1940-1945

Opa Locka emerges as Naval aviation superstar

With roots in blimp hangars and bold ambitions, Opa Locka transformed from a quiet municipal outpost into one of America’s most vital naval aviation training centers.

Wartime expansion: From barracks to baseball diamonds

In June of 1940, citing reasons of national defense, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered that the Naval reserve aviation training base that had been operating in Opa Locka since 1931 be enlarged by approximately 1500 acres. It was announced that the move was part of a $3.5 million expansion to provide wartime preparedness training to 4,000 fliers a year and facilities for an additional 2,000 base personnel.

Formally commissioned as NAS Miami on August 15, 1940, by October more than 40 buildings had been erected at the base, including 200 housing units, five barracks, five mess halls, four dispensary buildings, a hospital, an administration building, a recreational building, an officers’ club, a football field, a baseball diamond, eight tennis courts and a swimming pool. Also encompassed in the site were a large supply building, a utility building and supply shops, two airfields–east and west–and two new all-steel hangars.

And that was just for starters. In August of 1942, NAS Miami purchased two additional nearby airfields from the City of Miami: the former Miami Municipal Airport and adjacent Miami Master Airport.

Curtiss, blimps and the rise of a Naval training center

The development of this sprawling domain — the second largest in the naval air advanced training command during the Second World War — can be traced to modest beginnings.

In the summer of 1929, the City of Miami determined to purchase a former Navy blimp hangar built in 1917 in Key West and bring it up to Miami for use as a winter home for Goodyear blimps. The hangar, which was big enough to house three blimps, was purchased for $32,500. It was dismantled, shipped up to Miami by rail and erected on the former site of the Glenn Curtiss Florida Aviation Camp, located at the number one golf course at Opa Locka. The 40-acre parcel was donated to the city by former aviation legend and Opa Locka founder, Glenn Curtiss, himself.

The dirigibles hangar was believed to be the first blimp hangar ever purchased for municipal use. By early December 1929, when the Goodyear blimp Defender arrived in Miami, the hangar was ready and waiting.

Four months later, in April 1930, Miami was delighted to learn that it was one of six cities selected by the Navy to become a training center for naval reserve officers and new recruits. Per its agreement with the Navy, the City was required to provide the land for the base and to build a hangar, barracks and administration building. As the summer progressed, the City Commission was able to purchase 150 acres in Opa Locka from the Curtiss estate following Curtiss’ untimely death, in July, at age 52. An additional five acres were deeded over directly to the city at no charge as had been promised by Curtiss prior to his passing. It was suggested that the Navy house at least six of its aircraft in the nearby dirigibles hangar while the permanent hangar was being built.

The Naval Reserve aviation training base base was formally dedicated on January 8, 1931, at a ceremony that took place immediately before the opening of the Third Annual All American Air Maneuvers held at the nearby Municipal Airport. Navy airplanes and Goodyear blimps circled overhead during the ceremonies.

The mast, the Akron and the Hindenberg shadow

The construction of a dirigible mooring mast at the base in 1933 — one of only five in the country — and the highly publicized subsequent visits of the lighter than air dirigibles Akron, Macon and the German Graf Zeppelin lent additional distinction to the facility. However, the tragic crash of the German zeppelin Hindenburg at NAS Lakehurst, NJ, in 1937, only a week before it was scheduled to visit the Opa Locka base, cast a pall over the future use of dirigibles for passenger service and, while the dirigibles hangar remained in place, the mooring mast was dismantled in 1940.

Prime role in wartime operations

After expansion and formal commission as a Naval Air Station in 1940, and for the duration of World War II, NAS Miami played a significant role in training Navy combat teams for aerial combat in the South Pacific. In addition to being the second largest station in the naval air advanced training command, it was also used as a supply depot for the Navy’s Caribbean bases, and as a Main Station in its Naval Air Transport service network. When it was deactivated, in 1946, it housed 3000 enlisted men and 1200 civilian employees. At its height of activity, on VJ Day (Sept. 2, 1945) it had a peak force of 14,500 enlisted men, officers and civilian employees. Approximately 18,000 Navy crewmen and pilots were trained at the base during the war.

Civilian leasing and city partnerships

In October 1946 the Navy announced that NAS Miami would be deactivated. While the government would retain title to the base, it would be leased for civilian use. Various expressions of interest from airlines, charter operators and even the City of Miami were reported but by September 2, 1947, formal transfer had been completed. In exchange for providing services (sewage, garbage, waterworks, police and fire protection), as part of an economic stimulus plan, the City of Opa Locka took over $6 million in land and buildings located in the Mainside area for $1.00 a year rent, including factory buildings, a 250-bed hospital, warehouses and offices. No revenues were to be paid except those paid by civilian lessees to Opa Locka. The Dade County Port Authority took over Mainside’s east and west airfields and airport buildings under a similar arrangement, announcing that it planned to establish a public airport with portions leased to companies for aviation businesses. The Municipal Airport and Master Field areas of the former base were set aside for continued use by the Naval Reserve.

Marines reactivate Mainside

The civilian operators of the base and their tenants were exposed to the pitfalls of their situation when, a year and a half into the Korean War, in January 1952, it was announced that Mainside would be reactivated by the Marine Corps effective February 15th. All lessees were required to vacate the premises. Complete reactivation was to occur by July 1, when some 6,000 officers, enlisted men and civilians were expected to take up residence. Though the war ended about a year and a half later, on July 27, 1953, the Marines remained at the base until 1958 when it was officially declared surplus. Takeover by the Dade County Port Authority, however, was delayed for several more years, by what was then known as the “Cuban situation.”

Cold war intrigue and the CIA

In the mid-1950s, the CIA had begun to use Mainside for covert operations in Central America. After it was declared surplus, in 1958, weeds grew wild, Australian scrub pines sprang up through cracks in the runways and fences and buildings were left to rust and peel. Largemouth bass were spotted in the former officers’ swimming pool. It was in this semi-abandoned state that, in early 1961, the base was used as the staging area for the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. Handover to the County was delayed again when, in October 1962, the 13-day confrontation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union over the Cuban Missile Crisis caused President John F. Kennedy to reclaim Mainside for use as the Peninsula Base Command for a possible Cuban invasion.

Opa Locka Airport opens for civilian operations

At long last, on February 2, 1962, following issuance of a quit-claim deed from the General Services Administration, Mainside airbase was christened and officially reopened as Opa-Locka Airport for civilian operation by the Metro Commission and Dade County Port Authority. Industrial and commercial concerns were invited to lease the old military offices and warehouses. The FAA had asked the County to close the old Tamiami Airport because of its close proximity to Miami International and from that time forward general aviation activity was transferred from Tamiami to Opa-Locka.

By 1964, Miami Opa Locka had become one of the busiest airports in the country.

Post Script: Opa Locka’s Hollywood connections preserve rare footage of historic blimp hangar

In the 1980s, Opa Locka airport became a sought-after location for films and TV. The following intro scene to “Evan,” the penultimate episode from the first season of “Miami Vice,” was filmed in the historic 1917 blimp hangar shipped to Miami for use by the Goodyear Company in 1929. Sadly, the hangar was torn down in 1995.

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