It’s somehow comforting to visit a grass strip that hasn’t changed very much for more than half a century — especially one that exists under the Class B airspace of Charlotte/Douglas International Airport in North Carolina.
Bradford Field (NC05) has been owned — literally forever — by the Bradford family. The place exudes a down-home, relaxing atmosphere, with one large vintage hangar (where aircraft restorations have taken place), three long rows of shade hangars, and a small concrete-built pilot lounge. The 3,850 x 150-foot strip is smoothed out every year with a vibrating roller.
Tall trees surround both sides of the runway and the south end, creating an aura of peaceful solitude for this private strip. Acres and acres of greenhouses are just to the north end of the strip, and patterns are flown on the west side of the airfield to avoid entering Concord-Padgett Regional Airport’s Class D airspace.
In early May 2025, airfield owner Dee Bradford and his wife, Cynthia, invited aviators to their field for lunch.
At least 47 aircraft were there, including two Cessna Bird Dogs, two helicopters, half a dozen Piper J-3 Cubs, a Piper J-4 Cub Coupe, a Piper L-4, a Meyers OTW and 200D, RVs, Aeroncas, a Hiperbipe, a Hatz, an Extra 330 LT, a Vashon Ranger, several Cessna 180s, a couple of Huskys and Kitfoxes, a Fly Baby, a couple of Cessna 120s, a Maule, a Pitts Special, and a Waco Classic Great Lakes.
Dee clearly enjoyed having such a large variety of flying machines descending upon his field for the day. He mingled through the crowds of friendly folks while Cynthia headed up the food table and cooked hot dogs for everyone.
There wasn’t even a donation bucket for lunch. By way of explanation, Cynthia smiled and said, “There’s no charge because we invited you to have lunch with us!”
Bradford Family Fliers
Dee has always had a natural inclination toward aviation, having grown up with it.
“My grandfather on my mother’s side flew aerobatics,” recounted Dee. “My granddad’s brother, Dwight Cross, bought a Travel Air in the 1920s. Dwight later owned a Beech Staggerwing and a Piper Aztec. He flew all his life and he’s the one who got my dad interested in flying.”
After Dee graduated from college and started working in the family business, he started taking flying lessons. In 1973, he soloed the 1939 J-3 Cub (NC23438) that his father bought in 1966.
That Cub embodies the Bradford family legacy of flight. When Dee bought the family’s oil and natural gas pipeline construction and maintenance business from his father, the Cub was part of the deal. He still owns it.
“The Cub has been in North Carolina since 1946,” Dee recalls. “My father bought it from Charlie Thomas, who bought it from a group out of Lake Norman Airpark. Steve Yancey restored it for me to award-winning status, and during our research on its history, Clyde Smith told us that the airplane was sold by Tom Davis’ Camel City Flying Service in Winston-Salem, pre-cursor to Piedmont Airlines, in 1940. It was originally black, not yellow, and had an A-40 engine.”
Dee took his private check ride in a 150-hp Cherokee because “I had to have the radios, but I flew the 1939 Cub up until then. My uncle, Brooks Cross, was a pilot and instructor, and I had flown a lot with him in the Cub, so I soloed in about three hours. Years later, both of my daughters, Ashley and Allison, soloed this Cub.”
Dee also owns a 1942 Piper L-4 Cub and a 1942 Meyers OTW and his “driver,” a 1936 Chevy. He had them all on display during the fly-in.
Bradford Field
The genesis of Bradford Field was back in the mid-1960s. Neighboring Brockenbrough Airport was closing and pilots were looking for a new home for their airplanes.
“My father had acquired some bottomland and we figured it would make a perfect airfield. We used our equipment to grade a strip in 1965, and in 1966 we moved everybody from Brockenbrough to our field. We probably had 20-some airplanes brought here,” said Dee. “I inherited part of this land and later bought it all from my family. I sold the farm around 2018, but I kept about 150 acres right here with the airfield. I’ve been able to keep the field secluded, and the people who own the greenhouses that back up to the airport are good friends of ours. We like being neighbors, so it’s worked out good.”
Good indeed — not only for Dee, but for the aviators who call Bradford Field home, and for the ones who enjoy stopping in from time to time.
Fly Baby
Among the latter is Jim Katz, who enjoys flying his plans-built Fly Baby to Bradford from his home base at Goose Creek Airport (28A) in Indian Trail, North Carolina.
As a small child, he picked up the model airplane bug from his father, who was a P-47 crew chief during World War II, and has been building models ever since. As a professional pilot, Jim retired from a 35-year career with American Airlines, flying an Airbus 321.
Keeping a hands-on approach to aviation, Jim spent two and a half years building his Fly Baby, working at least six hours a day. Sometimes he’d work longer because he was so happily immersed in the project.
He chose the N-number and paint scheme to match designer Pete Bower’s Fly Baby (N500F) as closely as possible. He covered N502F with Ceconite fabric and used the Randolph Butyrate dope coatings system.
Bug Bruisers
There was a covey of vintage airplanes that flew a short hop from Laney’s Airstrip (N92) in Maiden, North Carolina, to Bradford.
Adorned with the name Bug Bruisers on their cowlings, they included a J-3 Cub, an Aeronca Champ, and a J-4 Cub Coupe. All told, there were 10 members of the Bug Bruisers at the fly-in.
The owner of the J-3 is student pilot Kristen Laney, who just loves flying.
“I named my Cub ‘The Big Banana,’” she smiled, adding proudly, “it’s my baby!”
Riding along in the front seat was one of her instructors, Mikenzy Andersen. An impromptu teaching opportunity arose when Mikenzy noticed an old, concrete segmented circle right behind the Cub. Mikenzy motioned to Kristen to look at it, to see how it depicted the right and left hand traffic patterns for the field.
Describing the Bug Bruisers, Kristen shared, “We’re a passionate group of tailwheel enthusiasts dedicated to celebrating grassroots aviation. Our members hail from various local airports, united by our love of low-and-slow flying and the unique camaraderie it fosters. The name itself reflects our gentle approach — we fly so slowly that we only ‘bruise’ the bugs, not splat them! We also maintain a group chat for coordinating local events, planning breakfast and lunch gatherings, and organizing grass strip hops. Our most cherished activity might be the ongoing, friendly rivalry about the eternal topic of Cubs versus Champs.”
After spending most of the day at Bradford, it was time to depart and a well-orchestrated mass exodus began taking place. Kristen hopped into the back seat of her Cub, and then Mikenzy propped it and climbed in to the front seat.
Kristen waited her turn to taxi to the south end to take off for home. Another day, another fly-in, and another flight recorded in the logbooks of all the attendee’s lives.
Visiting Bradford Field was an opportunity to experience grassroots aviation in an old-timey way — no scheduled activities, no competitions, no awards or special recognitions — just a warm and friendly welcome for all the guests to enjoy looking at airplanes and satiating their appetites with a gratis airfield luncheon.
Thank you, Dee and Cynthia!
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