Vanderbilt Cup Races

A photo we’ve seen before! Not as a mystery photo, but as part of an answer to a mystery photo I submitted back in 2013!
https://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/mystery_foto_friday_29_can_you_identify_thsi_section_of_the_motor_parkway

Long Island Aviation Club looking East. Located just off the Motor Parkway, which would be to the photographers right in the photo. Cup races grandstand location was a few hundred feet away.
As per VCR.com,  https://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/the_1940_membership_of_the_long_island_aviation_club
prominent members were; 
-Vanderbilt Cup1940 Membership List of the Long Island Aviation Club
Walter Beech- who began Beechcraft Aviation - still fabulous airplanes.
Wallis C. Bird
Jacqueline Cochran- First woman to fly a bomber across the Atlantic Ocean leading to the formation Women’s Air Force Service Pilots (WASPs)
Powel Crosley, Jr. - of Crosley Radio (nearly everyone’s radios in this time period were Crosley’s and he innovated radios in cars) and owner of Cincinnati Reds
Four members of the Du Pont family: Louisa Carpenter, Felix Du Pont Jr. and his wife, and Richard Du Pont. Felix and Richard were both pilots and went on to found Allegheny Airways which became U.S. Air.
Sherman Fairchild
Marshall Field III - heir to Marshall Fields, founder of “Chicago Sun” newspaper, owned Simon & Schuster Publishing for a time
Robert L. Gardiner
L. R. Grumman - founder of Grumman Aviation - terrific planes and today Northrop-Grumman
Roger Wolfe Kahn-  Jazz musician and son of Otto Kahn
Col. Charles Lindbergh
William L. Mitchell- Vice-President,Design for General Motors
Henry S. Morgan - son of J.P. Morgan and founder of Morgan-Stanley
Elmer A. Sperry, Jr.- the son of inventor Elmer Sperry
Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney
Gar Wood - inventor and championship motorboat builder
My guess on the date is sometime around 1940.

Research to ID the plane this weekend….

Aviation Country Club swimming pool

Hicksville/ Levittown

  9/25/2002 Mystery Photo Details:
    The location is what Levittown is today and the photographer is standing on the east side of pool looking west(erly).  The LIMP borders it on its north side. There is
tons of writings and photographs that give the complete story of its history in time
leading and up to the building of Levittown.
                        Best To ALL,  Ron
                              .

We are looking east at the L.I. Aviation Country Club in Hicksville at the time but now Levittown. The property shared a border with the Long Island Motor Parkway a few feet to the right of the photo. The LIMP was part of the course for the 1908, 1909 and 1910 V C Races. Among the many famous members of the club were Charles Linbergh, Leroy Grumman, Chance Vought, Walter Beech, Sherman Fairchild and Jackie Cochran. The plane is a General Aircraft G1-80 “Skyfarer” which had its maiden flight in 1940. There was a “Family Day” or “Industry Day” at the club on June 30, 1940 so I wouldn’t be surprised if the photo dates from around then.

Just north of LIMP in Levittown.

Pool at the Long Island Aviation Country Club In Levittown looking east.  Right across the parkway from the grandstands and the pits for the cup races.  Jerusalem Ave bridge would be just off past the hangars in the distance.  Charles Lindbergh was a member and taught his wife to fly here.  Early 1940’s on account of the color photograph and the aged landscape?

Long Island Aviation Club in Hicksville in 1949.

Long Island Aviation Country Club, Hicksville (Levittown now) looking east.  The club was located on the north side of The Motor Parkway which also was used for the Vanderbilt Cup Races.
Charles Lindbergh and his wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh among many others!
1937 - similar to the attached photo from Life Magazine of Aug. 16, 1937

First pic - Life Magazine
Second pic - Hans Groenhoff Photo Collection National Air & Space Museum
Third pic - Nassau County Tax Assessor

One more photo showing a plane and an auto.
Aero Digest, Dec., 1929

It is the Long Island aviation club out side of Hicksville near Levittown.

LI Aviation Country Club, looking east.  LP is out of sight at right.  All other details answered back on 11 Apr 2016 Mystery Foto #15 (among others).  That plane, though, has me stumped!  Trike gear, high wing, and twin tail?  Help!  Sam, III

Long Island Aviation Country Club (Hicksville Aviation Country Club) 1929-1948, looking East in Levittown (Island Trees). Grass airfield to the left of photo is where take offs/landings occured. There were no asphalt runways in this airport to accomodate pioneering aviators Lindbergh and Grumman, among others here—-> https://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/blog/article/the_1940_membership_of_the_long_island_aviation_club

I’m sure Earhart and Rickenbacker also visited but I can’t prove it.

The Long Island Motor Parkway (unseen here) is just to the right of this photo, running east-west alongside the airfield country club. The 1908-1910 Vanderbilt Cup races had a predominant grandstand also to the right of this photo, but slightly behind this photographer, on the west side of LIMP.

I’ll leave the date to the experts.

At the present day corner of crocus and blacksmith lanes

Aviation Country Club of Long Island in today’s Levittown. Photographer facing to the east. The LIMP passed right the front of the Club and hanger. The start/finish line of the Vanderbilt Cup Races was directly across the street.  Lindbergh taught his wife to fly there. Other famous aviation pioneers include Walter Beech, DuPont family members, L R Grumman, Sherman Fairchild and Jacqueline Cochran. Year of photo 1940’s (guess)

this is the LI Aviation Country Club in Hicksville NY.located between Woodbury Rd and the LIRR. clubhouse to the south.
Charles Lindbergh and Grumann himself were members.  Lindy landed &took; off from here in 1932 post his childs kidnapping. Taught Ann Morrow to fly here. 
By the looks of the poorly maintained diving board probably post WW II prior to closing.
LIMP was nearby

Mystery Foto #39… I can only answer the kudos question identifying the plane on the left. It was the General Aircraft Skyfarer.

