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Don Boyd | profile | all galleries >> Memories of Old Hialeah, Old Miami and Old South Florida Photo Galleries - largest non-Facebook collection on the internet >> Miami and Florida AVIATION Historical Photos Gallery - Airports, Airlines, Aircraft - All Years - click on image to view >> Other Historical South Florida Airports (Viking, Sunny South, Homestead General, Tamiami, North Perry, TNT etc.) tree view | thumbnails | slideshow | map

Other Historical South Florida Airports (Viking, Sunny South, Homestead General, Tamiami, North Perry, TNT etc.)


There were numerous other airports in South Florida that existed long before most of the current residents were born or moved into the area. Unfortunately, like with other historical buildings and features in the county, they have been plowed under and there are few if any historical markers that have been erected to tell people what once existed there.

Wanted: any information on the 54th Street Flying Field, also known as Hialeah Airport on the north side of NW 54th Street (Hialeah Drive) between E. 4th Avenue and E. 8th Avenue (LeJeune Road). There are a couple of photos below that show this airport but I would love to have more.

This photo gallery attempts to preserve some of the memories for future generations.

1920s - Viking Airport at the west end of Collins (later Venetian) Causeway
1920s - Viking Airport at the west end of Collins (later Venetian) Causeway		 1924 - article about first aerial mapping of Miami with Andrew Heermance as pilot of the Curtiss aircraft
1924 - article about first aerial mapping of Miami with Andrew Heermance as pilot of the Curtiss aircraft		 1933 - article about Charles Lindbergh and wife returning to the USA at Miami's Seaplane Base
1933 - article about Charles Lindbergh and wife returning to the USA at Miami's Seaplane Base		 1935 - Richard Archibold's Fairchild 91 Kono aircraft at the Viking Airport along the Venetian Causeway
1935 - Richard Archibold's Fairchild 91 "Kono" aircraft at the Viking Airport along the Venetian Causeway		 1930's - Viking Seaplane Base and Causeway Base from the Miami Air Guide
1930's - Viking Seaplane Base and Causeway Base from the Miami Air Guide
1943 - entrance to the Army Air Corps base at Morrison Field (now Palm Beach International Airport)
1943 - entrance to the Army Air Corps base at Morrison Field (now Palm Beach International Airport)		 1943 - B-24H #41-28632 crash after takeoff from Morrison Field, West Palm Beach
1943 - B-24H #41-28632 crash after takeoff from Morrison Field, West Palm Beach		 1945 - destruction of aircraft and hangars at Richmond Naval Air Station in southwest Dade County
1945 - destruction of aircraft and hangars at Richmond Naval Air Station in southwest Dade County		 1940's - Miami Aviation Center at Biscayne Boulevard (US 1) and NE 123rd Street, North Miami
1940's - Miami Aviation Center at Biscayne Boulevard (US 1) and NE 123rd Street, North Miami		 1950 - article about mid-air collision and crash at Sunny South Airport, Miami
1950 - article about mid-air collision and crash at Sunny South Airport, Miami
1952 - article about Coast Guard providing PBY escorts for group of private aircraft from Sunny South Airport to Havana
1952 - article about Coast Guard providing PBY escorts for group of private aircraft from Sunny South Airport to Havana		 1952 - unknown just east of NW 27th Avenue north of 135th Street, Miami
1952 - unknown just east of NW 27th Avenue north of 135th Street, Miami		 1952 - the original Homestead Airport east of US 1 (see comments below)
1952 - the original Homestead Airport east of US 1 (see comments below)		 1955 - two Navy blimps at Boca Chica Naval Air Station
1955 - two Navy blimps at Boca Chica Naval Air Station		 1963 - aerial view of the original Tamiami Airport on the Tamiami Trail (US 41) in Dade County
1963 - aerial view of the original Tamiami Airport on the Tamiami Trail (US 41) in Dade County
1964 - the Coast Guard Air Station at Dinner Key before their move to Opa-locka Airport
1964 - the Coast Guard Air Station at Dinner Key before their move to Opa-locka Airport		 1964 - Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Institute Beech-18 N9156R at the original Tamiami Airport
1964 - Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Institute Beech-18 N9156R at the original Tamiami Airport		 1970 - aerial view of North Perry Airport, Miramar, Hollywood, Pembroke Pines
1970 - aerial view of North Perry Airport, Miramar, Hollywood, Pembroke Pines		 1970 - aerial view of the Dade County Training & Transition Airport under construction
1970 - aerial view of the Dade County Training & Transition Airport under construction		 1970's - ex-USN Lockheed XR6O-1 (R6V-1) Constitution N7673C on NW 135th Street, Opa-locka
1970's - ex-USN Lockheed XR6O-1 (R6V-1) Constitution N7673C on NW 135th Street, Opa-locka
1970's - ex USN Lockheed XR6O-1 (R6V-1) Constitution N7673C on NW 135th Street, Opa-locka
1970's - ex USN Lockheed XR6O-1 (R6V-1) Constitution N7673C on NW 135th Street, Opa-locka

