After my visit to the Cradle of Aviation Museum Sunday, I decided to take the long way home, braving the traffic on the Belt Parkway. There's a very interesting place along the way, just SW of Kennedy Airport...haven't been there but one time, years ago, so I decided to take a little detour for another look.




Yes, it's Floyd Bennett Field, at one time one of the most significant airfields in the world. Many record-setting and  first-ever flights originated or ended up here, and... well, if you're interested, just Google it sometime...




Most of the original hangars are not exactly shipshape; the airport's been closed for many years. But there are hints of its former glory, and the weathered appearance sort of drives home the fact that this place has an old, rich history.






This control tower building is now a "Visitor Center", didn't seem like it was open, and I didn't check, as I was making a pretty quick stop here. Looks like it's been fixed-up a little...






There's a lot going on here, as we'll see, despite it being a defunct airfield. There's fishing areas, nature trails, a community garden, and... would you believe... cricket?
   No, really... the nearest area of the borough of Queens is called Jamaica, and there are a large number of West Indians living there (now there's a good 'chicken-or-egg' question; I have no idea if it's a coincidence or not).
   They seem to really enjoy this game, but I was perplexed. Looks like someone losing their temper while playing croquet...




More from FBF on the way!

Well done rotty .

It is sad sometimes to see the state of the old airfields, what do you think they will do with this one?

I suppose they will turn it into condo's or apartment buildings.

Thanks for posting the main building...it looks as if it is being used to some extent.

Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug

Very interesting once again. I've heard the name of course but don't know much about the history. I'll take your advice & google it. (Google is now a verb in the dictionary so I assume it has a small 'G' when used in this sense).

I think the closest comparison to this over here would be Croydon Airport, the original London airport. This was all grass with a terminal building similar to the one at Shoreham. It was still in regular use when some friends & I did our grand cycling tour of southern airports in about 1958, ending up at Heathrow.  We even camped on the airfield at Croydon without being questioned or arrested. Times were very different then.

I haven't even been past it for many years. It might be difficult to find now as I don't thnk there's much sign of it ever existing which I think is a darned shame. The airfield itself is either covered with factories or houses now although one or two of the original buildings might still be there. I was told recently that even the famous old Propeller pub across the road has finally gone, along with the big propeller that stood outside the pub. All that history & nothing to show for it.

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I'm pretty sure there's a bus stop there... it's in Queens. I think the other time I visited, I brought a bicycle on the subway to rockaway Beach and rode over the bridge. It's pretty accessible.

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Used to be standard dress for cricket of any sort. We had to wear full white kit when playing it at school & I was never in one of the school teams.

That looks like French cricket, the way the bowler is bowling it....strange...
We still wear full whites at school, nice photos tho!
Refreshing to see an  old school airport.


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Hence the Greg (or was it Ian?) Chappell incident, in which one of them bowled underarm- a no-ball, or something, leaving Australia the victors (England had to score 1 run to win). Nevertheless, good to see the game in action!

EDIT: I see now! He IS  a slow bowler, but thats part of his wind down or wind up.


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It's still very visible, being on the Purley Way in/out of London. The terminal building survives as does the hotel next door. Amazingly a fair amount of the airfield hasn't been built on, and I think if you look at multimap you will see that some of the original concrete runway "ends" still exists. It has a visitor centre open on the first Sunday of the month, 1100-1600, and has a Tiger Moth (inside) and DH Heron on display outside. Ironically, where FBF has cricket being played, Croydon appears to have a Baseball diamond in the middle of the old airfield!

http://www.multimap.com/map/photo.cgi?client=public&X=531000&Y=163000&width=700&...(scroll down one click to see the remaining tarmac)

Similarly, very close to Croydon is the former RAF Kenley, still owned by the MOD, with all its tarmac intact (the Luftwaffe took care of the hangars in 1940)...

http://www.multimap.com/map/photo.cgi?client=public&X=537500&Y=160000&width=700&...