On this day in 1919, Winston-Salem Journal reporter, Warren Dull, flew in the “Skull and Bones” airplane at Reynolds Field. Dull recorded his flying experiences with Lieutenant Brandt and Sergeant Berkshire in their airplane in a newspaper article that appeared the following day.
In the article, Dull claimed that he was the first passenger flown over the city in an Army airplane.
Dull described how it felt to fly and how safe he felt with the two men, even after several delays in taking off due to various mechanical problems.
He described how the city looked from such a height, and how the landing was about as easy as the car ride to the air field.
On the same day, Henry Westall of Asheville traveled by airplane from Morganton to Winston-Salem and landed near the “Skull and Bones.” His was the first commercial airplane to land in the city. Mr. Westall made it known that he was interested in taking up passengers in his airplane.
The newspaper articles made special mention of how quickly the pilots could go from one city to another. They mentioned the miles covered and the amount of time taken to reach their destinations. These numbers were impressive to an audience that found the entire flying experience so new and fascinating.
