Berlin Airlift Pilot to Drop Chocolate Bars on North Carolina Town

A North Carolina town, an hour north of the beach where the Wright Brothers completed their first flight, is using thousands of chocolate bars to cultivate a new generation of aviators.

Next week in Elizabeth City, Ret. Air Force Col. Gail Halvorsen will re-enact the famed Berlin Airlift of 1948-49, during which he dropped chocolates wrapped in handkerchiefs to children waiting below. Just as he did last year, the 90-year old flier will release locally-made candy bars affixed to miniature parachutes from a restored 1954 Douglas C-54.

(Unlike last year, the receiving students will be segregated by age: "We found that some of the little kids were disadvantaged by bigger kids who trampled them," says Wayne Harris, director of the Albemarle Economic Development Commission.)

Read more about the chocolate drop.

The greater Elizabeth City area has emerged as a hub of aeronautic activity, with every faulty Coast Guard aircraft sent there for repairs. Harris says local leaders hope to attract still more manufacturers to the region -- blimp skins and other parts are already made there -- which is why they're appealing to students to consider careers in the industry. Companies look kindly on a trained workforce, Harris explains.

"We recognize we need to develop this interest in kids when they're in elementary school," Harris says. "Between chocolate and the airplane, we figure we've got a pretty good hook."

When Halvorsen created what came to be known as "Operation Little Vittles," the chocolates were small treats for West German children behind the Soviet blockade. According to the Berlin Airlift Historical Society, Halvorsen shared two sticks of Wrigley's Doublemint gum with a group of children, promising to return with candy if they didn't fight over the bubblegum. The children complied, and Halvorsen began dropping chocolate bars the next day. The effort was hugely popular with the American public, who contributed so much candy that the Air Force was able to deliver three tons of chocolate to Berliners throughout the city.

Halvorsen, who picked up the nicknames "The Chocolate Uncle" and "Uncle Wiggly Wings," for the signature maneuver he used to announce his arrival, has re-enacted his flight many times before. But, Harris says, "this year, Elizabeth City is the only site. Because, you know, he's 90."

Scott Hinton, manager of the Elizabeth City Regional Airport, adds: "He's 90 from the neck down. From the neck up, he's 25."