Mason City Municipal Airport resolution to create a new airport and purchased 312 acres several miles west of the city. The new Mason City Municipal Airport saw its first official landing a few years later on March 29, 1945. The airport consisted of two paved runways, associated taxiways, and a small ramp area. A remodeled farmhouse was used as the first commercial terminal during the airport dedication on June 22, 1946. Musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, along with pilot Roger Peterson, died in a plane crash after taking off from the Mason City Municipal Airport in the early
And When the Sky Was Opened out for four hours and the craft itself disappeared from radar screens for a full day before reappearing and crash landing in the desert leaving Gart with a broken leg. Gart inquires as to the status of the plane, but Forbes is clearly agitated and asks Gart if he remembers how many people were on the mission, producing a newspaper whose front page shows the likenesses of the two men and a headline stating that two astronauts were rescued from the desert crash. Gart confirms that only he and Forbes piloted the plane but Forbes insists that a third man