Refurbishing Hardware at the Airfield Home of Record Breaking Flights by Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes, and John Glenn

Refurbishing and retrofitting hardware are two of the things we do best. When Leatherneck Hardware was selected to refurbish the original sliding hangar door hardware back to its original state at the historic Floyd Bennett Field in New York, we were thrilled.

Over the past three months, we have completed the first wave of bottom rollers and top guides needed, about 25% of the overall project.

We’ll let Jordan Carlton, our CNC/Marketing Manager, tell you a little more about the project.

“The original hangars at Floyd Bennett where equipped with Allith Prouty sliding door hardware, which was a Danville, IL company, our predecessor company. What is special about this project is, instead of making all new hardware for the doors, we are using what original hardware we can, such as the bottom roller frames, and replacing what is no good any more, like the wheels.

A lot of the original Allith hardware was made from cast steel, such as the wheels and the wheel frames, and were cast with their name on each part. To continue with that theme, the wheels that we are making are cast aluminum bronze and are being cast with our name in them as well. This material was picked due to its non-corrosive principles over steel (they won’t rust in the salty air) and the bronze portion of the material gives them a nice flashy gold color after being machined.”

About the Field

Floyd Bennett Field opened in 1931 as a general aviation field and by 1941, it transformed into a military field. Before it became a military air field, Floyd Bennett was home to dozens of record breaking flights by numerous pilots, such as Wiley Post, Amelia Earhart, and Howard Hughes just to name a few. It was even the launch sight for an “accidental” non-stop flight to Ireland by Douglas “Wrong Way” Corrigan, which was registered to go to California.

During World War II, Floyd Bennett Field was the most active airfield in the continental US. After the war, the Navy and Coast Guard primarily used the field until the 1970s. Even after the war, Floyd Bennett was home to more records. John Glenn set the transcontinental air speed record from Los Angles to Floyd Bennett Field in 3 hours, 23 minutes and 8.4 seconds. Today, Floyd Bennett is part of the Gateway National Recreation Area and is dedicated to aviation history, sports, and the great outdoors.

Watch for photos and more details in the coming months.