Hunter Field

The Hunter brothers were the first in Sparta to own an airplane. In June of 1924 John, Alber and Walter Hunter, three young coal miners went to St. Louis to purchase a Curtiss Biplane from the Robertson Aircraft Corporation. They along with their other brother Kenneth "Beans" had big plans to use the airplane for commercial purposes. They used the fair grounds for their landing field. By September of 1924 they had put together "Hunter's flying Circus of Sparta". They owned and operated three airplanes and staged a number of thrilling stunts for the benefit of the crowds on the fair grounds. In their repertoire they had wing walking, parachute leaps, changing from one plane to another in mid-air, loop the loops, tail spins and all other sensational stunts. They also carried passengers for $3 each for a seven to ten minute ride over the city and fair grounds.

The four Hunter brothers, Albert, John, Kenneth ("Beans") and Walter, at Chicago on July 4, 1930 completed a record air-to-air refueled endurance record of 553 hours, 41 minutes, 30 seconds (that's 23 DAYS aloft!). Kenneth and John were the endurance plane pilots and Walter and Albert did the refueling from "Big Ben".

Below is a photo of two of their aircraft, NR5326 "Big Ben" and NR5189 "City of Chicago". Both are Stinson Detroiters. The "City of Chicago" is orange and blue.

Image below shows Albert in the right seat of "The City of Chicago".

Below are the 4 brothers: Left to right: Walter, John, Kenneth, Albert

Below is another picture in front of "Chicago" - note the catwalk and handholds on the nose of the "City of Chicago" used for in-air maintenance during the endurance flight.