A rare 1936 amateur film of airplanes at Roosevelt Field
Earlier this month I purchased a 19-minute amateur 16 mm film of the 1936 and 1937 Vanderbilt Cup Races (still being edited.) A big surprise was this rare one-minute color clip of airplanes taking off and landing at Roosevelt Field.
Check back on the website later this month to see 18 minutes of the 1936 and 1937 races never seen by the public.
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
Film edited by Dana Kyle.
Josh Stoff, curator of the Cradle of Aviation, has identified this plane as a "Monocoupe 110 Special - a fast and expensive plane in its day. The pilot is wearing a parachute harness. "
The Roosevelt Field hangars off Old Country Road.
It is likely this film was shot on October 12, 1936, the same day as the Vanderbilt Cup Race.
Josh Stoff believes the plane is a Waco.
Note the Roosevelt Raceway grandstand in the background.
The ever-present LILCO gas tank off Stewart Avenue.
Can anyone identify the logo on this worker's uniform?
Comments
The logo may be SAE, Society of Automotive Engineering, founded in 1905 by Andrew Ricker and Henry Ford. Its sole aim was to provide an umbrella organization for scattered automotive engineers who usually worked alone in various parts of the country. SAE later expanded to add aeronautical and tractor engineers in 1916.
Could that be tree-lined Motor Parkway in the back, hidden behind the hill?
Great rare film Howard, thanks for sharing the views on how the airfield once operated.
And in color! Amazing.