Enjoyed reading about your Ed Gorski experiences ---I agree, good man!
I can see him again in the round concrete office saying "---hmm don't have enough money eh? --- ok build an airport symbol with a wind sock out there near the runway and we'll start teaching you to fly". That was in 1946 and I was back from 23 missions as flight engineer on B-24's in the South Pacific.
Ed's CFI Steve Bannister #33659 sat in the front of the Piper Cub puffing a cigar (no, really; blew smoke back over his shoulder in my face!) and we were off for "Familiarization, Climb, Glide, Turns, Coordinations" for 30 minutes. It's all right here in my log book that your fine write-up made me dig out -- Cub J3 -- 27056-- Cont 65 --- wonder if they are still renting it out.
After a later solo it was Ed that called me down in what you accurately described as a 'gruff' manner for flying over with rpm way too high!
On a later solo the engine died on final in one of his Cubs --- the telephone lines across the approach (since taken down) raised a question Bannister had not discussed with me --- over the wires or under the wires? --- I picked over and the wheels cleared by inches --- hmmm strange how the wheels get closer to those wires as the years go by.
Ed had worked with Amelia Earhardt at Teterboro and did big things in WWII according to a book on his life --- which is somewhere around the house here --- oh well.
Thanks for your memory stimulating words blueskyes.
This is the first time I have seen this website, and I am pleased to see the response from others about the airport.
Back in 1962 on my sixteenth birthday my grandfather paid for my first lesson.
The plane was a Piper PA-11, tail number 4549M. The instructor was H.T. Buckley.
The lesson was only thirty minutes but the memory lasted a lifetime. That day I was introduced to Ed Gorski and his wife, and other pilots were in the office on that day. After that first flight, I spent every dollar I earned going back for more, for I could not get enough of this new experience which completely changed my life. I remember after I had soloed once or twice Ed would ride in the back seat for the first couple of landings, to make sure I was able to handle the cross wind conditions, he always seemed to have a cigar in his mouth and yelling orders from the back seat about what I was doing wrong. When I fly today I can still hear his voice and it brings back back fond memories.
There is a lot more that I would l like to share about my experiences at the Lincoln Park airport but the website does not allow the space it would require. I thank you for the opportunity to share my experiences.
I'll keep it short, me and friend Garry Flipped a coin for the right seat on a ride, garry won and as we were flying gracious Ed asked if he knew something about flying, He said yes and Ed said take over and Garry gripped the control wheel then Ed asked for a turn and Garry quickly performed a split-S (which would have made an SBD pilot envious) and had me viewing the Totowa Drive-In parking lot thru the windscreen. Ed calmly cut the throttle and very gently recovered to straight and level. Cigar smoking Ed never lost it and just verbally said thats not how you do it.
Just a little 50s aviation trivia involving some past events. Garry went on to get his license many years later, and a 172.
My primary flight training back in 1969-71 was out of LGA. The school was the long extinct La Guardia Flying Service. LGA being what it is meant we flew elsewhere for practicing t&g's and full stop landings. Lincoln Park was probably my favorite airport since I could get an idea of what making a carrier landing was like. If I remember correctly, the runway was gravel in those days and much shorter. Can anyone confirm this?
my flight instruction took place at BeechEast over at TEB back in the 80's... the instructors there (some of best people on earth) seemed to enjoy bringing the cocky students (like myself) over to Lincoln Park for a lil bit of humility training (i mean, after all, we did pay for it, didn't we)... maybe it was that look of shock and fear in our eyes when we first sighted the runway... maybe they took some sadistic pleasure in casually announcing, 'ok there's the runway, go ahead and land', and then sitting back and gauging our reaction, knowing full well that all any person of rational sensibilities could see was this ribbon of what looked like half a roadway with numbers on the ends... surely that couldn't be the runway that he was asking me to land on... it was just too thin to be a runway for real airplanes...
or maybe it was the knowledge that after landing at Lincoln Park once or twice, the new, soon to be pilot would be confident of his or her abilities to take their charge into anything that the FAA allowed to be called an airport... regardless of the width of its runways... maybe these flight instuctors knew a thing or two... or three...
so nowadays... whenever i see tv news replays of those airliners making emergency landings... and the pilot puts it down right on the centerline... i can rest assured that that pilot probably landed at Licoln Park at least once during his/her early flying days...
i drove out to Lincoln Park once after that... i just had to get a feel for what looked like one of those idyllic small local airports... from a different perspective... i wasn't dissapointed...
is the lil viewing gallery at the north end of the field still there...
Lincoln Park Airport
Latest comments on Lincoln Park Airport
[Write a new comment.]
