Floyd Bennett Field Celebrates Its 75th Year
 | | During Saturday's celebration, the above propeller-driven C-54, which was used during the Berlin Airlift in 1948, landed at Floyd Bennett. |
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When the National Park Service took over Floyd Bennett Field and made it part of Gateway Nation-al Recreation Area in 1972, it was a foregone conclusion that the landmark facility would never be closed. There was too much history there; too many frontiers had been reached; too many famous pioneers of early flight had landed on its famous run-ways.
Born in 1931 as a quiet airfield located off the mar-shlands of South Brook-lyn, it had already lived a full life and made its mark on the progress of Ame-rica.
Last weekend, officials at Gateway recognized the 75th Anniversary of the old standby that served first as a municipal airport - scoring landings and takeoffs by such individuals as Amelia Earhart, Wiley Post and, indeed, Charles Lindbergh - and eventually as a Naval Air Station featuring the most modern F9F supersonic jets.
Now, as officials guiding tours last Saturday said, the area is a playland, so to speak, with a wild-life area and even an ice skating rink.
 | | Many photos of early daredevil pilots can be seen throughout the field. Above, Wiley Post shows off his single-wing, single-engine plane. |
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Photos by Barry Fischer
Text by Charles Rogers
 | | The sad commentary is that, despite the 75 years the South Brooklyn airfield has been in existence, items on display have featured mostly weapons of war, like the bombs above. |
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 | | Here's the man himself: Floyd Bennett. The daring pilot was responsible for flying Admiral Byrd to the North Pole on a number of occasions. |
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