Aviator Arena
Aviator Arena
Aviator Arena Sports and Recreation Facility is located on the site of the former Floyd Bennett Field Airport in Brooklyn, New York. The Bennett Field Airport ceased official operations in 1972. Aviator Arena hosts sporting events and shows throughout the year, and the occasional air show. The field outside the arena is still used as an official heliport by the New York Police Department. Once inside the indoor entrance to Aviator Arena, an entire inner wall tribute several stories high is dedicated to the history of aeronautics which took place on the site of the sports facility and the people of flight who made the former Floyd Bennett Field famous, including: Wiley Post, the first pilot to solo around the world, who flew around the world from the field and returned to it in 7 days 19 hours and 49 minutes in July of 1933; and billionaire Howard Hughes, who flew 14,791 miles around the world from Floyd Bennett Field in July of 1938 and returned to it with a crew of four men in 3 days, 19 hours, 8 minutes, 10 seconds to collect important navigational data. Aviator Sports and Recreation is the private 501(c)(3) operating the 25 acre concession with the National Park Service. With construction in 2003, the 170,000 square foot Aviator sports complex was built over four former airplane hangars. The 800 acre Floyd Bennett Field geographical area is now part of the 25 mile Gateway National Recreation Area within the Port of New York and New Jersey.
Aviator Arena Historical Footage
- Howard Hughes rare airplane silent black and white video footage taking off with his team on his historical round the flight from Floyd Bennett Field in 1938 [[1]]
- Howard Hughes rare silent black and white video footage landing at Floyd Bennett Field and being interviewed after a 10 1/2 hour nonstop transatlantic flight in 1938 [[2]]
Aviator Arena Website
- Includes contact information for promoters looking to rent space for sporting events including boxing http://www.aviatorsports.com/
- Facility statistics http://www.aviatorsports.com/facilities/