Redfern Field

Front: This is the site of Redfern Field, established in 1923 as the first commercial airfield in Columbia. Paul Rinaldo Redfern (1902-1927?) had shown an early interest in and aptitude for aviation, building his first full-scale airplane in 1916, while still a student at Columbia High School. Though he soon left high school to gain experience working on and flying planes, Redfern returned in 1919 and graduated in 1923. Reverse: Redfern built his own plane, opened his airfield here, and flew passengers all over S.C. before barnstorming across the Southeast for a few years. In 1927 businessmen in Brunswick, Ga., financed Redfern’s attempt to make the first solo flight from North America to South America. On August 25, he took off in the monoplane Port of Brunswick from that city, bound for Rio de Janeiro. Redfern, last seen over Venezuela, was never heard from again.