New Book Releases

Name: Aviation in the Adirondacks
Brand: Aurora Pfaff
SKU: 9781467161541
Price: 24.99 USD
Availability: InStock

We’re always on the hunt for the next great American history book. When we find it, you’ll see about it here, with our new book releases. We release new history books each month in a variety of subjects and series. Browse through all of our newest titles below, and discover your next favorite history book at Arcadia Publishing! [View all New Book Releases]

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Aviation in the Adirondacks

Westchester County Airport

Paperback

$24.99

Aviation in the Adirondacks

9781467161541

$24.99

Since 1912, when a young man named George Gray landed an open-cockpit biplane on a farmer’s field, aviation has played an important role in communities located throughout the 6 million-acre Adirondack Park. Through a range of historic images and postcards, Aurora Pfaff tells the story of pilots who linked communities by air, transported goods and people, and the small towns and airfields that they called home.

From the novelty of planes landing on skis and daredevil flying circuses to forest fire patrols, exploration of the vast backcountry, and toy deliveries by Santa, airplanes have opened the Adirondack wilderness and made remote communities more easily accessible for tourists and adventurers. Yet this golden age for aviation would not last, for as car travel became easier and more affordable in the mid- to late-20th century, air travel in the Adirondacks would fade in importance and necessity.

Aurora Pfaff is a writer and editor living and working in New York state’s Adirondack Park. She has a master’s degree in English from Harvard University, but as a child dreamed of becoming an astronaut. She finally took her first flying lesson in 2022. Images used in Aviation in the Adirondacks come from the Adirondack Experience: The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake, Historic Saranac Lake, Keene Valley Library, Piseco Lake Historical Society, Saranac Lake Free Library Adirondack Research Room, Town of Webb Historical Association, individuals, and other organizations.

Long Island Airports

9780738536767

$24.99

Long Island is a natural airfield. The central area of Long Island's Nassau County--known as the Hempstead Plains--is the only natural prairie east of the Allegheny Mountains. The island itself is ideally placed at the eastern edge of the United States, adjacent to its most populous city. In fact, nowhere else in America has so much aviation activity been confined to such a relatively small geographic area. The many record-setting and historic flights and the aviation companies that were developed here have helped place Long Island on the aviation map. Through one hundred years of aviation history, Long Island has been home to eighty airfields. From military airfields to seaplane bases and commercial airports, the island has had more airports than any other place of similar geographic proportion in America. Most have vanished without a trace, but a handful remains. Long Island Airports is the first book to document the pictorial history of these airports and airfields.

Along Manhasset Bay

9781467105026

$24.99

The waters of Manhasset Bay have long been an incubator for innovation and prosperity. While early baymen sought their livelihood through clam digging and fishing, a new industry by way of sand mining forever changed the bucolic hilltops that overlooked the bay. While the sand mining industry brought prosperity and notoriety, the industry's use of heavy machinery and hydraulic pumps leveled the peninsula, once known for its lush grazing pastures. During the early 1900s, areas such as Port Washington, Manhasset, and Great Neck flourished into commuter, suburban towns. Shifting from a farming to a suburban community, homes began to develop along Manhasset Bay. Urbanization brought new housing and businesses such as hotels and lavish restaurants. As an epicenter for aviation, the bay launched historic flights through a then-fledgling Pan American Airway Corporation on Manhasset Isle. Elite yacht clubs and grand estates dotted the shoreline, all catering to a growing population looking to the bay for its leisure and livelihood. The once-tranquil waters are now a hub for city vacationers, bustling commuters, and entrepreneurs.

Floyd Bennett Field

9781467133678

$24.99

From its art deco architectural design to its historic integrity and preservation, Floyd Bennett Fieldis a must-have for, aviation, and New York history enthusiasts.

Although New York City was slowly recognizing the need for a municipal airport in the late 1920s, it sought to regain prominence by constructing the most advanced airport of its day.

Construction in the far reaches of Brooklyn was started on October 29, 1929, the day of the stock market crash that heralded the Great Depression. The airport was named posthumously for Floyd Bennett, a Brooklyn native, Navy pilot, and Medal of Honor winner. Unfortunately, because of many factors--including poor timing, politics, and remoteness from Manhattan--the airfield was a commercial failure. Its advanced features, however, made it a mecca for private aircraft and the site of numerous record-breaking flights.

Aviation historian Richard V. Porcelli, author of Arcadia Publishing's NAS Atlantic Cityand numerous articles, tells how the Navy became an early tenant in a move that would impact the airfield's destiny. In 1941, the Navy's presence led to the establishment of NAS New York, which played a key role in the wartime delivery of planes from numerous area factories. After the war, it served as an important Naval Air Reservebase until its closure in 1971.

Westchester County Airport

9781467124706

$24.99

Westchester County Airport is referred to by the International Air Transport Association as HPN or, more endearingly by its patrons, White Plains Airport. The airport is unique in that it has the feel of a rural or regional airport but is within the New York metro area. Today, the airport bustles with traffic, accommodating commercial airlines, business, and private aviation. The golden age of aviation gave way to a major industry with the employment of modern airports featuring lighted concrete runways and new technologies like radio. In Westchester County, this all began with a seaplane operation at Rye-Cove in the early 1920s, followed by the call for a county airport in 1928, but it did not come to fruition until 1945. World War II generated a need for an airfield at Rye Lake, and by 1945, diminished defense needs permitted the transition from military airfield to county airport.