Goodyear built the first “Ranger I” blimp, NC-10A, in 1940 as an upgrade to the previous advertising blimps, but it soon became a part of a fleet of airships for the U.S. Navy’s L-Class airship division, used during World War II. The Ranger measures 150 feet in length, is 51 feet high while resting on…
In this series, you will find pictures of the hangars and maintenance shop at Buffalo Airpark in chronological order, separated by individual pages per hangar. Again, if you have anything to share or would like to comment on, please do so. Enjoy! Horse Stable The horse stable is one of the first buildings that my…
I dedicate this page to my sister Carol Payne Zagon for if it weren’t for her extraordinary photographic skills, this story wouldn’t exist. Sometime between Friday night, January 28, and early Saturday morning, January 29, 1977, we suffered a devastating hangar collapse. The roof of the West building of our twin “North” hangars gave way…
To say that a hangar fire in February 1943 was devastating to my father Tony is an understatement. His business, the Gardenville Aeronautical Corp., suffered a total loss of revenue. He was fortunate enough to be employed by the Republic Aviation Corporation as a test pilot for their P47 simultaneously, which gave him the time…
I’m not going to lie. There are many pictures in this series, 68 total, and please give yourself some time to go through these. Most are aerial shots of the airpark throughout the years, but some are from different Western New York areas. I have broken it up into seven subpages to make it easier…
My father Tony first purchased a 20-acre lot located in Gardenville, New York, including two buildings, a farmhouse, and a small horse barn in 1938 at the age of 27. He converted the farmhouse into the beginning of the first operations office for his Gardenville Airport. Tony completely redesigns the interior to include a custom…
While researching some upcoming articles that I’m working on, I came across a fascinating WWII aircraft, the Fokker G.I. I am familiar with Anthony Fokker, “The Flying Dutchman,” and many of his designs, but the G.I caught me by surprise. Maybe it’s my love for his initial designs during WWI, such as the Eindecker, or…
Just a quick post to wish my father a happy birthday and that I think of him everyday! Enjoy the photos and Happy Halloween!
The Boeing 247 revolutionized civilian air travel through high speed, passenger comfort, and futuristic designs not seen by the previous airliners, virtually rendering them obsolete in a single day. Some examples of earlier airlines consisted of the Ford Tri-motor “Tin Goose,” the Fokker F-10 Super Trimotor, and the Curtiss Condor biplane. These airliners were usually…
A recent tragedy that resulted in two fatalities from a crash of an airplane that I’m not familiar with, a SOCATA TBM 700, impacted a wooded area near Pembroke, New York, October 2, 2020. A prominent attorney in the Buffalo, New York area, and his niece were the only people on board, and thankfully no…
