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Z. Smith Reynolds (1911-1932)
 In
1940, Charles Norfleet, the president of the Airport Commission,
contacted Eastern Airlines, requesting them to begin servicing Miller
Airport. When Eastern Airlines agreed to add Miller Airport to its
North-South route, Dick Reynolds and his sisters, trustees of the
Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, donated funds from the Foundation
to further modernize and expand the airport. In 1942, Miller Municipal
Airport was renamed and dedicated to Smith
Reynolds, a pioneer in aviation before his untimely death at
the age of 20.
In 1930 he set out to be the first to circumnavigate the globe
with an airplane. With London as the start/finish, he selected an
amphibian plane (Savoia-Marchetti) for the task. However, this extreme
duty was more than the plane could tolerate. It failed mechanically
in Zhanjiang, China, and he ceased pursuit of his desideratum. He
died at the age of 20 in Winston-Salem in tragic circumstances.
In memory of his devotion to flying, the airport in Winston-Salem
was renamed in his honor.
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