girardeau and St. Louis, subject to approval of Ozark's president; announcement is made at meeting of Cape Girardeau officials and Ozark representatives, which had been called by Municipal Airport Board in effort to bring about better airline service to Cape Girardeau.

Sept. 24: Representatives of Blair Industries Inc., aircraft engine manufacturing and overhauling firm, meet with Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport Board to discuss possibilities of locating at city's airport; under general terms of lease discussed, company would construct 50-by-200-foot building and lease ground from city; at end of leasing period, company would turn building back to city.

Oct. 17: Cape Girardeau land surveyor Carl M. Friese has filed petition in Common Pleas Court for payment of $3,071 he claims is due him for work performed in relation to construction of new runway at municipal airport.

Oct. 30: About 200 aviators from throughout the country are in Cape Girardeau for the annual three-day meeting of the National Pilots Association.

Nov. 18: An Ozark Air Lines plane skids off a runway upon landing at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport at 10:50 p.m.; there is no noticeable damage to the aircraft and passengers bound for further destinations are transferred onto buses.

Nov. 22: An item for about $200,000 for construction of a control tower at municipal airport is included in an appropriation bill passed this week by the U.S. House of Representatives.

1970

Jan. 9: Ozark Airlines has completed a realignment of some flight schedules in Missouri and Iowa; as a result, Cape Girardeau will lose the 7 a.m. Sunday flight from St. Louis.

April 1: Twin-engine aircraft with two area residents on board catches fire on takeoff and then crashes when attempting to make emergency landing in morning at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport; two men, Albert L. Underwood of Cape Girardeau and Burnel Chamness of Scott City, are able to walk away from blazing airplane but are taken to Cape Girardeau hospital by chief pilot of Cape Central Airways, Don S. Godwin; Underwood is president of Mid-South Steel, while Chamness is salesman for same company.

April 26: Ozark Air Lines resumes operations in the afternoon, and Robert N. Moore, terminal manager for Ozark at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport, says full operation of airline will resume tomorrow; St. Louis-based airline canceled all flights on April 18 when 430 mechanics went on strike during wage dispute leaving 21 Midwest cities without major airline service.

Aug. 1: Women take first-place honors in both categories in the seventh annual Missouri Sky Derby conducted from municipal airport by the Cape Girardeau Aircraft Owners and Pilots Club; Girardean Alice Godwin is named Pilot of the Year at the awards dinner that follows the race.

Sept. 9: The crash of a single-engine aircraft during the night two miles south of Arcadia in Southwest Missouri claims the lives of Ervin E. McDowell, 47, of Jackson, and two from Bismarck, Mo.; the plane apparently crashes when it runs out of fuel.

Oct. 10: The Federal Aviation Agency flight service station at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport has been placed on alert as FAA officials in Washington react to series of bomb threats by tightening ring of security around nation's airfields; FAA spokesman says threats, blamed by some on radical Weatherman faction, have also been made against other government installations, including military posts.

Nov. 6: Two Cape Girardeau physicians -- W.A. Williams and George E. Magaletta -- and their wives escape injury when their small aircraft is forced to land in a cornfield about two miles west of Highway 133 near Linn, Mo.

Nov. 16: A former Cape Girardeau couple, Mr. and Mrs. C.M. Arnold, were among the 75 people killed in a fiery weekend crash of a jetliner near Huntington, W.Va., that also took the lives of most members of the Marshall University football team.

Dec. 8: Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport will be among 31 airports across nation to become equipped with automatic instruments designed to keep pilots on correct approach under bill coming before U.S. House in Washington, D.C., this week; investigation following Marshall, W.Va., University air tragedy Nov. 14 that killed 75 people revealed countless airports serving jet airlines daily may lack modern electronic aids.

Dec. 15: The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a bill authorizing expenditure of $216,500 for an Instrument Landing System at the municipal airport.

1971

Feb. 5: The Municipal Airport Board unanimously votes to recommend to the city council the bid of Loiuis A. Heisserer be accepted on leasing of 400 acres of farmland at the airport for a three-year period; Heisserer submitted the highest figure of five bidders.

March 13: Two crews from the regional office of the FAA in Kansas City began work this week at municipal airport; one crew started installation of sophisticated new equipment at the flight service station, and the other is making preliminary surveys for the erection of the traffic control tower.

May 24: A search continues for a small plane that reportedly crashed and burned about three miles east of Kelso, Mo.; 50 people involved in the search failed to find any traces of a plane or fire last night and this morning; the reported accident may have been a hoax.

July 15: Raging electric storm, accompanied in many places by high and possibly tornadic winds, bombards Southeast Missouri for hours in the morning, causing damage in hundreds of thousands of dollars; at Cape Girardeau, lightning strikes No. 1 hangar at Municipal Airport about 4:30 a.m. and before firemen can arrive, World War II structure collapses on planes and equipment with loss estimated at $500,000.

