Vaughn College - Queens NY

A Step Back In Time And A Vision Of The Future

Casey Jones School Of Aeronautics

Jackson Heights / Flushing / March 4, 2010. Vaughn College was originally the Casey Jones School of Aeronautics, which opened its doors in Newark, NJ in 1932. At the time Newark was New York City’s primary airport. At the time Brooklyn had an airport, Floyd Bennett Field, but its location was inconvenient to travel into and out of the city.

LaGuardia Airport - A Bit Of Queens & NYC History

Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia caused quite a stir when he demanded to be taken into New York City by the airline that sold him a ticket which cited ‘New York City’ as its destination. The airline appeased him by taking him to Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, which was located south and west of what is now JFK Airport.

Following Mayor LaGuardia’s successful public relations stunt, the city began exploring ways to create its own popular airport. Floyd Bennett Field was plagued with traffic issues along Flatbush Avenue, which combined with its distance from the city, relegated it to the dustbin of history by the end of the 1940’s.

Queens - Gateway To New York City

In the late thirties the WPA set about upgrading an airstrip along the northern edge of Queens [North Beach Airport] to accommodate New York City air travel. The airstrip was located close to the city, with good traffic connections via the newly constructed Triborough Bridge [completed in 1936]. Hence, within two years, the newly refurbished airport opened in 1939 as Municipal Airport, which decades later was later renamed La Guardia.

Casey Jones School Of Aeronautics Moves To Queens

In 1941, only two years after the new airport in Queens had opened, the Casey Jones School of Aeronautics moved from Newark into Queens and was commemorated by Mayor LaGuardia. The school campus is still located only a few blocks away from La Guardia Airport. In the war years that followed [WWII], the Casey Jones School educated and trained 20,000 men and women who supported the nation’s successful air effort during WWII.

Since the forties, the school has continued to evolve from what was essentially a design and mechanics school [Casey School Of Aeronautics], into a full fledged private four year college [Vaughn College] offering bachelor and associate degrees in engineering and technology, as well as aviation and management.

In the report that follows you’ll see photos of planes equipment, engines being taken apart and put back together, flight simulators and the Vaughn College observation tower [photo to left], into which some of the LaGuardia Control Tower chatter is piped. We will also peek into Vaughn College's evolving curricula, which now includes a masters degree, and a nascent mechatronics / robotics program.

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