1920-1930

Curtiss Florida Aviation Camp bustles with activity

Adventurous Miamians are introduced to the novelty of flight

Aviation pioneer establishes municipal flying field in Hialeah

In February of 1921, aviation legend turned South Florida real estate developer Glenn Curtiss announced that he would create a municipal flying field on land donated to the City of Hialeah, which he was then in the process of founding with associate J. H. Bright. A hangar relocated from the deactivated Army gunnery base at Chapman Field was donated to Hialeah by the City of Miami in March 1923 and in December 2023, it was announced that the Florida Aviation Camp Inc. would soon be opening. The 100-acre facility was to be generally supervised by Major B. L. Smith, with direct responsibility for operations to be handled by Lt. Andrew Heermance.

Training and sightseeing both on offer

General plans envisioned a pilot training school along the same lines as that of the parent school of the Curtiss company on Long Island. Also to be offered were sightseeing flights over and around the city and the Everglades. The favorite plane used for these excursions was the “Oriole,” one of three planes owned by the aviation camp. Four privately owned additional aircraft were also housed in the camp’s hangar.

Stunts and spectacle

Throughout the winter season of early 1924 ads for the Florida aviation camp appeared almost daily in the local newspapers. Sightseeing rides were popular and included such tours as a flight along the Miami Canal to the downtown area and then north to Buena Vista, returning over the big new Hialeah Jockey Club. Stunt flying events were also hosted at the camp. Camp director Andrew Heermance himself performed many of the stunts, such as tailspins and loop-the-loops, drawing on his not-so-distant past as a former stunt pilot, including a stint with Mabel Cody’s Flying Circus which had brought him to the Hialeah flying field some years earlier, in 1922.

Aerial eyes chart Miami’s growth

The summer months of the aviation camp’s first year of operation also included piloting planes for aerial photographers from Underwood & Underwood. The firm had been contracted by the Miami City Commission to conduct aerial surveys of the area to assist with plans for future expansion, the first such survey ever conducted by any city in the southern United States. The images, published in February 1925, may be found among the collection of the Miami Dade Public Library’s digital collections, Florida Maps and Atlases.

Camp is moved to Opa Locka

By 1925, Curtiss had turned his sights on creating another city some five miles north of Hialeah. This was the City of Opa-Locka, designed to fire the imagination with architectural motifs drawn from scenes from the Arabian Nights. Expansion plans for doubling the size of the Florida Aviation Camp and relocating it to Opa Locka were announced in July, and by September 15, 1925, the runway had been sodded and rolled and roads leading to the field built. Located in Opa Locka’s Country Club section, the aviation camp was surrounded by an 18-hole golf course. The earliest ads for the Opa Locka camp appeared in local newspapers in early August, 1926 and could be found regularly thereafter into the month of September.

Hurricane damage jeopardizes future operation

Miami’s famous Hurricane of September 1926 did not spare the Opa Locka Florida Aviation Camp. The facilities were severely damaged. Although attempts were made to continue to operate the camp in the months following the storm, the impact of the Hurricane on Miami’s tourism business was devastating. By January of 1927 the camp appeared to have been shut down.

Andrew Heermance appointed Aviation Director

In November of 1927, Andrew Heermance was appointed Miami’s first Aviation Director. During his tenure as director, he played a significant role in the development of Miami Municipal Airport and other local aviation facilities.

Former Opa Locka campsite donated to City of Miami

In 1929, Curtiss donated at least 40 acres from the former Florida Aviation Camp’s Opa Locka site to the City of Miami to house the huge former Navy blimp hangar being sent to Opa Locka from Key West.