The Bellanca Airfield was an airfield, aircraft plant, and service hangar built in 1928 by

Giuseppe Bellanca Giuseppe Mario Bellanca (March 19, 1886 – December 26, 1960) was an Italian-American aviation pioneer, airplane designer and builder, who is credited with many design firsts and whose aircraft broke many aviation records. He was inducted into t ...

and Henry B. DuPont in New Castle, Delaware. Located off Route 273 near the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

, the plant produced approximately 3000 aircraft before closing in 1954. The only surviving part of the airfield is the former Air Service, Inc. hangar, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

History

Giuseppe Mario Bellanca immigrated from Italy in 1912 and continued his passion for aircraft design in the United States. His aircraft achieved numerous endurance and efficiency records. His $25,000 WB-2 monoplane, ''Columbia'', was the first choice of Charles Lindbergh for his trans-Atlantic flight after, on April 25, 1927, Clarence Chamberlin and Bert Acosta set the world endurance record for aircraft, staying aloft circling New York City for 51 hours, 11 minutes, and 25 seconds and covering 4,100 miles, more than the 3,600 mile from New York to Paris. '' Time'' magazine reported on April 25, 1927:

Engineer
Giuseppe M. Bellanca Giuseppe Mario Bellanca (March 19, 1886 – December 26, 1960) was an Italian-American aviation pioneer, airplane designer and builder, who is credited with many design firsts and whose aircraft broke many aviation records. He was inducted into t ...
of the Columbia Aircraft Corporation had conditioned an elderly yellow-winged monoplane with one Wright motor, and scouted around for pilots. Lieut.
Leigh Wade Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staff ...
, round-the-world flyer, declined the invitation, saying Mr. Bellanca's plans were too stunt-like, not scientific. Shrugging, Mr. Bellanca engaged Pilots
Clarence Duncan Chamberlin Clarence Duncan Chamberlin (November 11, 1893 – October 31, 1976) was an American pioneer of aviation, being the second man to pilot a fixed-wing aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean, from New York to the European mainland, while carrying the firs ...
and burly Bert Acosta, onetime auto speedster, to test his ship's endurance. Up they put from
Mitchel Field, Long Island Mitchel Air Force Base also known as Mitchel Field, was a United States Air Force base located on the Hempstead Plains of Long Island, New York, United States. Established in 1918 as Hazelhurst Aviation Field #2, the facility was renamed late ...
, with 385 gallons of ethylated (high power) gasoline. All day they droned back and forth over suburbia, circled the Woolworth Building, hovered over Hadley Field, New Jersey, swung back to drop notes on Mitchell Field. All that starry night they wandered slowly around the sky, and all the next day, and through the next night, a muggy, cloudy one. Newsgatherers flew up alongside to shout unintelligible things through megaphones. Messrs. Acosta and Chamberlain were looking tired and oil-blobbed. They swallowed soup and sandwiches, caught catnaps on the mattressed fuel tank, while on and on they droned, almost lazily (about 80 m.p.h.) for they were cruising against time. Not for 51 hours, 11 minutes, 25 seconds, did they coast to earth, having broken the U.S. and world's records for protracted flight. In the same time, conditions favoring, they could have flown from Manhattan to Vienna. They had covered 4,100 miles. To Paris it is 3,600 miles from Manhattan. Jubilant, Engineer Bellanca's employers offered competitors a three-hour headstart in the race to Paris. The
Bellanca AviaBellanca Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft design and manufacturing company. Prior to 1983, it was known as the Bellanca Aircraft Company. The company was founded in 1927 by Giuseppe Mario Bellanca, although it was preceded by p ...
monoplane's normal cruising speed is 110 m.p.h. She would require only some 35 hours to reach Paris—if she could stay up that long again.

Lindbergh was unable to get the plane, and two weeks after Lindbergh's flight, the ''Columbia'' flew non-stop from New York City to

Berlin, Germany Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constituent ...

, a trip of 3,911 miles which was again longer than the 3,600 mile trip Lindbergh made from New York City to Paris, to capture the Orteig Prize. The Air Service, Inc. Hangar at Bellanca Airfield was built about 1936, and is built predominately of concrete block with brick detailing at door openings and at the locations of the piers that support the wood roof trusses. It measures 60 feet by 180 feet, and is the only surviving piece of aviation history left at the former Bellanca Airfield. and

References

External links

{{authority control Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States Transportation buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Delaware Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Delaware Buildings and structures completed in 1936 Buildings and structures in New Castle, Delaware National Register of Historic Places in New Castle County, Delaware Aircraft hangars on the National Register of Historic Places Buildings and structures in New Castle County, Delaware 1928 establishments in Delaware

History

See also

References

External links