Long Island has long been known as the cradle of aviation history, with many aeronautical firsts occurring here since the Wright Brothers first took to the air in 1903. At one time, as many as 120 private and commercial airfields were operating all over the island. One by one, these airfields were shut down and lost as Long Island prospered, property values soared, and developers sought land to build new communities and industries throughout the 20th century.
The Bayport Aerodrome has beaten the odds to survive as a throwback to those grass airfields of aviation’s golden age. It’s a story of how a colorful individual by the name of Curtis Davis, a former Civil Air Patrol pilot, hacked a rustic working airport out of the Long Island Pine Barrens in the years just after WWII that was miraculously saved from the developer’s ax 30 years later by an equally colorful community of passionate vintage aviation buffs led by John G. Rae who formed the Bayport Aerodrome Society. Their combined achievements led to the existence of one of Long Island’s best-kept aviation secrets.
