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Glider flight by Laurence J. Lesh at Morris Park
Glider flight by Laurence J. Lesh at Morris Park

The Morris Park Aerodrome was a short-lived airfield in what is now the Morris Park section of the Bronx, New York City. In operation from 1908 to 1909, it was the first flying field in the nation, occupying the grounds of the defunct Morris Park Racecourse. The Aeronautical Society of New York leased the land in 1908, using it for building and testing aircraft, and for putting on public exhibitions including major events in November 1908 and June 1909. The first event, captured in an oil painting by Rudolph Dirks titled The Fledglings, included several glider flights by sixteen-year-old Laurence Lesh (pictured), culminating in a crash in which he was severely injured. The second event had flights by Glenn Curtiss in Golden Flyer, his motorized biplane, including the first demonstration of a stable flight around a closed course using ailerons for lateral control. When the aerodrome closed for residential development, the Society moved its operations to Roosevelt Field on Long Island. (Full article...)

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Tom Scutt with his Tony Award
Tom Scutt with his Tony Award

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