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Don Boyd | all galleries >> Memories of Old Hialeah, Old Miami and Old South Florida Photo Galleries - largest non-Facebook collection on the internet >> Miami and Florida AVIATION Historical Photos Gallery - Airports, Airlines, Aircraft - All Years - click on image to view >> Pan American Field - 36th Street Airport - MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (MIA) - Historical Photos Gallery > 1962 - about to land on MIA's old short narrow runway 9-R in American Airtaxi Piper PA-28 N2194P
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Summer 1962 Don Boyd

1962 - about to land on MIA's old short narrow runway 9-R in American Airtaxi Piper PA-28 N2194P

Miami International Airport, Florida


Runway 9-R at the time was 9350 feet long and appears to be pretty skinny for 4-engine jets. The runway was widened to 150 feet after this photo and extended to 13,002 feet in the early 1980's. What was really weird about our landing is that the FAA Tower advised our pilot that a four-engine jet was going to take off on runway 27-L and that he would climb over us on our approach. We all watched in awe of the big smoky jet on his takeoff run towards us and as planned he climbed over us. I've never seen an operation like that since then and I worked in Airside Operations at Miami International Airport for 26 years from 1974 to 2000. Randy Joiner from Auburndale, staying over the summer with his mom Dottie across the street from my home, was onboard this flight with me and I believe Eddie and Jack Sullivan were the other paying participants. We paid $18 ($4.50 each) for our half hour of flying around which I thought was cheap but a year or so ago I saw that we could have flown to Key West on scheduled flights for $22 round-trip so we overpaid. Randy and I are frequent e-mail correspondents and Facebook friends and I've gone to Auburndale to visit him a couple of times in recent years.

The image of the aircraft that we flew on is at http://www.pbase.com/airlinerphotos/image/99562896


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Don Boyd25-Jul-2014 21:39
Vernon, thank you again for posting on this page. Rest in Peace Jerry Conklin and Ron Conway. I do remember the names of Jim Roberson and of course well-known Milton Herlong. Thank you for the AVEX name at the old Tamiami Airport, a name probably forgotten by most non-pilot types familiar with the airport. The old Northwest Corner (Corrosion Corner, Cockroach Corner, etc.) with all the "interesting" aircraft operators and all the great old propliners totally disappeared more than a decade ago when UPS bought out Challenge Air Cargo, which had a modern new building and aircraft ramp, and the entire Northwest Corner is now their ramp. Of course the Northwest Corner started to disappear when Challenge Air Cargo's building and ramp were built on the western edge along Ludlam Road up to the corner of Perimeter Road. But the total elimination of the corner's old buildings and ramps occurred after UPS acquired Challenge Air Cargo and new aircraft parking ramps were built to the east. I will try to add more photos of the old Northwest Corner in the future.

The Braniff DC-7C crash occurred on March 25, 1958 west-north-west of MIA after takeoff out of MIA and the #3 engine caught fire. The flight impacted marshland and there were 9 passenger fatalities. More information is at:
http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19580325-1

Again, Vernon, thank you for posting here.

Don
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Vernon Estes 24-Jul-2014 23:08
Thanks for your response. I found out that Jerry Conklin died in 2010 somewhere in Florida. I also flew on a flight with Ron Conway... Ron was one of two survivors in the Imperial Airlines Connie crash near Richmond, VA in 1961. I found out that he died in 2013. I don't remember Ray Measner... my boss was Jim Roberson and the station manager was Milton Herlong. I went into the US Army in 1964 and became a helicopter pilot, retiring from the Army at Fort Lewis WA in 1982. My career with Delta Airlines started in Chicago in 1954 and I left the company in Miami in 1964. After thinking about it I was with Delta during the transition from propeller to jet powered aircraft. My commercial flight training was at the old Tamiami Airport with AVEX. Hard to find photos of Tamiami airport. Any info you can provide concerning the aircraft boneyard at the NW corner of the airport would be great . It was there I saw my first Northrop 125-A/B tri-motor airplane. Also I was working in the old 36th St terminal the night that Braniff's DC7 crashed shortly after-off. Thanks again for the input.
Don Boyd07-Jul-2014 07:30
Vernon, thank you for posting your comments here. It is great to hear from someone who worked at MIA so many years ago. Perhaps Jerry Conklin will see your comments on here or someone who knew him will respond, in addition to others who worked at MIA during that time. Did you know a gent by the name of Ray Measner at Delta back then? He lived in a new house in Palm Springs Estates on my Miami News route way back then and later became the Delta Station Manager in the 1980's and part of the 1990's. He and I were pretty good friends and I have a Memoriam page for him in my Memoriams gallery on this site.

I would love to have someone like you write a page or two about what life was back at MIA back in those days. I'll edit it for you and post it in a separate gallery on my site for you and give you all the credit in the world for contributing such an essay for others to enjoy reading. If you have the time to do so please send it to me at OldMiamiMemories@gmail.com - thank you!

Don
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Vernon Estes 06-Jul-2014 22:26
I believe that Lee Winfield was the President of American Air Taxi in 1961. I was working for Delta Airlines as a ticket and operations agent. I am really interested in finding out about Jerry Conklin and anyone else working out of MIA during that time 1961-1962.