Three Area Men Relate Stories About Starling AirportStarling Airport gliders were used to train pilots before they flew troop carrier gliders in WWII in France. Troop carrier gliders were used on D Day, Normandy Invasion, June 1944. 
Oscar Masters holds a picture of a glider which is ready to be towed to Starling Airport for testing. Age 83, Oscar Masters recalled how he flew planes out of Starling Airport. Back in his childhood years in the 30s Oscar grew up on Montebello Road and watched his neighbor Murray Whitehead play softball. Later Murray would buy the land to begin Starling Airport. Future owners were Carl Stockstrom and, in the 50s, David Randolph, a developer. When Oscar was a senior in Herky High School he would spend weekends with Murray at Starling Airport, a one lane gravel road near Hwy 61. Nearby was a gravel plant owned by Holzer. A drag system was used to get the gravel out of the river and it was taken to a storage yard at the northeast corner of Hwy 61. Residents would buy the gravel. The Rhombergs had a farm on that gravel road that eventually saw Startling Airport in operation. Oscar wold help build gliders designed after the Yankee Doodle built in 1936 and flown in 1937. He would put wings on so he could catch a ride when the glide was being air tested in Arnold. The gliders were built on Ivory Avenue in 1942-43. Ten experimental planes were built and each one was tested at Starling. Murray would tow the plane via large trucks to Starling where the wings were reattached and the plane taken up 4,000-5,000 feet to see if the plane was air worthy. Aftter the 10th glider was built, the gliders were moved out to "A" building at the Arena. Then every 10th airplane was inspected. Once planes went into production, every nut and bolt was accounted for in a cost effective method. These gliders were used during World War II because they could fly in quietly--just glide in. They were used during the Normandy Invasion on D Day in France--June 1944. Oscar remembers the day Randy Chapman flew a glider for a large crowd. The plane had been hanging overhead in the building and the gas heaters blew on it continually and dried out the parts. When the plane looked like it was going to crash, Randy looked like he was getting out of the plane when he realized that the plane was aiming for people who were watching him--including his wife. He repositioned himself in the seat and steered the glider away from the people toward the lake in Arnold City Park. He died in the glider. Oscar served his country in 1943 in World War II in the Army Air Force. When he returned to this area, he flew the Piper Cub and other small planes out of Starling. Later he flew out of Weiss Airport in Fenton. Oscar and his brother owned Masters Brothers Sand Plant on Hwy Z till 1972, then managed it for Bussen Quarries until it was sold to Unimin in 1990. In retirement Oscar started skiing when he was 68 and quit this year. He plays golf almost every day and bowls three nights a week. |
