Paul’s
Air
Park
■t’e off the beaten path of
travel, but many folks en¬
joy visiting there, par¬
ticularly over the week¬
ends.
IF you don’t fly, chances are that
you’ve never seen Paul’s Air
Park, because Paul caters al¬
most exclusively to folks who
travel around in airplanes.
His full name is Paul L. Smith.
His Air Park is located in the hills
of Randolph County, far off the
beaten path of automobile traffic.
About fourteen miles south of High
Point. If you drive an automobile
and seek to locate the place, you’ll
become hopelessly involved in a
network of dirt roads. If you fly,
you won’t have any trouble.
Mr. Smith has been interested
in aviation for a number of years.
During the early part of 1946 he
decided to open up a place where
aviators could land, enjoy a whole¬
some meal, meet other flyers and
have a good time generally.
First thing he had to do was to
build an airport. Randolph County
is rather hilly, as you probably
know. Mr. Smith had to have quite
a lot of grading done, but even¬
tually he got his field finished. Two
runways, one 2,700 feet and the
other 2,100 feet. Then he built a
hangar of concrete blocks. And
after that, a restaurant, capable of
seating 50 people at a time.
Investment of $50,000
So there he was, ’way out in
the sticks, with an investment of
around $50,000. and no customers
except those who might drop out
of the sky.
But it wasn't long before they
began to drop.
Word began to spread around
that Mr. and Mrs. Smith served
unusually fine food. Steaks, chick¬
en, country ham and other good
things to eat. And now — par¬
ticularly over the weekend — flyers
in steadily increasing numbers are
finding their way to Paul’s Air
Park.
One stunt that has been popular
THE STATE. June 14. 1047
Top picture: the large concrete-block hangar which Mr. Smith has built
at his Air Park. Below — the restaurant at which flyers get all kinds
of good food.
for some time is for a bunch of
aviators to get together and fly
some place for Sunday breakfast.
These organizations are known as
Breakfast Clubs, the idea having
started several years ago in South
Carolina. Paul's Air Park is ideally
located for junkets of this kind,
because it is almost in the exact
geographical center of the state.
More Buildings Planned
Another thing he’s planning to
do is to build a row of small cot¬
tages. so that flyers can spend the
night at his place.
It’s a most unusual business
venture and, so far as we know,
is the only one of its kind in the
state. Of course there are quite a
number of airports at which restau¬
rants are operated, but they're all
located near some good-sized town.
Not so in the case of Mr. Smith,
however: his place is just about as
far removed from towns and main
lines of travel as it is possible for
it to be.
“I just like to keep in touch with
flyers.” is his explanation of the
business venture. "I like to fly
myself, and I'm always interested
in what's going on in the field of
aviation. I hope to make some
money out of the Air Park, but
even greater satisfaction results
from my contacts with aviators, not
only here in North Carolina but
also those from other parts of the
country. As we get better known,
we hope to have more and more
folks drop in to visit with us."
There’s a town in North Carolina
named Zcbulon, another named
Baird, and a third named Vance-
boro. All of them named in honor
of the great statesman, Zebu’.on
Baird Vance.
