Very cool image of P-40 ground crew. courtesy of ASISBIZ.com
Control Tower and Ops Building circa 1955: Added March 16, 2019
Temporary troop accomodations during rapid late 1930s expansion: 1938. Added, January 21, 2019
Anti-aircraft gun training: April 20, 1941: Added, January 21, 2019
I found these pictures, ID'd as the NCO Club at Mitchel Field, NY.
I don't know for sure but they are great Pictures! Added November 19, 2018
I don't know for sure but they are great Pictures! Added November 19, 2018
Added November 14, 2018
P-12 of the 35th Pursuit Squadron, courtesy thejivebombers.com
Early 1930s: courtesy of thejivebombers.com
September 3, 1932: Two Douglas 0-25cs from the 5th Observation Squadron collided at Mitchel field. One was taxiing out for takeoff when it was struck by the other after landing. Piloted by Samuel E. Anderson and Gregory F. Keenan. Photos courtesy thejivebombers.com
1920s and Pre mid-1930's new construction Photos from Arthur John Huneke's ARRT's Arrchives:
The Paul Fedelchak Collection courtesy San Diego Air and Space Museum
1931
April 3, 1930 inspection
April 3, 1930
Boeing P-12s at Mitchell Field 3, April, 1930: From the Paul Fedelchak Collection. Fedelchak was born in Brownsville PA, June 22, 1917, served as an aerial photographer in the USAAC. Courtesy San Diego Air and Space Museum
"The Army Air Corps Base (Mitchel Field) was designed and engineered by the Army Corps of Engineers and built by the Ralph Jannotto Construction Company, a local Long Island contractor. Much of the field’s construction was also assisted by workers funded through the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Mitchel Field was built on a national standardized design established by the Office of the Quartermaster General demarcating building types, building locations, and general street and landscape plans, making it similar in concept to other Army Air Corps fields built around the country at the same time. As a result, historic aerial photographs of Mitchel Field look similar to historic images of Selfridge Field in Michigan (extant), March Field in California (extant) or Hickham Field in Hawaii (extant, NR Listed 1985). While these bases were built to serve the young military technology of aviation, they were laid out in a traditional military plan featuring two grand perpendicular axes intersecting at a large parade ground."
"The architects of the Army Quartermaster Corps established standardized designs for base construction during the early 1930s; Mitchel Field’s buildings were designed based on these models. These standard plans designed for the Army Housing Program, hangars, office buildings, and other miscellaneous structures were embellished in each region to reflect that area’s particular history, architectural styles, and local building materials. Posts on the Atlantic Seaboard, for example, typically featured buildings designed in the Quartermaster's version of the Georgian Colonial style ........ Excepting functional buildings like the hangars and warehouses, Mitchel Field’s buildings were entirely designed in the Colonial Revival style. The Colonial Revival ........, was commonly used for government buildings during the 1920s and 1930s. In addition to often meeting functional needs, the style was symbolically satisfying. The Colonial Revival represented a national identity and also reflected nostalgia for a simpler period in the country’s history that may have been especially appropriate in contrast to the rapid innovations associated with flight." [1]
First Observation Squadron in front of headquarters Building, 1935 Doug Sheer Collection
18th Reconnaissance Squadron with the Douglas B-18 Bolo Bomber, October 12, 1940: courtesy of thejivebombers.com
9th Bomb Group B-10s, 1936-1938
A 1938 aerial view (courtesy of John Voss) and Abandoned and Little Known Airfields, looking north at 2 Army Martin B-10 bombers of the 9th BG, 99th BS (note the "buffalo" insignia), which had departed from Mitchel Field on the first nonstop transcontinental bomber flight. Mitchel Field was visible at bottom-left, and Roosevelt Field was visible in the background at top-left.
Several shots of the same B-10, (B160) above MF in 1938. 2 pics sbove courtesy of Warren Davis
Above: Another series of martin B-10s of the 9th BG from the LIFE Magazine archives. Several appear to be taken at the same time as the 3 above.
Some more rare pics from my private collection, this group a series from the 99th Bombardment Squadron (BS) (Note the "Buffalo" Insignia), of the 9th Bombardment Group (BG) flying Martin B-10s from 1936-1938.
