Mystery Friday Foto #25 Solved: The Moisant School for Aviators
A tough one! Did you identify this concept drawing of the Moisant Aviation School courtesy of the Cradle of Aviation?
Identify;
- The concept drawing and year
The Vernon Howe Bailey concept drawing for the Moisant Aviation School, dated, (according to the Cradle of Aviation caption) as 1911.
- The Aviator behind the project
Alfred and brother John Bevins Moisant founded the aviation school on the Hempstead Plains Aviation Field, (later named Hazelhurst and Roosevelt Fields depending on year).
John had learned to fly in France with Louis Bleriot but died in 1910 in an accident. The school had six Bleriot monoplanes equipped with 50 horse power Gnome motors.
- Any roads. Is the Motor Parkway in the drawing?
Diagonal on the top left corner along the top edge of the field is Old Country Road. Bottom left diagonal is Clinton Road. The curve and following road is the Motor Parkway showing a slight bump of the Clinton Road Parkway Bridge is at the bottom center.
- Hint- While the proposed circular airstrips were not realized, the school did exist on the location. The first and second women in the U.S. to receive a pilot license learned to fly at the school. (Super Kudos if you can connect the first female aviator to the Vanderbilt Cup Races)
The first woman to earn her pilot license was Harriet Quimby. The second was Matilde E. Moisant, sister to John and Alfred Moisant. See below for Harriet Quimby's relation to the Vanderbilt Cup races and her 1906 ride with Vanderbilt Cup race driver Herb Lytle.
Comments (7)
Congrats and Kudos to Al Prete, Steve Lucas, George Philippides, Art Kleiner, Frank Femenias and Al Velocci for identifying the school and Harriet Quimby. Wonderful photos and documentation from George and Art!
Greg O.
The caption underneath the photo at the Cradle of Aviation.
John B. Moisant and his cat Mademoiselle Fifi who made the first passenger flight across the English Channel on 23 August 1910.
Harriet Quimby in 1911.
Link:
Pioneer Harriet Quimby’s Exciting Ride in a Racing Motor-Car in October 1906
Matilde E. Moisant in 1912.
Comments
First woman in the US to get a pilot’s license was Harriet Quimby. She trained at the Moisant Aviation School, founded by aviator John Moisant. Drawing has to be 1910 or before, since Moisant was killed in a crash in 1910. That looks like the Motor Parkway (curved road at bottom) and Clinton Road (straight road at bottom). Harriet Quimby covered the 1906 VCR as a journalist, and she got to ride in one of the race cars during a test run.
I’ll take a stab at it and say its the Long Island Aviation Country Club. It was an exclusive private flying club that operated from 1929 to 1948 in what is now Levittown. I think Charles Lindbergh was a member and could have had something to do with its founding. One of the roads running top to bottom could be the Motor Parkway since it was adjacent to the field. Maybe Jerusalem Ave crossing under in the foreground?
That drawing was done by Vernon Howe Bailey in 1910 as a proposal for an oval runway in conjunction with the Moisant Aviation School. It was probably at the request of Alfred Moisant, the aviator behind the school. The LIMP runs from lower left to upper right with its curved bridge over Clinton Road. It’s posible that the black line running parallel to the LIMP on the right could be Stewart Avenue. Having learned to fly at the school, the first two women to receive a pilot’s license in the U.S. were Harriet Quimby (first) and Matilde Moisant (second), sister of Alfred.
Concept drawing for Moisant Aviation school by John Moisant?
1911 was when the school opened.
I believe we are looking over Garden City/ Roosevelt field at the Old Country Road and Clinton road intersection on the left. The motor parkway is on the right, crossing over Clinton road.
The first female to receive a pilot’s license was Harriet Quimby, who after riding in a Vanderbilt Cup racer wrote an article about her experience in the magazine Leslie’s Illustrated weekly
Not certain on this but here goes:
The concept drawing and year: Moisant School of Aviation, 1911
The Aviator behind the project: John B. Moisant, possibly brother Alfred
Any roads. Is the Motor Parkway in the drawing?: lower portion
First Female Aviator: Harriet Quimby: rode a Vanderbilt Cup Racer prior to the 1906 race
Greg, The drawing is from 1911. It had to do with the appearance of the Moisant Aviation School at Roosevelt Field later that year. Founded by Alfred Moisant. the odd configuration of the the runways was due to Moisant had initially planned circular runways but that did not happen. Thats a pretty good picture of the Motor Parkway over Clinton Ave. at the bottom of the drawing. The first woman to receive a pilot license in the U.S. was Harriet Quimby who learned to fly at this field as did the second woman, Matilde Moisant. both in 1911. Harriet Quimby was first connected to the Vanderbilt Cup Races in 1906.
1. Harriet Quimby
2. Matilde Moisant
Moisant Aviation School, Garden City, about 1911. The Garden City Lodge was built in 1911. Not sure if it was built yet to appear in this sketch, or purposely left out.
https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/first-american-women-flight