Flew over Long Island, looked down and saw an airport, learned some Grumman history!

I hardly ever fly to the Northeast but I had a flight from Providence to Atlanta (KPVD-KATL) which routed us over Long Island NY. We were just off the coast westbound and I looked down from the right side and saw an interesting airport layout like a an upside down V from my perspective. Making a mental note, after I got home I started doing some digging.

If you've ever wondered where the Grumman F-14 Tomcat was built, that was the place in Calverton. Hangar 6 is now in use by an aerospace company called Luminati which is making components for its solar powered sailplanes there. Years ago I remember seeing video on some F-14 documentary on History Channel of the F-14 development, and the first prototype crashing after losing hydraulics. The pilots ejected on approach to one of those runways just seconds before going into the trees. Multiple angles from both chase plane and ground head on shots. It's on Youtube under "F-14 Prototype Crash on 1970".

In any event, here's the link to historic Grumman manufacturing photos at that facility dating back to the S-2 and F-11 Tiger up to the A-6 being built right alongside of the Tomcat. For the sharp eyed people, pics of the F-111B Navy variant can be seen in apparent ground testing which failed so bad for Naval carrier ops that the Tomcat was born. I found it interesting anyway, especially as Top Gun Maverick sets box office records:

http://www.luminati.aero/historic-calverton