Hillsgrove Airport – April 14, 1948
On April 14, 1948, a 31-year-old pilot was soloing in a Piper Cub J-3 airplane. The pilot was a student training under the GI benefit program and was making practice landings at the Hillsgrove Airport in Warwick. The pilot began a landing approach, but while still 1,000 feet short of the runway the engine suddenly stopped. The pilot managed to “mushroom” the plane atop a cluster of trees just outside the airport. The plane suffered heavy damage, but the pilot was not injured.
Source: The Pawtucket Times, “Pawtucket Pilot Unhurt In Crash”, April 15, 1948, pg. 18