Originally created as the 9th Observation Group (OG) in July 1922, as part of the US Army Air Service, the group was organized on August 1, 1922, at Mitchel Field, New York. The squadrons assigned to the group were the 1st and 5th Aero Squadrons (Observation)
The 99th Observation Squadron, originally organized at Kelly Field in 1917, was added to the 9th OG on November 9, 1928. In 1935, the role of observation as the primary function of the air arm was de-emphasized in favor of a more pro-active or "offensive" role. The 9th OG was converted into a bombardment group (BG) and made a part of the 2nd Wing. The 9th BG was responsible for the air defense of the East Coast of the United States. The 9th OG/BG was stationed at Mitchel Field from 1922-1940.
Originally created as the 9th Observation Group (OG) in July 1922, as part of the US Army Air Service, the group was organized on August 1, 1922, at Mitchel Field, New York. The squadrons assigned to the group were the 1st and 5th Aero Squadrons (Observation)
The 99th Observation Squadron, originally organized at Kelly Field in 1917, was added to the 9th OG on November 9, 1928. In 1935, the role of observation as the primary function of the air arm was de-emphasized in favor of a more pro-active or "offensive" role. The 9th OG was converted into a bombardment group (BG) and made a part of the 2nd Wing. The 9th BG was responsible for the air defense of the East Coast of the United States. The 9th OG/BG was stationed at Mitchel Field from 1922-1940.
9th Bomb Group with new B-10 Bomber: 1937
Boeing XB-15 Bomber
A May 1938 photo (courtesy of John Voss) of a display of the sole prototype of the Boeing XB-15 bomber at Mitchel Field. The XB-15 was the largest aircraft constructed in the United States up to that point. Also picture of the tail from LiIFE Magazine archives.
Building #89: Norden Bombsight Security Building:
Photos courtesy Robert Hoffmann via a history of NCPD by George Maher
Building #89 circa mid 70s: Photo by Paul Martin
Below are some extremely rare pre-war photographs of aircraft, buildings and personnel from Mitchel Field circa late 1930s from my collection. Some are in really bad shape and I have done some quick and basic re-touching to eliminate scratches, dust specks, etc. Click on the first photo to enlarge and view through the whole album. Enjoy!
Personnel: Can you identify any of these pre-war servicemen?
Over the next six years, stately, (1928-1934) modern red brick buildings took the place of the old wooden ones. In addition to the new flight line, which included a machine shop, assembly buildings, a firehouse, eight hangars and two maintenance hangars, the base itself was transformed. It included a new parade ground, officer’s and noncommissioned officers housing, three headquarters buildings, enlisted man’s barracks, a bachelor officers’ quarters and many auxiliary buildings were constructed during this time. Of the 1,117 acres, 40 percent of the land was used for flying fields (including runways, ramps, grassed areas); 20.1 percent for buildings (administrative, dining halls, hospitals, barracks, quarters, hangars, and clubs); 11.7 percent for improved grounds (personnel service facilities, athletic fields, and parade grounds); and 28.2 percent for paved areas (roadways, paved parking areas, courtyards, motor pools, etc). Housing and the commissary building were constructed first; these were followed by the administration buildings. New hangars and maintenance buildings on the flight line were completed next, finally replacing the temporary buildings previously serving the field. The last thing to be built were the concrete runways in 1938, six years after the base’s opening, built to accommodate the new heavy bombers. By the time the project was completed, it assured Mitchel’s status as one of the most modern and capable Army Air Corps bases in the country.
Front of Hospital building shortly after construction, early 1930s. Courtesy The National Library of Medicine, public domain.
Rare photos of Base Hospital shortly after construction:
Courtesy The National Library of Medicine, public domain.
Courtesy The National Library of Medicine, public domain.
