Shortly before World War II, an airport was built at Skyco, a community on Roanoke Island about halfway between Manteo and Wanchese. The airport was a base for a National Park Service airplane, which was used to fly supplies to beach erosion projects in the Cape Hatteras area, as there were no paved roads south of Nags Head at that time. I was a teenager, and living near the airport, began spending most of my time there watching, and doing odd job in return for an occasional ride in an airplane. The plane the National Park Service based there was a Fairchild FC-2W2, formerly an Army photography plane well suited for hauling cargo. The pilot was Dave Driskill, a well-known aviator in the Norfolk area, and one of the most experienced pilots on the Atlantic coast at landing an airplane on the sandy beaches of the Outer Banks. Driskill was a true aviation pioneer, and a great promoter of air transportation. He soon interested some of the local business men in flying, and the group bought a Taylor Cub, which Driskill taught some of them to fly. Later, they bought a Stinson Reliant, which was used for charter trips, and for taking passengers up for a ride. Sometimes this plane was used for emergency flights, to fly sick or injured people from Hatteras Island to Norfolk area hospitals. The airport was a great attraction for local people as well as the few tourists who visited the area. On Sunday afternoons in the summer months just before World War II, the airport was sometimes a center of activity, with many people stopping by to watch the plane take off or land, and some of them going up for a fifteen minute flight for a dollar each. Many Outer Banks residents were introduced to aviation at the Skyco Airport.
 

Dewey Mann

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