Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society
History Quarterly Digital Archives


Source: July 1988 Volume 26 Number 3, Pages 117–118


When the Lincoln Highway was an Airstrip

Bob Goshorn

Page 117

It was quite foggy along the upper Main Line on the morning of August 17, 1948, a Sunday morning.

In fact, it was so foggy that James Bertell, a former Marine pilot from Huntington, West Virginia, flying a small low-wing monoplane, had to resort to the pioneer navigational technique of "following the railroad tracks" to keep his direction. With Charles Swann as his passenger, the two men were on their way from Huntington to Philadelphia to visit Bertell 's mother. In the fog, Bertell had been able to pick up the Main Line tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and was following them in an eastward direction, flying at a low altitude.

As they neared Paoli, however, the fog became so thick that even the shiny rails were scarcely visible from the air. At about ten minutes to ten, Bertell, who was unable to locate either the Main Line Airport on Swedesford Road or the smaller Malvern Air Park near the Malvern Preparatory School because of the poor visibility, had no choice but to attempt an emergency landing. Circling to look for a suitable place in which to bring down his plane, he spotted a recently cleared field just south of King Road near where it came into the Lancaster Pike, west of Paoli. "I needed a place to land," Bertell later told a newspaper reporter, "and from the air that field looked level as a table. It wasn't until we were a few feet off the ground that I saw how rough it was." By that time, however, the plane was too low for Bertell to pull up and still clear the railroad wires, so he "set her down", fortunately without mishap.

Page 118

By early afternoon the fog had lifted and cleared away. The two men were ready to resume their flight -- particularly since a nearby Green Tree resident was reportedly preparing to file charges against them for "stunt flying" during Bertell's manoeuvers to find a place to land and bring the plane down. As they prepared to take off, though, it became apparent that the railroad wires and overhead telephone lines would make any attempt to take off from the small field dangerous and risky.

After reconnoitering, they decided that the best location for a take-off seemed to be a section of the Lincoln Highway or Lancaster Pike. Bertell then got in touch with the State Police, whose barracks were then located in Devon, to see if the necessary arrangements could be made for its use for this purpose.

As a result of this discussion, a traffic detail was organized by Sgt. James Brennan to halt all traffic on the highway for a distance of a mile or so on either side of Paoli. During the twenty-minute interruption in traffic, Bertell taxied his plane from the field out onto King Road, and then down the Lincoln Highway through Paoli to the level stretch to the east of Bear Hill Road, between Paoli and Daylesford.

Using the concrete highway as a runway, the plane took off easily, and the two men continued their flight to Philadelphia. Otherwise, it was just another summer Sunday afternoon.

 
 

Page last updated: 2009-07-29 at 14:31 EST
Copyright © 2006-2009 Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society. All rights reserved.
Permission is given to make copies for personal use only.
All other uses require written permission of the Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society.