Opened in 1931, Floyd Bennett Field was New York City's first municipal airport. It was never a commercial success, but its long concrete runways and unobstructed approaches over Jamaica Bay made it an ideal airfield for record-breaking flights in the 1930s. Crowds regularly gathered around the Administration Building and along the runways to cheer pioneering aviators. In 1933, Wiley Post took off here in a small plane to become the first pilot to fly solo around the world. With frequent visits by famous pilots such as Roscoe Turner and Amelia Earhart, it became one of the most important airfields of its time and helped usher in the aviation era. At the start of World War II, the airfield became the Naval Air Station - New York and served as a training ground for Navy pilots.
