Polk County Pot Plane | airport, interesting place

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Polk County Pot Plane. August 1975. Drug smugglers flying a Douglas DC-4 (N67038) landed at a 1000 foot airstrip which had been bulldozed out of the forest only hours beforehand. The DC-4, designed for runways of 3000 feet or longer, managed to stop in less than 500. Numerous bales of marijuana were unloaded from the aircraft, which was then abandoned. As one might expect, a large four engine piston aircraft roaring about the countryside at low level in the dead of night attracted considerable attention from the locals, and law enforcement in particular. Numerous suspects were quickly apprehended in the following days. Charges were dropped against many, including the owner of the DC-4, as it could not be conclusively proven that he was the pilot at the time it landed in Polk County.

The DC-4 had been seized by authorities as evidence. Various schemes for disposing of the aircraft were proposed. One involved using helicopters to airlift the ship out of the woods to the nearest proper airport. Another was to turn the site into a local tourist attraction. At length though, the aircraft was auctioned off to the highest bidder on the courthouse steps. The new owner lengthened the airstrip out to roughly 3500 feet and flew the aircraft out shortly thereafter.

A semi-documentary, semi-drama of the whole affair titled “Polk County Pot Plane” was filmed and released in 1977. (www.imdb.com/title/tt0163159/)

The site of the airstrip is overgrown now. It is described as being just west of Ga. Highway 100 on Treat Mountain, southwest of Fullwood Springs, GA.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   33°53'58"N   85°20'26"W

Comments

  • I saw that plane. I smoked pot that was said to have come off the plane. Big news here in small town USA. This was just the start of things to come. The next ten years saw more and more dope come in by air. Around 1978 thur 1982 we started getting small planes filled with coke that came out of the Bahmamas, Just enought ranges to get into Ala, Ga, Tenn, Fla, Years later I read a book about Noman Cay where it said seven to ten fights out seven nights a week, all full of coke. It was a wild time in avation.
  • I went aboard this plane on the morning it landed ,with law enforcement personel. The runway was actually graded over a period of two days, local residents including me heard the dozers at work.
  • I've got original photos of this plane on the ground on that mountain
  • I too have original pics of plane both on the mountain and at Charlie Brown Airport. Strip see3med to be a little longer than 1000 ft. when flown in. The generator and light bulbs was pretty slic
  • It was sort of unreal. We drove up to see the plane and met a goat guarding a security trailer guarding the plane and the airstrip. At 19 years old it was sort of fun.
  • The plane was later made into a restaurant in Byron Georgia
  • Hobbs hit me I Up on Facebook Cory. Chambers.... Got some hing swese totell
  • I have heard a legend that the same person that flew the plane in that night, flew the plane out. His name was "Dodgie" Stockmar. or Lemuel H. Stockmar. He died in a small plane crash in 1999 with a guy named Champ. Both great pilots and guys. JP
  • This sure was awful close to Epsom Hill Ga a known place for active distribution of Apple Flavored Elixir. It was the best time in America before we had pollution and population explosion. I wish we could go back.
  • I was a teenager when they flew the plane off the mountain to Bear Creek Airport in Hampton, Ga near my home. When used to climb inside of it and get stoned!
  • I don't think that anyone.knows who the real pilot was...Cory Chambers. Could have a clue tho
  • The airstrip was 1300' long, I know this because I was the pilot who flew the plane to the Bear Creek Airport. I was type rated in the airplane and was flying freight from Miami to the Caribbean on a regular basis. There is a complete and truthful story, if anyone wants to hear the truth about it. I am willing to ta lie detector test anytime about this flight. Thanks, James P. Thurman -- Cell 301-473-3816 -- Email : jnjthurman@comcast.net
  • I would like to see these photos. My name is James P. Thurman, the pilot that flew the plane from treat mountain to Bear Creek airport near the Atlanta Int'l raceway. jnjthurman@comcast.net Cell 301-473-3816
  • Different airplane .For many years a landmark on I-75 at Ga Hwy 49 in Byron was the DC-7 Steakhouse. DC-7B N51700 (c/n 44700) formerly of Pan-American Grace Airways (PANAGRA) stood here for many years serving out the last of her days as a novelty steakhouse for tourists bound for Florida. The Polk County plan is a DC-4. Thanks, James P. Thurman ... jnjthurman@comcast.net
  • Bob Eby bought the plane at auction in Tucson at Davis Moffit AFB. It was going to be melted down for the aluminum so he literally built it from scratch. It rained that whole day so he had no chance to fly it out.
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This article was last modified 13 years ago