Title : Airship treasures of Hangar B
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Airship treasures of Hangar B
[Guest post by Thomas Kerr in Rockaway Beach at Floyd Bennett Field, New York]
I'm a guy who likes to draw. I've been doing so for 40 years, focused on where I happen to be. Until recently, I figured that such work was just for me, not knowing about the Urban Sketchers. Then someone pointed me to the New York chapter and I met Mark Leibowitz who introduced me to what it was they were doing in New York City.
I noticed that your blog focuses on locations and there is a favorite I like to draw near to where I live in Rockaway Beach…namely Hangar B at Floyd Bennett Field. A historic location and the site of many world speed and distance records for flight, it is now largely abandoned. Hangar B sits off of Rockaway Inlet and is home to many old aircraft. In 2012 it was closed as the roof was ripped off due to Hurricane Sandy. In 2015/16 it reopened and though the hours to visit are very limited I made my way to document the interior space featuring all the historic airships found there.
My first drawing (at the top) was made prior to the Hangar’s reopening in 2015. I’d be back a month later to go inside, until then I had to make do by drawing this Stratotanker parked outside the facility. I’d later learn it had no affiliation with the hangar.
Occasionally, schools visit and veterans who volunteer lead them through the space showing them various aircraft and even letting them into a few. The technical challenge of the space is significant, but I find it meditative and invigorating. A hand built replica of the Winne Mae, Willie Post’s record setting monoplane. Innovative for its day, it is the first stop on the tour of Hangar B.
A Coast Guard Pelican Helicopter. I’d later go in and draw from the cabin.
This is the interior of the rescue helicopter. In the distance, the Neptune sits at the hangar doors.
This is a watercolor sketch of the side of a WWII bomber. This part is simply salvage, but I found it interesting. Below are a number of engines and parts for the aircraft.
This is a watercolor sketch of the side of a WWII bomber. This part is simply salvage, but I found it interesting. Below are a number of engines and parts for the aircraft.
A Neptune sub hunter. In front, one of the veterans recounts his experience working on-board these planes.
The front of the Neptune. I had thought about squeezing into the bombardier’s space, but it occurred that the view was simply of the wall currently at my back.
Marked Quantico, this twin engine Beachcraft is in beautiful shape.
The smallest plane in the hangar seats one and apparently still flies. It seems out of place amongst the behemoths surrounding it. I thought it made for an interesting subject.
An A7 fighter, very similar to the one that Senator John McCain was shot down in. A marvel of engineering but when you look carefully at it, it becomes apparent how built for speed this rascal is. Big engines, very aerodynamic with a tiny cockpit.
Between the tail of a flying boat and the DC 7 is a two-pilot trainer dating back to WWII. To the right a vet affects repairs as a visitor looks on.
A biplane nestled under the wing of a flying boat.
In the foreground a missile behind a NYC flying boat. Nice challenge to draw.
This sketch has a bit of a story to it. It is the interior of the Stratotanker at the start. It is not part of the Hangar B with New York Parks, but rather is privately owned. I approached a fellow who was working on it and introduced myself, followed by showing him the sketches I made of the exterior of his plane while waiting for the Hangar to reopen. Enthused, he asked if I’d like the chance to draw the cockpit. “Would I!” He gave me 45 minutes in the jump seat up there. Yes I did do some of the dialog from Airplane—the movie—while I was up there, but managed to get this down.
I drew this one at the start of the summer. The Stratotanker was about to leave. Glenn, the mechanic who let me into the cockpit, asked if I’d like to attend its lift off. It would be a historic one at that, being the last fixed-wing takeoff from Floyd Bennet Field ever…wow I thought. I was allowed onto the runway and got this sketch in. Unfortunately as she revved her engines one caught fire and the whole runway was covered in billowing white smoke. Fire suppressors cut in and the NYFD doused the flames. Back to square one, as it was towed back to Hangar B to see what could be done. The Stratotanker still sits, with hopes being that it’ll take to the air and to its permanent home in New Jersey later this year.
Thomas Kerr is a professional illustrator at work in the New York area for 30 years. He has been published widely in the United States new media with his editorial illustration featured in The New York Times, Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, amongst many others. He is a tenured professor at St. John’s University, teaching Illustration. See more of his work on his website.
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