Hicksville Aviation Country Club

Economic reasons and urban development. Following World War II, Long Island experienced a massive suburban boom. The land became extremely valuable for commercial purposes, leading to its sale and redevelopment. The site was chosen for the Mid-Island Shopping Plaza (which opened in 1956), a large-scale shopping center designed to serve the rapidly growing population.

The site of the former airport is now completely occupied by the Broadway Mall (originally opened as the Mid-Island Plaza) and its extensive parking lots. The coordinates provided point directly to the location of this major regional shopping center. There are no visible remnants of the original airfield or its facilities.

The airport holds significant importance in American aviation history for two main reasons:

1. **Aviation Country Club Concept:** Established in 1929, it was one of the first in a planned national chain of 'Aviation Country Clubs'. These clubs were designed to merge the burgeoning interest in private aviation with the exclusive, social atmosphere of a traditional country club, offering amenities like a swimming pool and tennis courts alongside hangars and runways. Famed aviator Amelia Earhart was a notable member.

2. **Grumman's First Test Field:** The airport is critically important as the first flight test facility for the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation. Grumman established its first factory in an adjacent abandoned naval building in 1930. The company used the Hicksville airfield to test its earliest and most influential aircraft, including the first Grumman-designed aircraft for the U.S. Navy, the FF-1 'Fifi' biplane fighter, in 1931. This marks a foundational moment in the history of a company that would become a dominant force in military aviation and a cornerstone of Long Island's identity as the 'Cradle of Aviation'.

There are no plans or prospects for reopening the airport. The site is fully developed with high-value commercial real estate in a densely populated suburban area. Reverting the land to aviation use is economically and logistically impossible.