Aug. 5: The city council authorizes City Manager W.G. Lawley to prepare specifications and bid forms and to advertise for bids for construction of a hangar of the approximate size as the building destroyed by fire in July.

Aug. 7: Mr. and Mrs. Richard Lennertson of Creve Coeur, Mo., are awarded the first-place trophy at the eight annual Missouri Sky Derby banquet; 24 pilots and co-pilots manned 12 plans in the proficiency race from municipal airport.

Aug. 8: A U.S. Air Force Globemaster, said to be the largest aircraft ever to land at the municipal airport, lands about noon; three small aircraft will be loaded aboard for shipment to a U.S. air base in West Germany; from there, the planes will be delivered to a private business.

Aug. 27: One phase of business partnership of 21 years ends with purchase by John T. Seesing of interest of his partner, John E. Godwin Jr., in Cape Central Airways, fixed-base operator at Municipal Airport; Godwin is assuming position of president and general manager of Atlantic Aero, Inc., one of two fixed base operations at Greensboro, N.C., Airport.

Sept. 17: The Municipal Airport Board levels several complaints against the city council, charging it has failed to act on board recommendations.

Oct. 27: The airport board recommends Lewis Rogers Construction Co. of Dexter, Mo., as contractor for the proposed maintenance and office building at the airport, during a luncheon meeting with the city council; but discussion bogs down on the question of financing the structure. The new building will replace the main hangar destroyed in a fire in July.

Nov. 23: Cape Central Airways Inc. will build three executive hangars near new maintenance and office building to be constructed by city at municipal airport; airway's request to build executive hangars followed Cape Central's decision to accept one of city's offers on rent to be paid on proposed maintenance and office building which will replace main hangar destroyed by fire in July.

Dec. 8: Investigators from St. Louis Flight Standards district office of Federal Aviation Agency arrive here in morning to establish cause of crash of twin-engine private airplane at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport early last night; four Chicago-area men were injured, two seriously, when Twin Comanche undershot east runway on approach and crashed about half-mile away in muddy plowed bean field.

1972

Feb. 17: To finance construction of the new maintenance hangar at municipal airport, the city council votes to temporarily loan $165,000 from the airport bond and interest funds of 1958 and 1965 to the airport capital improvements fund.

March 15: Work begins on the new $167,000 hangar at the municipal airport, being constructed by Lewis Rogers Construction Co. Inc. of Dexter, Mo.; it is being built on the site of the hangar destroyed by fire during the summer of 1971.

March 18: Work on the aircraft hangar at municipal airport slowed somewhat this week because of picketing members of Ironworkers Local 372 of Paducah, Ky.; the ironworkers are protesting the use of nonunion workers by Louis Rogers Construction Co. of Dexter, Mo.

April 8: Scott County Circuit Judge Marshall Craig has issued preliminary restraining order enjoining three trade unions from further picketing at entrance to Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport; restraining order is against Ironworkers Local 782 of Paducah, Ky., and Carpenters Local 1770 and Electrical Workers Local 1 of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, both located in Cape Girardeau.

June 19: A worldwide 24-hour strike launched by airline pilots has had little effect on flights to and from Cape Girardeau; operations of Ozark Air Lines are normal.

Aug. 5: Two Cape Girardeau pilot teams are among the winners announced at a banquet for the annual Missouri Sky Derby, flown at municipal airport; winning honors are Wayne Vohs and Dennis Koenemann, and Dr. E.K. Burford and David Crow.

Aug. 11: Wind gusts up to 92 mph are recorded at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport during the height of storm, resulting in an estimated $15,500 in damages to half-dozen airplanes and a hangar.

Aug. 25: Two former Cape Girardeau young men -- Jerry M. McConnell and George H. Brown -- are killed in an airplane crash at Sturgis, Mich., where they resided; both were pilots for the ADM-Industries of Elkhart, Ind.

Sept. 11: There are few spectators when first of series of six stratospheric balloons is launched from Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport way before dawn; this first launch of any large-type balloon from airport is termed "as near to perfect as you can get" by Maurice Faulkerson, launch director for Raven Industries of Sioux Falls, S.D., launch contractor; project is under direction of research division of U.S. Navy and Raven Industries in cooperation with research teams from four universities and NASA.

Oct. 2: Condemnation proceedings are initiated by the city of Cape Girardeau against the owner of about an acre of land needed for construction of the Instrument Landing System at municipal airport; in its petition, the city states it has been unable to agree on a price for the land with the owner, W.A. Georger.

Oct. 18: No bids are received for installation of Instrument Landing System at municipal airport; frequent rains had already threatened to postpone installation of system designed to aid aircraft in landing during inclement weather; it now appears installation will be postponed until next spring.