Photos below courtesy of Long Island Fire Trucks: LONG ISLAND FIRE TRUCKS.COM
Photos below courtesy of
Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields by Paul Freeman
The completed Mitchel Field featured a new primary thoroughfare, Selfridge Avenue, along with other named and numbered streets. Selfridge Avenue led directly to the new parade ground. On the west, it was lined by the base’s most prominent buildings for enlisted men: the Enlisted Men’s Club, the Post Exchange, and the Headquarters Buildings. The western side of the base also included amenities for the airmen, including a fully equipped hospital, a base movie theater and a gymnasium with its own pool. Semi-attached houses for noncommissioned officers, non-commissioned officers’ quarters and Enlisted Men’s Barracks were also on this side of the base. Warehouses, maintenance buildings and the base commissary, which were served by their own railroad spur off the Long Island Railroad Central Branch, were located on the edge of the base.
An assortment of un-credited photos pulled from the internet and assembled here in one place. Thanks to the many unknown contributors.
The east side of the parade ground was officer’s country. The most senior officers lived off the two newly constructed circles adjoining the parade ground with the highest ranking officer on post living in the home in the center of the front circle. The bachelor officers had their own quarters in a large building on the Parade Ground near the end of Selfridge Ave. Impressive, single-family detached homes on grassy plots were further from the parade ground; field grade officers and above had access to houses on larger lots. Officers had their own club, mess and swimming pool located close to their homes.
Photos below courtesy of Dennis Minogue and Mitchel Field Friends FB page
As tensions rose in Europe, the status of the Mitchel Field was changed from an Observation Post to a Bombing Unit of General Headquarters. Mitchel Field was a hub of strategic activities under the direction of Army Air Corps command located at the War Department in Washington and at Wright Field in Ohio.
To accommodate a dramatic increase of base personnel and trainees, a program of land acquisition and building construction was undertaken to provide additional housing and space for longer runways. In 1941, 194 “T” or Temporary buildings, which served as wooden barracks for approximately thirty airmen, were erected at Mitchel Field; only one example remains. Off-base housing was also constructed south of the base’s southern border, which housed an additional 2,000 personnel, and 46 additional buildings were built to the east at the Camp Mills area; this remains extant but is distant from the core air base. The Army also utilized private rentals in houses in the nearby villages of Carle Place and Westbury.
By March 1943, Mitchel Field had 243 permanent buildings, including 59 officers and 36 noncommissioned officers’ dwellings, bachelor officers and non-commissioned officers’ quarters, two barracks for enlisted men, four administrative buildings, ten magazines, four warehouses, twenty-three armament vaults, nineteen garages, four motor sheds and five wells. There was also a sawmill, a greenhouse, a bakery and an incinerator. For recreation there were two swimming pools, a gymnasium, a Post Exchange, an enlisted man’s club and an officers’ club. The 194 temporary structures included 58 barracks, 17 administrative buildings, two chapels, a fire house and a large theater. There were nine hangars and a control tower, twelve revetments to shield planes, and numerous auxiliary items such as machine shops, lighting aids, weather forecasting shelters as well as a hot dog truck which visited daily.
To accommodate a dramatic increase of base personnel and trainees, a program of land acquisition and building construction was undertaken to provide additional housing and space for longer runways. In 1941, 194 “T” or Temporary buildings, which served as wooden barracks for approximately thirty airmen, were erected at Mitchel Field; only one example remains. Off-base housing was also constructed south of the base’s southern border, which housed an additional 2,000 personnel, and 46 additional buildings were built to the east at the Camp Mills area; this remains extant but is distant from the core air base. The Army also utilized private rentals in houses in the nearby villages of Carle Place and Westbury.
By March 1943, Mitchel Field had 243 permanent buildings, including 59 officers and 36 noncommissioned officers’ dwellings, bachelor officers and non-commissioned officers’ quarters, two barracks for enlisted men, four administrative buildings, ten magazines, four warehouses, twenty-three armament vaults, nineteen garages, four motor sheds and five wells. There was also a sawmill, a greenhouse, a bakery and an incinerator. For recreation there were two swimming pools, a gymnasium, a Post Exchange, an enlisted man’s club and an officers’ club. The 194 temporary structures included 58 barracks, 17 administrative buildings, two chapels, a fire house and a large theater. There were nine hangars and a control tower, twelve revetments to shield planes, and numerous auxiliary items such as machine shops, lighting aids, weather forecasting shelters as well as a hot dog truck which visited daily.
