Sunday, June 7, 2009

Queens Day 1986






3 comments:

Anonymous said...

any info on this for a youngin' like me?

Alan said...

A few days ago, there was a post about an event at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park and it reminded me of a time when there was an annual "Queens Day" at the park. I was quite fortunate to fly over the 1986 celebration in the McDonald's blimp and took the photos that are posted.

I was orienting one of our blimp pilots with certain landmarks to prepare him for a blimp parade and race around the metropolitan area on July 5th. I flew over Queens for 2 days in a row and took video as well. One day I hope to digitize the footage and post it on YouTube.

I would like to thank the Crapster for posting the images. They present a unique view of one of my favorite parks. The first time I flew over Flushing Meadows was in 1964 on board one of the two Goodyear blimps that called Flushing Airport home during the World's Fair. A blimp returned annually to the airport until 1976.

My experiences with the Goodyear blimp when I was in my early teens inspired me to work with blimps in one way or another throughout my life. I've flown many hours on many blimps but my favorite flights were over NYC...and especially Queens! I even had a surprise treat of a fireworks display at Shea Stadium while returning to Republic Airport from a live TV event we shot over Manhattan. It is really a trip to see fireworks from above the venue.

Anonymous said...

don't you love how green the grass is?