Monadnock Moment No. 145

Era 7: Emergence of Modern American - 1890 to 1930

Crash at the Driving Park

Air travel and safety is of primary concern across the country and around the world. In the Keene vicinity there has been, however, relatively few air disasters. Yet airplane crashes were not entirely unknown here in the early days of aviation. A plane crashed near Wilson Pond during the summer of 1928. At that time the Keene Sentinel reported on an earlier mishap in Keene which must have been one of the first in the region.

According to the Sentinel, a large crowd gathered at the Keene Driving Park, now known as Edgewood, one day in 1905. They had come to see the flying machine of George Culbeck of St. Johnsbury, Vermont. This early airplane was a frame affair similar to the one built by the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk. The pilot sat within the metal framework and the plane rested on three bicycle wheels. The engine was behind the pilot and a seven-foot propeller was attached to the rear of the engine.

The plane was piloted by a Mr. Leo Bonnette who was to give a demonstration of human flight. The small plane proceeded down the driving track and lifted off into the air. The machine continued some distance and rose fifteen or twenty feet in the air before promptly crashing back to earth. Mr. Bonnette was not injured, but the same could not be said for the airplane.

This early flight was not a success, but this did not deter aviation buffs in Keene. The city was a leader in aviation in the state and the Keene Airport opened in the autumn of 1928.