How Long Island Shaped Aerospace History

Long Island is famous for its contribution to aviation and spaceflight, which can be viewed at the Cradle of Aviation in Uniondale.

Two docents, Larry Maggiotto and David Lange, were willing to talk to The Click about said history. Both are volunteers eager to share their knowledge with visitors.  David said, “I spent my whole life, you know, as an aviation space fan and enthusiast. Even when I was a kid, I was reading books about the Apollo program and space travel. And  I was in the Air Force for 30 years, so retiring. It’s hard to give that up.”

For his part, Larry said, “I used to wait for my grandfather and father to come home with the newspapers after the space missions.”

David explained how Nassau was important to aviation. “We have a very long and important history related to aerospace here on Long Island. We see aviation moving toward the Hempstead Plains in Nassau County. And there’s a reason for that one. It was situated near the very large city of New York City. And second to Hempstead Plains, where we’re currently at, was the largest natural flat plain, east of the Allegheny Mountains.”

Standing next to a Lunar Module, developed by the Long Island company Grumann, Larry said, “It was supposed to land on the moon on Apollo 19, in 1973, but its flight was canceled. So we are very fortunate to have one of only three in the whole world right here at our museum. Back in 1999, Tom Hanks created a mini-series for HBO, “From the Earth to the Moon”. They borrowed a lunar module for that mini-series.

With the recent Artemis II Launch, it’s docents like Larry and David who can show Long Islanders how this land helped take astronauts to the Moon.