Thrill day at the fair

Most people around here have heard about the airplane's crashing at the fairgrounds. Not too many remember it, as it happened in 1946. I read about it on the moving news bulletin sign around the Times building in Times square in New York City. Cha, Howard, and I had landed in NYC that afternoon from our flight from GF to NYC to start work with GE the coming Monday. The crash was two military fighter jets from the East base who were doing a close order flyby in front of the Grandstand. They touched wings an crashed. One into the race horse barns, and the other further away. This was a terrible tragedy.

How ever, not too many remember when Captain Ffrank Ffrakes crashed his aeroplane on Saturday afternoon Thrill Day during the 1930's. These crashes occur ed each year for three years.

Captain Ffrakes had a WW1 biplane in which he took off from just out side the fairgrounds and circled around a few times before coming in from the East to crash into a burning barn set up in the infield of the horse racing track. The crash knocked of the wings of the plane, and the fuselage came through the burning barn to hit the ground just beyond. The fire engines and ambulance that were standing by, rushed over as Captain Ffrank Ffrakes hopped out of the cockpit of the plane to take his bows for the cheering audience.

The next year they had set up a group of trees in the infield of the race track. There were two small trees in a line in the center of the woods, and two large trees on each side to catch the wings as the fuselage hit the small trees. Again, the fire engine and ambulance rushed over to the plane, sirens screaming. As Captain Ffrakes hopped from the plane to the cheers of the crowd.

The next year Captain Ffrakes engaged in a dogfight with another WW1 fighter. The two aircraft engaged in a dogfight out in front of the grandstand and Captain Ffrakes got shot down to crash in the infield again. However, Captain Ffrakes did not quite make it to the infield, he landed outside the fairgrounds in Third Street!