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Richard Paul 03-Oct-2015 23:41
Gardens Airport was run by George Speer and was plowed under when PGA National was built. Sheriff Richard Wille later said every pilot with an aircraft out there became a millionaire. It was the drug-running hotbed of Palm Beach County and fortunes were made running grass from the Bahamas and later cocaine from Colombia. There is an excellent book on the subject written by one of the flyboys George Williams. It's called SNOW ON THE PALMS and was #1 in Florida for almost 3 years. You can get it from amazon.
Richard
Ronnie Safreed 14-Jan-2015 04:53
Back in 1973 I was 17 & met a man by the name of Sawyer & his wife! He was an older middle-aged man about 60-65! I remember him telling me that at the time of WW2 in 1942, he was flying a small private plane & something about an airfield near the present day Miami International Airport! He said it was east but now I see he meant north-east & the map I saw it looked between East 4th & East ^th Avenuus in Hialeah! When did this field open in the thirties? When did it close down? It had to be in the fourties because the area built up in the fifties like alot of southern Hialeah did at that time!
Guest 29-Oct-2014 14:03
Does anyone have any info about the auto race track at Sunny south airport in 1940?
Len
Don Boyd18-Aug-2014 04:33
I found this comment about Homestead Air Force Base interesting and I'm saving it here for posterity. It is from the South Dade News Leader:

Florida City History: Documents Reveal South Dade's Growth

This document donated to the Florida Pioneer Museum shows the population density of South Dade over 50 years ago.
Posted: Sunday, August 17, 2014 5:59 pm
Bob Jensen | 0 comments
Editor’s Note: This is part 1 of a 3-part article on the status and growth of South Dade in a report donated to the FloridaPioneerMuseum.

>> In September of 1953 the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Miami issued a report to the “Redlands Chamber of Commerce” entitled “The Future Development of the Homestead-Redlands Area.”
The late George Cooper Sr.’s copy of the report was donated to the FloridaPioneerMuseum by his daughter Barbara Cooper Hanck, giving us a look back 60 years in depth at our economic reality and projections for the future.
Dwight D. Eisenhower was President of the United States,Daniel T. McCarty was Governor of Florida, our senators were Spessard Holland and George Smathers, Preston B. “Bunny” Bird was our County Commissioner, Walter Weiss was Mayor of Homestead, William Geronimo was Mayor of Florida City,and Colonel Raymond L. Newton U.S. Army retired was President of the Redland District Chamber of Commerce (his term ended and he was replaced in October of 1953 by Irvin Barnett).
The construction of SouthDadeHigh School was nearing completion as a replacement for Homestead High and Redland High.
The big news was the reopening of the old Homestead Army Air Base as an Air Force’s Strategic Air Command medium jet bomber base. Ninety new B47 nuclear capable medium bombers arrived in 1955 from the factory as well as 15 KC97 tankers.
Don Boyd27-Jan-2014 07:28
Bill, I couldn't find anything about that airport using Google searching. Weird! Perhaps someone will see this and contribute some image scans so I can put them up here.

Don
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Bill 26-Jan-2014 19:06
I learned to fly at Palm Beach Gardens airport in 1976
Does anybody remember or have any pictures of the airport?
Don Boyd11-Dec-2010 16:24
Bob, Sunny South was just west of NW 7th Avenue and just north of the Little River Canal or about NW 86/87 Street.

Bill, sorry, I've never seen any information on Palm Beach Gardens Airport.

Don
Bill 11-Dec-2010 15:36
Do you know anything about Palm Beach Gardens Airport? (x37)
Bob 05-Feb-2010 16:45
Where was Sunny South Airport located
click on thumbnails for full image