Reply to @blueskyes:
Enjoyed reading about your Ed Gorski experiences ---I agree, good man!
I can see him again in the round concrete office saying "---hmm don't have enough money eh? --- ok build an airport symbol with a wind sock out there near the runway and we'll start teaching you to fly". That was in 1946 and I was back from 23 missions as flight engineer on B-24's in the South Pacific.
Ed's CFI Steve Bannister #33659 sat in the front of the Piper Cub puffing a cigar (no, really; blew smoke back over his shoulder in my face!) and we were off for "Familiarization, Climb, Glide, Turns, Coordinations" for 30 minutes. It's all right here in my log book that your fine write-up made me dig out -- Cub J3 -- 27056-- Cont 65 --- wonder if they are still renting it out.
After a later solo it was Ed that called me down in what you accurately described as a 'gruff' manner for flying over with rpm way too high!
On a later solo the engine died on final in one of his Cubs --- the telephone lines across the approach (since taken down) raised a question Bannister had not discussed with me --- over the wires or under the wires? --- I picked over and the wheels cleared by inches --- hmmm strange how the wheels get closer to those wires as the years go by.
Ed had worked with Amelia Earhardt at Teterboro and did big things in WWII according to a book on his life --- which is somewhere around the house here --- oh well.
Thanks for your memory stimulating words blueskyes.
This is the first time I have seen this website, and I am pleased to see the response from others about the airport.
Back in 1962 on my sixteenth birthday my grandfather paid for my first lesson.
The plane was a Piper PA-11, tail number 4549M. The instructor was H.T. Buckley.
The lesson was only thirty minutes but the memory lasted a lifetime. That day I was introduced to Ed Gorski and his wife, and other pilots were in the office on that day. After that first flight, I spent every dollar I earned going back for more, for I could not get enough of this new experience which completely changed my life. I remember after I had soloed once or twice Ed would ride in the back seat for the first couple of landings, to make sure I was able to handle the cross wind conditions, he always seemed to have a cigar in his mouth and yelling orders from the back seat about what I was doing wrong. When I fly today I can still hear his voice and it brings back back fond memories.
There is a lot more that I would l like to share about my experiences at the Lincoln Park airport but the website does not allow the space it would require. I thank you for the opportunity to share my experiences.
Robert J. Ruck sales@class1tool.com
I'll keep it short, me and friend Garry Flipped a coin for the right seat on a ride, garry won and as we were flying gracious Ed asked if he knew something about flying, He said yes and Ed said take over and Garry gripped the control wheel then Ed asked for a turn and Garry quickly performed a split-S (which would have made an SBD pilot envious) and had me viewing the Totowa Drive-In parking lot thru the windscreen. Ed calmly cut the throttle and very gently recovered to straight and level. Cigar smoking Ed never lost it and just verbally said thats not how you do it.
Just a little 50s aviation trivia involving some past events. Garry went on to get his license many years later, and a 172.
Rich S.
My primary flight training back in 1969-71 was out of LGA. The school was the long extinct La Guardia Flying Service. LGA being what it is meant we flew elsewhere for practicing t&g's and full stop landings. Lincoln Park was probably my favorite airport since I could get an idea of what making a carrier landing was like. If I remember correctly, the runway was gravel in those days and much shorter. Can anyone confirm this?
Dennis Harper
my flight instruction took place at BeechEast over at TEB back in the 80's... the instructors there (some of best people on earth) seemed to enjoy bringing the cocky students (like myself) over to Lincoln Park for a lil bit of humility training (i mean, after all, we did pay for it, didn't we)... maybe it was that look of shock and fear in our eyes when we first sighted the runway... maybe they took some sadistic pleasure in casually announcing, 'ok there's the runway, go ahead and land', and then sitting back and gauging our reaction, knowing full well that all any person of rational sensibilities could see was this ribbon of what looked like half a roadway with numbers on the ends... surely that couldn't be the runway that he was asking me to land on... it was just too thin to be a runway for real airplanes...
or maybe it was the knowledge that after landing at Lincoln Park once or twice, the new, soon to be pilot would be confident of his or her abilities to take their charge into anything that the FAA allowed to be called an airport... regardless of the width of its runways... maybe these flight instuctors knew a thing or two... or three...
so nowadays... whenever i see tv news replays of those airliners making emergency landings... and the pilot puts it down right on the centerline... i can rest assured that that pilot probably landed at Licoln Park at least once during his/her early flying days...
i drove out to Lincoln Park once after that... i just had to get a feel for what looked like one of those idyllic small local airports... from a different perspective... i wasn't dissapointed...
is the lil viewing gallery at the north end of the field still there...
--Mike Hense
[More comments...]