Howard, It seems the primary reason for the sale of the Club was that they were literally surrounded by residential development. At their last meeting in March 1950 it was announced that they were looking to establish a new field somewhere between Commack and Bayshore.

Another fab. thread.  Hmm; don’t even remember the Skyfarer!  Art’s second aerial, the Groenhoff photo, shows a DC-2 or -3 and Lockheed or Beech twin and TWO high-wing 2-motor amphibians (Dolphin?  Grumman?) plus a float-plane and a weird bird-wing plane I recognize but can’t name.  The car in the obviously-posed succeeding publicity pic seems to be a 1930-32 Cadillac V-?; the plane, mfd. by Travel Air (founded by Cessna, Beech, and Stearman), is probably the 1929 Model 10.  Sam, III

Gassing up at the club!  From “Aero Digest” of June, 1930.

Having trouble but the latest appears to be a Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker; it’s not the earlier WB-1 or -2 Wright-Bellanca.  All early Bellancas had airfoil-shaped struts and such for greater lift.  The Mack is an early heavy B-series (BQ?) and the bulldog first appeared in 1932.  Guess who was the creator for the Mack Truck Photograph Collection at the Benson Ford Research Center in Dearborn, MI:  Henry Austin Clark, Jr.!  [Getting far afield again!]  Sam, III

For some reason I didn’t see the last “issue,” asking readers to identify the L. Aviation Country Club.  I know the exact spot where that photog stood when he took that photo of the swimming pool.
  Amelia and ruckenbacher definitely went there. She was I believe a charter member. There are pics and film of her arriving and departing by plane and sitting poolside having tea(!) with 3 people, 2 of whom are identified but I forget their names. One was another aviatrix . Rickenbacker did tricks at the club’s air shows.
  I think it can now be told publicly here that the Town of Hempstead Landmarks Preservation. Commission overwhelmingly agreed after hearing my presentation to erect a historical roadside marker on the site of the club’s clubhouse. They even approved my suggested wordage. I also showed them the two most appropriate and practical spots for the sign. Frank Femalina (sp?) confirmed and enhanced my visual that showed the commissioners exactly where on today’s aerial photos exactly where the club stood. ( I was only off by about 75-100 feet!) I’m sure you’ve all seen his great work on this.That was just around 3 years ago! A year ago they told me they decided to redo all of their existing signs to make them bigger, with larger letters, to make them readable from cars. That would cost a lot of money. It discouraged me. They have not been in touch with me since then, despite my calls and messages.  A couple of weeks ago they erected a larger than usual sign but with the same tiny print, marking some historic site; I forget what it is. Laura Curran spoke at the sign’s unveiling. I have given up trying to reach   them and have lost all hopes after 3 years that the marker will ever be erected. Oh, well, I did all I could. I move on.

Richard - thanks for confirming Earhart and Rickenbacker’s attendance at the club, and congrats to you on the TOH’s approval for the historic signs. Because they installed another sign just a few weeks ago looks promising for the LIACC sign(s), as they’re still in operation during this Covid pandemic. I’ve heard these requests take considerable time to fulfill. Was the new sign installed a few weeks ago also in Levittown?

Kleiner’s Korner provides the following:

Here’s a neat painting of my favorite “swank” airfield found in “Fortune” magazine of August, 1937.  Artist was Hardie Gramatky, named as one of America’s top 20 watercolorists. 

https://www.californiawatercolor.com/pages/hardie-gramatky-biography 

The photo was in an article titled “Private Flying” which also contained other photos of the time.  The insignia could be bought for $15 from “The Sportsman Pilot” a magazine devoted to private flying - the idea was to suggest the pilot’s principal interest.  Wonder if any exist for the Motor Parkway! 

Here’s a picture from the same issue of Fortune.  Can anyone identify the cars lined up on the pier?

The Old Country Rd bridge/underpass can be seen in the Roosevelt School photo above, along the left edge of the photo. A small section of Motor Parkway can be seen more to the right as it begins its decent towards the bridge. Great shot Art!

Someone was nice enough to send me a nice reproduction of that artwork used on a Fortune cover. It is fairly accurate, too. Seems to have been based upon the LIFE photog’s pictures of a picnic held there.  I don’t know which issue of Fortune it was used in, but it wasn’t the Aug., 1937 issue. ( I just checked eBay, and it wasn’t on the cover of ANY of its 1937 issues.) Does anyone know which year’s issue it was?

Thanks Frank and Richard - Frank, are there bridges towards the right as I’ve circled here? 

Richard - the painting was not a Fortune cover but in the actual issue of August, 1937.  Unless it was used at another time as a cover.

Eagle-eyed Art, I believe you are correct! Westbury Rd and trolley overpass, and Jericho Tpke underpass by the Mineola Lodge. The LIRR bridge is covered by trees. 1937, one year before closing.

Let’s take a poll.  Did anyone else notice the URL and e-mail typo “a_long_island_swimming_poll”?  We could pool our answers!  Mean, ain’t I?  Hey - “weird bird-winged plane”.  Semi-elliptical low-winged monoplanes were quite rare.  Could that be the Seversky AP-7 racer, like the DS (Doolittle Special), based on the P-35, powered by a Pratt & Whitney 1,200 hp R-1830 Twin Wasp engine, and flown by Jackie Cochran when she won the 1938 Bendix Trophy race, setting a women’s air speed record?  More nostalgia, too - Hardie Gramatky is exceptionally dear to my heart; he wrote and illustrated “Little Toot” (the indomitable little tugboat)!  Sam, III