Reynolds L. Jones (1920- 2006), builder-owner-operator of Smyrna "International."
Smyrna Airport is what a general aviation airport ought to be, he says. Its turf runway just east of town, stretches 2,600 feet. Its "terminal" features flight-planning facilities and pilots' lounge- and, outdoors, a picnic table under a wild cherry tree for hangar-flying in summer.
But Smyrna International is best-known for its founder who carved it out of a 170-acre farm where, as a young man, he milked the cows before hitch-hiking to Biggs Field (now Penn Acres in New (astle) (or flying lessons. He got his license in a J-3 Cub in 1940 and later bought an interest in an Aeronca Chief.
During the war, Reynolds commanded a CAP squadron in Wilmington and, for nearly 40 years, led a squadron at Smyrna, with headquarters in his home.
In 1968 Reynolds got an instructor's rating and began teaching full time. In 1979 he realized a long-time goal: a glider ticket, a Schweizer glider and a Cessna 150 to tow him aloft. He ran the only commercial glider operation in Delaware.
This year, 81-year-old Jones sold his Cessna 182 and stopped flying as pilot-in-command. His log shows more than 13,000 hours.
Reynolds Jones was nominated to the DAHF by Larry Tasker of Clayton and Kathy Wood Bailey of Smyrna.
