Cleveland’s Air Show: Lakewood’s Own
Before it was called the Cleveland National Airshow, it was referred to as the Cleveland Air-Races. It began in 1929, in downtown Cleveland with parades and overhead stunts, before continuing at the Cleveland Hopkins Airport, in Brookpark, Ohio. Besides the airplane acrobats and stunts, there were different types of airplane races. A Lakewood, Ohio resident, Leland Hall Cameron, entered and placed in the 1949 long-distance Bendex Race. His large Martin B-26 bomber was the largest aircraft to ever enter the division. The race began in Mojave, California, and ended at Cleveland’s airport.
Lee Cameron (1911-2007), was heir to an automobile built in the 1900’s called the “Cameron.” A model of the automobile is displayed at the auto museum in Sylnar, California. He was an aviation pioneer and a Captain with United Airlines. His numerous friends consisted of former President and his wife Ronald and Nancy Reagan, entertainer Bob Hope, actor Jimmy Stewart, Howard Hughes and Amelia Earhart. Cameron was also the Captain of the DC-44 that crashed in the Gulf of Mexico in 1979. The story of his survival in the crash was the main subject of a book called, “In Triumph,” by Prince Machiavelli. In addition, the depiction of Lee’s agonizing week stranded in a life raft after the crash was considered for a Network Series Production to be shown on “Junestar Media.”
Unfortunately, the story that shadowed the 1949 Air-Races was the fatal accident that took two pedestrian lives. During the close-quarters Thompson Pylon Race, an altered, P-51 Mustang fighter plane, modified for greater speed, lost control and crashed into a home in Berea, Ohio, killing a mother and child. That terrible incident was the cause for ending the Cleveland Air-Races. However, those men in their flying machines returned to Cleveland in 1964, as the Cleveland Air Show.
A documentary about the history of the Cleveland Air Show, including the 1949 tragedy, can be seen on COX Cable Channel 45, Sundays at 9 PM and Cleveland Spectrum Channel 1025, Mondays at 9 PM. For more information you can call; 440 888-8327 or email atKevin@shockerenterprises.com
Kevin Kelly has spent a lot of his time with family and friends who live in Lakewood, Ohio. He is a local video producer in Cuyahoga County, who produces documentaries for independent and goverment stations around the United States.
kevin kelly
Kevin Kelly has spent a lot of his time with family and friends who live in Lakewood, Ohio. He is a local video producer in Cuyahoga County, who produces documentaries for independent and goverment stations around the United States.