Happy Holiday Season and welcome once again t0 Where & When! Our random scheduling has swung around to catch us up in its web (random vacation time), so I have time to post a new one for you to look over and talk about. So here goes!
I was trying to decide between two pictures for this location because both were interesting and historic, but this one won because I didn’t have to manipulate it to make it presentable and it’s a little more of a challenge. I ask you all to figure out where this picture was taken and when; the challenge is more in the when because the clues in the picture indicate a somewhat historic event. Plane aficionados will likely get the reference and of course the bonus questions of what kind of plane that is and who it belonged to, which would certainly indicate when this picture was taken (wowzers, a hint! It was for the second occurrence of the use of this plane connected with this location.)
So there you go; a big warm mug of hot chocolate with whipped cream for the winner and a half-pint carton of chilled chocolate milk to share with the rest for the stragglers. And how about a warm plate of brownies for the bonus questions? That might help us welcome in the official start of winter (yesterday), and keep the hot stove season hot (I’m intrigued so far), so you know how the game goes and have fun. Happy Holidays!
Photo Credit: Geocitiessites (pend.)
A google of "NYC airports 1930's" gave me Floyd Bennet Field as the first choice on Wiki. Famous flyers (thanks for the hint) included Wiley Post, Amelia Earhardt and Howard Hughes. Post had 2 round-the-world flights (thanks for the second hint), but the second one was from Floyd Bennet on July 22, 1933. Hughes flew a Lockheed Electra to break Post's round the world record, and while I'm no airplane expert, I don't think that's this plane. This doesn't look like Amelia's plane, so I'm sticking with Wiley Post at Floy Bennet on 7/22/33.
Happy holidays to you too!
Looking up NR61Y, we find that the plane is a Wedell-Williams Model 44. This particular plane apparently is the only surviving Model 44 in existence. Owned by a gentleman named Roscoe Turner. A little digging on that character shows he set a speed record on 9/1/34 flying from Burbank, CA to Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. So the where is Floyd Bennett Field and the when is 9/1/34.
Obviously post WWI. Even in the 1920s planes generally had wings on top, so 1934 or 1933 is reasonable. Am on vacation so I don't have good internet access.
[2] You are correct, sir! Enjoy the brownies.
I have mixed feelings about Floyd Bennett Field; certain aspects of it are preserved as they were years ago, but much of it is run down; it screams "abandoned airport" as opposed to "urban campsite" which it mostly serves as now. There are also refurbished constructions that, according to Wikipedia, don't follow the original plan to preserve their original nature (which would be hard to accomplish given their uses, but still...) So as nice as it is to still have a well documented piece of history still among us, I wish that there was better care for its upkeep and re-purposing. It's given over to nature, but it still looks more or less like an abandoned lot.