Visit our new site!

This blog has been moved to the Port Washington Public Library website.  Please visit us there to see and comment on all of your favorite photos.  Here’s our new address:

http://www.pwpl.org/localhistory/aviation/

Be sure to add it to your bookmarks!

Greetings from Port Washington, L.I.

TUNING UP A U. S. ARMY AEROPLANE          SERIES NO. 12          222671

[date unknown]

Draftsmen at the American Aeronautical Corp. Plant, 1929

The plant was located on Manhasset Isle.

Photo courtesy of of the Estate of Joseph J. Gaeta.

Pan Am’s Sikorsky S-42B In Hangar

Photo from the collection of Willard Baker.

Republic Aviation F-84F Thunderstreak Postcard

The back of the postcard reads:

REPUBLIC’S F-84F Thunderstreak fighter-bomber.  Armed with six .50 caliber guns and more than 6,000 pounds of external armament.  Carries nuclear weapons.  Powered by J-65 turbojet engine with 7,200 pounds of thrust.  Speeds over 650 mph.  Set U. S. transcontinental speed record and world’s non-stop jet fighter distance record.  Serves USAF and NATO air forces.

REPUBLIC AVIATION CORPORATION, Farmingdale, L. I., N. Y.

The aircraft was in production from 1952-1957.  For more information, see the Cradle of Aviation Museum’s webpage about it.

Boeing 314, Known As “Dixie Clipper”, Takes Off

The Dixie Clipper, a Boeing 314 flying boat operated by Pan American, was in service from 1939-1950.

See our post featuring artist John T. McCoy’s rendering of the Dixie Clipper here.

Pan American’s Sikorsky S-42B in Water, 1937

The “Bermuda Clipper” had the Pan American number NC16735.

Paul Kotze and Volunteers with Sperry Messenger Replica

Paul Kotze (second from left) and other volunteers crafted a replica Sperry Messenger plane from original plans for Nassau County’s Cradle of Aviation Museum.  Read more about the Sperry Messenger and the replica on the Crade of Aviation website here: http://www.cradleofaviation.org/exhibits/ww1/sperry/index.html.

From our book, People, Places, Planes (1997):

Paul Kotze’s father worked for the Curtiss Company when Curtiss was constructing the NC-4, the plane that, in 1919, made the first successful trans-Atlantic flight.  Mr. Kotze remembers visiting the Curtiss plant witht his father and bringing home bits of wood and silk for building models.  While still a teenager, he bought his first full size airplane for fifty dollars, which he had earned pumping gas for the Cadillac Company.  The plane had no engine and needed extensive restoration, but Kote had engine experience from his work at Cadillac, and spent time at Curtiss Field watching others work on airplanes.

As World War II approached, Kotze was recruited to work for Grumman supervising airplane construction.  During this time he developed tools, jigs, and guages to simplify and standardize the work.

In retirement, after spending 1940-1968 at Grumman, Kotze has donated his skill and his time to the Crade of Aviation Museum, doing reproduction and restoration work.  As one of the more experienced volunteers, the 92-year-old Kotze must help train new volunteers.

Pan American Document Describing Port Washington Airport, 1937

[CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE]

PORT WASHINGTON, U.S.A.                   PAA AIRPORT NO. B-335-4

REMARKS: Station operated by Pan American Airways – At present used as port of entry for U.S.A.-Bermuda services by Pan American Airways & Imperial Airways –

Image from the Pan American World Airways, Inc. Records, Archives and Special Collections Department at the University of Miami.

The Cavalier Flying Boat, c. 1930s

This flying boat, manufactured by the Short Brothers and called the Cavalier (each individual plane was given a name that started with “C”) carried passengers between Long Island and Bermuda in the late 1930s until it was lost January 21, 1939 en route to Bermuda.  There were 10 survivors and 3 fatalities.

Photo from the collection of Willard Baker.