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the Map

Historical Context

Map 2
Maps 3 & 4

Readings

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Table of
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Map 1: Aerial Photograph of Floyd Bennett Field Historic District, 1980.

The Floyd Bennett Field Historic District, located in southeastern Brooklyn, New York, within the Jamaica Bay Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area, has remained virtually unchanged in appearance since it was constructed between 1928 and 1931. The historic district includes the Administration Building with its distinctive control tower (now the Ryan Visitor Center), eight original hangers, the central runway system, and several dependent buildings. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Planners and the workers of the New York City Department of Docks made great efforts to insure that the airfield was constructed in conformity to the 1928 Department of Commerce guidelines. Among the airport construction guidelines was the recommendation for buildings to be arranged in a row along one side of the runway.

Questions for Map 1

1. Using the compass located in the lower right hand corner of Map 1 answer the following questions:

1. In relation to the runways, in what direction are the buildings located?
2. In what directions are two of the runways laid out?

2. Using the scale in the bottom right hand corner of the map, answer the following questions:

1. What is the distance from the Transformer Building to the Garage/Maintenance Building?
2. What is the length of the North-South runway?

3. How was the construction of Floyd Bennett Field conforming with the 1928 Department of Commerce regulations on building layout?

4. How might the runways and unobstructed approach over water make Floyd Bennett Field the ideal airport for pilots wishing to establish speed records?

* The map on this screen has a resolution of 72 dots per inch (dpi), and therefore will print poorly. You can obtain a larger version of Map 1, but be aware that the file may take as much as 60 seconds to load with a 28.8K modem.