By Wayne Stockton – Regina, Sask.
Back in 1948, airplanes were still quite a novelty in small town Saskatchewan. That summer, a fellow piloting an Aeronca Champion from Saskatoon to Winnipeg decided to make a short stop at Maryfield, Sask., to visit a relative.
He landed the plane in an open field on the north side of town. It attracted a score of people who rushed out to the landing sight to get a look. Soon several folks were asking him if he would take them up for a ride. He agreed and the first passengers were Clayton Twigge and his daughter Jean, who was about six at the time.
No sooner had they taken off when one of the wheels fell off and was left hanging by the brake cable. When they came in for a landing 20 minutes later, we were waving and pointing frantically. Unfortunately, he didn’t understand our attempt to signal the problem and in they came.
As soon as the left gear hit the ground it dug in, spinning the plane and nosing it into the ground. Fortunately no one was injured, but considerable damage was done to the underside of the plane.
When the pilot got out of the plane, he said if he had realized the problem he would have gone on to Brandon where repairs could have been made. I don’t recall what they did to get the plane repaired, but it was quite the exciting event for the small town.
