Page 5 - July24

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Flying and Touring the Natchez Trace, Part 1
by Matthew McDaniel
All photos are credited to the author unless otherwise noted.
Author’s Note: In Part 1, we’ll explore the history of sites along the northern three- quarters of the Natchez Trace. In the next issue, we’ll wrap up the tour, covering the southernmost portions of the route and nearby attractions.
Tupelo Regional Airport (KTUP)
Jackson, Hawkins Field (KHKS)
Nashville Int’l (KBNA)
Northwest Alabama Regional Airport (KMSL)
Map of Natchez Trace Parkway. (National Park Service)
As pilots, we all share a common interest in modern transport. Often, we fly just for fun, feeding our passion to be airborne. However, King Air category aircraft are primarily a means of rapid transport. They are magic carpets that, in a matter of hours, cover distances that once took weeks, months or even a year or more.
When an opportunity presents itself to use aircraft to explore a route our ancestors traveled for thousands of years before man ever flew, maybe we should take it. Going fast from place to place can buy us time to enjoy, explore and learn about the place we are in. Such is the journey along one of North America’s oldest transportation routes – the 444-mile Natchez Trace.
The entire route could be flown in under two hours if viewed as a simple cross-country flight. From beginning to end, the great- circle distance is only 355 nautical miles between Nashville International Airport (KBNA) in Tennessee and the Nachez-Adams Co. Airport (KHEZ) in the southwestern corner of Mississippi. Explorations of what lies at each end could easily occupy a tourist for weeks. However, in between, ample
JULY 2024
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 3
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