On May 15, 2018, just days short of its ninetieth anniversary as an airfield, Horace Williams Airport in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. was officially closed by its owner, the University of North Carolina. Since its beginning as a barnstorming airfield run by local airplane enthusiast Charley Martindale in the 1920s, the airport had served as a training field for World War II pilots, a dedicated transport facility for the university's Medical School, and a conveniently located airport for local small aircraft pilots.
UNC graduate and professional pilot Daniel Schwartz combines a detailed history of the airport with a personal memoir of his experiences there as a student pilot. He vividly describes the controversies and conflicts that arose with the university and the town of Chapel Hill as aircraft technology evolved from biplanes to jets and helicopters. While there were accidents and complaints about noise levels at the airport that was once described as the "illegitimate offspring" of the town and the university, many lives were saved by the airport's medical transport capabilities. Schwartz includes interviews with many of the personalities associated with the airport over the years. Their reminiscences lend color and depth to the story of the "little airport that could."
Chapel Hill Historical Society, 2026. Softbound, 289 pages.