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The Kasper family was highlighted in this 1971 “Astrojet News” clipping.
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Kathy Kasper Frank labeled the areas of her family’s Lazy K Acres airfield.
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This 1980s photo was taken as Ted Kasper takes off in his Cessna 140.
My parents, T.H. (Ted) and Eleanor Metcalf Kasper, purchased 50 acres, built a house and moved to Southlake in 1956. A barn was built next, as my mom raised registered Quarter horses.
In the early 1960s, my dad rented a bulldozer to clear our large pasture area and then a roller to smooth it for the NE/SW runway listed as 2250' x 50'. He may have sprigged coastal Bermuda grass to fill in the areas that were cleared. The N/S runway was built probably in the early 1970s and was much shorter.
An enclosed T-hangar, then a long hangar — which had a grass floor and space for five airplanes — and finally an enclosed work hangar — originally a T-hangar with a dirt floor — were put up.
Two additional fences were built to enclose what we called the “the hangar yard” and were necessary to keep the horses and cows out. It was always my brother’s and my responsibility to mow the hangar yard and runways.
There were usually two or three hangar spaces and sometimes one or two tie-down spaces rented out. My parents would only rent to experienced pilots, as the long runway had two hills with kind of a dip in the middle. Someone would land and then suddenly find themselves airborne again.
The windsock was approximately halfway, so the old rule was if you weren’t on the ground when you passed the windsock, you better go around and try again. A couple of people ground-looped their airplanes when they couldn’t stop in time. Fortunately, no one was ever hurt.
Since we had cattle and horses, the renters would sometimes have to buzz the runway to get the animals to move so they could land. If we heard a plane buzzing the field several times, we would have to go get feed to entice the animals back to the barn area so the pilots could land.
My mom never learned to fly. Just wasn't her thing. Both Eleanor and Ted flew for American Airlines — she as a flight attendant and he as a pilot.
My dad taught my brother, Gary, to fly. He soloed on his 16th birthday. I did not learn to fly until I was older, in the late 1980s.
At various times, my dad kept an Aeronca Champion (Champ), Cessna 140, Waco UPF-7 and Interstate Cadet on site. My brother and I grew up going to airshows. My dad was a member of the Antique Airplane Association and the Experimental Aircraft Association. My dad and brother also participated in fun competitions, such as flour bombing.
The airport remained open until my parents sold the property to the Carroll Independent School District in 1996 for Carroll High School.
Kathy Kasper Frank provided many photos to the Southlake Historical Society. Sadly, Kathy passed away in Feb. 2023. The society is grateful to her husband, Nick Frank, for allowing us to use Kathy’s story and photos.