Neighborhood picnic

Unfortunately, the lingering drizzle dissuades most from completing their mission this Sunday afternoon. Over the next few days, members of the Bayport Aerodrome Society take time out of their schedules to ensure that the residents in the neighborhood surrounding the aerodrome receive an invitation to the thirty-second annual Neighborhood Appreciation Picnic. The invitation includes free food and a chance to ride in one of the society members’ airplanes.

This event has become as anticipated by the neighbors as it is to the society members. We even get calls asking when it will be held when we are a little behind schedule in getting the fliers out.

Bayport Aerodrome (23N) is the only publicly owned grass field left on Long Island, New York, and as such it is always in the sights of land developers. This picnic has allowed the aerodrome to become more familiar to the surrounding residents. We have worked to achieve good neighbor status, and the picnic has become an important part of that neighborly relationship.

The planning and approvals from the town’s various entities take time and effort from the officers of the society, and the setup and manpower to pull this event together is borne by the entire membership. Grills must be cleaned, bathrooms prepared, tents erected, and temporary fencing installed. Food is purchased and brought to the society hangar, and, as with many aviation-related events, the outcome rests in the fickle hands of Mother Nature.

This year the weather cooperated, and 55 neighbors received flights in aircraft. This includes a variety of aircraft, such as the Stearman, Naval Aircraft Factory N3N, Aeronca Champion, Fairchild 24, Cessna 140, and more. Other vintage and homebuilt aircraft are on the field for the neighbors to admire.

While the effort required to stage an event like the Annual Neighborhood Picnic is considerable, the results make it worthwhile. Neighbors who would never be exposed to the joy of flight get a firsthand look (and get to hear, feel, and smell) at what really happens at the Bayport Aerodrome. We depend on the continued good relationship we have nurtured with the surrounding neighbors and look forward to this event as a way to introduce aviation and show our pride in the organization that helps keep vintage aircraft flying over the “Cradle of Aviation” know as Long Island.

Our little slice of heaven got its start when Curtis Davis flattened out one of his father’s corn fields in 1946. Deep in the pine barrens of Long Island, Davis Airport was one of the dozens of similar airports then in existence on Long Island. Hangars were built and the airport grew. In 1953 the airport was sold to George Edwards and became Edwards Airport. For a time, the airport included a hangar dismantled and brought from Roosevelt Field, Charles Lindbergh’s departure point. As was the case with the vast majority of Long Island’s airports, civilization encroached.

In the 1970s Edwards Airport was sold for a 138-unit housing tract. An unusual cadre of concerned residents, an antique airplane club, and local town officials came together and miraculously found a way to save it from the developers’ axe. Owned by the town of Islip, the Bayport Aerodrome has become one of the little-known historic gems of Long Island.

Bayport Aerodrome continues to flourish while it is surrounded by residential neighborhoods. We have developed strong relations with the local civic association and actively promote a good neighbor policy. Currently the Bayport Aerodrome Society oversees 24 hangars on the north end of the field, populated with a collection of more than 30 antique and vintage aircraft. In addition, the Long Island Early Fliers maintains a large hangar, also at the north end of the field, with a collection showcasing Long Island aviation history, and several flying aircraft. The Antique Airplane Club of Greater New York also holds meetings and events at the aerodrome.

John Herman is a longtime member of the Bayport Aerodrome Society.