Nov. 6: Pilots of Ag Air Inc. of Sikeston, Mo., and McDowell Flying Service at Charleston, Mo., are aiding farmers who haven't been able to sow wheat in their fields because of the muddy conditions; the low-flying stunts of the flyboys as the sow the seed in the Cape Girardeau area cause numerous calls to the FAA and the Municipal airport, complaining about stunt pilots flying old aircraft.

Nov. 25: Following a letter from the city manager, Cape Central Airways Inc., fixed-base operator at municipal airport, this week moved into the new $165,000 combination hangar and flight operations building at the port; the building includes a hangar measuring 100 by 150 feet and office, flight operations and shop facilities space of an additional 48 by 170 feet.

Dec. 22: The Cape Girardeau squadron of the Missouri Wing, Civil Air Patrol, alerts its members in the morning for participation in the search for a light plane from Florida missing in the north Missouri-Iowa area since Wednesday.

Dec. 22: A 10-year-old boy reports to the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department that he came upon an airplane while hiking in a wooded area east of Fruitland; a search by officers fails to locate the craft.

1973

Jan. 5: Providing greater protection for its passengers and flights, Ozark Air Lines Inc. employees security guards to check passengers and their luggage at municipal airport in an attempt to guard against hijackings.

Feb. 6: The city of Cape Girardeau provides armed guard at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport while planes on Ozark Air Lines Inc. on scheduled flights are on ground; Federal Aviation Agency is requiring the armed guard as another step of providing greater protection for passengers and flights in its attempts to halt airplane hijackings.

Feb. 16: Security measures at airports throughout nation are tightened as airport operators are required to begin stationing police officers at boarding gates during screening process of passengers and their baggage; for Cape Girardeau, this means taking officers off their regular duty six times a day for up to hour and a half, and sending them to municipal airport during times when Ozark Air Lines is boarding passengers.

Feb. 22: A St. Louis pilot makes a safe belly-landing at municipal airport, after the nose gear of the craft jams at about a 45-degree angle as he makes his approach.

June 30: Ozarks Air Lines terminal at municipal airport is preparing to resume normal operations following settlement of a nearly 2 1/2-month-old mechanics strike.

July 24: St. Louis -- Federal teams are sifting through wreckage of Ozark Air Lines turboprop Fairchild 227 aircraft which crashed during violent thunderstorm last night, killing 36 of 44 aboard; there is no immediate explanation of what caused plane, which was approaching Lambert International Airport at low altitude, to plunge into wooded ravine about four miles short of its target; plane, which left Nashville at 3:35 p.m., made intermediate stops at Clarksville, Tenn., Paducah, Cape Girardeau and Marion, Ill., en route to St. Louis. Four of nine passengers who boarded the Ozark flight at Cape Girardeau are identified as John E. Glass of Cape Girardeau, Mr. and Mrs. John Diebold of Oran, Mo., and Frank W. "Bill" Sexton of Jackson.

July 24: FAA officials confirm that the agency is considering a long-range plan to consolidate flight service stations across the country; this could mean the eventual closing of the station at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport.

Aug. 1: Upon recommendation of the Airport Board, the Cape Girardeau City Council authorizes preparation of plans and specifications for renovation of the terminal building restaurant.

Aug. 4: John T. Seesing, president of Cape Central Airways, reports theft of $15,000 airplane from municipal airport between noon July 26 and morning of Aug. 3; it is first theft of airplane from airline; plane is described as single-engine Piper Cherokee Six.

Sept. 1-2: About 20 antique aircraft are on display at the airport, part of the Moolah Shrine Air Patrol's fifth annual air show here.

Sept. 25: A Fort Lauderdale, Fla., pilot runs into a bit of bad luck in the morning when the plane he is flying here makes an emergency landing at municipal airport; the nose gear on the twin-engine aircraft sticks and won't lock into place; there is slight damage done to the nose gear doors and propeller as the aircraft settles on its nose; there are no injuries.

Oct. 11: Derricks lift the 22-ton steel and glass cab to top out the new traffic control tower at the municipal airport; the 48-foot tower includes three 10-foot sections plus the 18-foot cab; the tower is at the north end of the administration building.

Oct. 21: Equipment is being installed in new traffic control tower at municipal airport, and it is likely commissioning date for its operation, set for Dec. 8, may be slightly delayed; newly assigned tower chief, Frank Pierce, has arrived, and other personnel will move in later.

Dec. 24: The FAA has awarded a $47,380 grant for improvements and security at the airport; the money will be used to acquire land and clear a zone for a runway approach; also, lighting controls for a new control tower will be installed, along with security and perimeter fences.

Dec. 28: Cape Central Airways Inc., fixed-base operator at municipal airport, is asking city for long-term lease as forerunner to constructing new hangars for private airplanes; John T. Seesing, owner of Cape Central, says owners don't like housing their airplanes in outmoded hangars.