LA FLORIDIANA The History of Miami International Airport -- Part Two  by William Moriaty
THIS WEEK'S MOVIE REVIEW "Munich"  by Mike Smith
DEADGUY'S DEMENTIA Trials of a Mother  by Mike "Deadguy" Scott
COUCH POTATO CONFESSIONS 2005 Did Not Really Exist  by Vinnie Blesi
MY MIDDLE TOE In Search of Christmas  by Mark Terry
THE DROW The Point of Existence  by Dylan Jones
SPLASH PAGE True Christmas Spirit....Man of the Year....Biggest Surprise of the Year....Bigget Disappointment of the Year....I like Superman?...300?  by Brandon Jones
CREATURE'S CORNER Christmas Greetings....The Chronicles of Narnia  by John Lewis
MATT'S RAIL Issue 300....Freedom of Holiday Choice....Christmas Time  by Matt Drinnenberg
MIKE'S RANT The Big 3 0 0....Merry Christmas....What The?...Passing On....India On Line....WTF?, Part 2....Jaws: The Story, Part 48 -- Final Chapter  by Mike Smith
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The History of Miami International Airport -- Part Two  

December 5, 1958, The Jet Age Enters Miami
While America's youth were being introduced to rock n roll and bobby sox, the first introduction of scheduled jet passenger service in the United States occurred on December 5, 1958 when a National Airlines Boeing 707, leased from Pan American World Airways, made its maiden flight from New York Idelwild to Miami International Airport. Once again, Miami's aviation legacy figured prominently in America's transportation history. Just eight years earlier in 1950, Miami International Airport had 1.4 million travelers pass through its terminal and flight operations skyrocketed to over 900 a day.

February 1, 1959, The "Wilcox Field" 20th Street Terminal Opens
As you recall in last week's article, Miami International Airport had also gone by two other names, Pan American Field (1928-1937) and the 36th Street Airport (1937-1949), before officially being designated as Miami International Airport in 1949. But this would not turn out to be its actual final name!

On February 12, 1959, the new 20th Street terminal (which still serves as the main terminal to Miami International Airport) was opened. The official designation of the airport was changed yet again to Wilcox Field in honor of a Miami Congressman, J. Mark Wilcox, who championed aviation growth in Dade County and tried unsuccessfully to keep the U.S. Army's Chapman Field in Coral Gables from falling into the hands of agricultural interests led by Colonel Robert Montgomery and noted botanist David Fairchild (see Bob Zahner's letter and e-mail links on the history of this Field in PCR #255). Montgomery inevitably prevailed over the land use of the Field where it ended up comprising a USDA Tropical Research Station and a Miami-Dade County Park. As one passes the main entrance into the main terminal of Miami International Airport they will see "Wilcox Field" written above their heads. A shot of this is seen in the NBC TV series "Miami Vice" when actor Phillip Michael Thomas ("Ricardo Tubbs") enters the terminal in the 1984 episode "No Exit" co-starring actor Bruce Willis.

	The 20th Street terminal at Miami International Airport was the largest centralized airport terminal in the world when it opened on February 1, 1959.

Once the 20th Street terminal opened, numerous international and domestic airlines were now serving Miami International Airport. At this juncture, Miami International Airport was now considered the gateway to Latin America, the Caribbean and western Europe. The new terminal consisted of five concourses, a restaurant, a 270 room hotel, a post office, a two level roadway system, an office building and numerous retail shops, and was at that time, the largest centralized airport terminal in the world.

Growth throughout the 1960's was meteoric as the advent of jet travel made Miami even more accessible from further points by air. During that decade another concourse was added, as well as a two level parking deckand numerous other improvements. Look for some vintage 1960's film of Miami international Airport in the 1964 James Bond movie "Goldfinger" starring Sean Connery and Doris Wishman's 1962 la bad cinema cult classic "Nude on the Moon" ( see a review of this film in "Schlockarama" at http://www.crazedfanboy.com/schlock/indexprime.html ) which features footage at the Eastern Airlines maintenance facilities along N.W. 36th Street.

On April 7, 1973, the Dade County Port Authority changed its name to the Metropolitan Dade County Aviation Department. Throughout the 1970's and 1980's two major rebuilding initiatives were launched. Program 70's and Program 80's, both dedicated to the major expansion required to keep up with the incredible growth experienced by the airport. Incredibly, no local tax dollars were generated for the expansion and operation of Miami International Airport. Now the airport was expanding yet further west, adding additional length to Runway 9R27L in order to accomodate larger and faster aircraft. This required the closure of N.W. 72nd Avenue and the realignment of that portion of the road that would continue northward as Milam Dairy Road.

Deregulation Changes Everything
Nevada Senator Howard Cannon introduced Senate Bill 2493 on February 6, 1978. Known as the Airline Deregulation Act, this piece of legislation became public law with the pen strokeof President Jimmy Carter's signature on October 24, 1978. This act of law forever changed how airlines in the United States conducted business. No longer were they shackled by the heavy handed regulations of the Civil Aeronautics Board which basically allowed or denied such important business decisions as route structures and fares.

Known locally as the "Taj Mahal", this building housed Pan American's office until the airline's demise in 1991. The building and its reflection pond still exist south of N.W. 36th Street.

Due to this one act, Miami International Airport would enjoy a windfall in the last year and a half of the 1970's and throughout the 1980's until the bottom fell out in the early 1990's. Now many airlines, most regional carriers up until then seldom heard of in Miami, began shifting operations into Miami and other Florida airports in record numbers almost overnight. Amongst them were Allegheny, North Central, Mohawk, Piedmont and Ozark, and low cost "de-reg darlings" such as Air Florida, Capitol, PEOPLExpress, Northeastern International, Pride Air, Air Atlanta and New York Air.

From the late 1970's through the late 1980's, Miami International Airport experienced the most diverse and colorful assortment of aircraft and carriers in its entire history. Much like the Miami Dolphins football dynasty years of 1972 and 1973, the diverse and colorful assortment of aircraft that flew into Miami during those two magic decades will probably never be repeated again. In the northwest corner of the field off of N.W. 36th Street, you could find abandoned or barely operable cargo examples of piston aircraft from the pre-World War Two era as well as the 1940's and 1950's.

Referred to as "Corrosion" or "Cockroach" Corner, this northwest portion of the field had some one the highest concentrations of both inoperable and flying classic aircraft such as the DC-3, the C-46, the Lockheed Constellation, the DC-4, the DC-6, the DC-7, the Martin 202 and Martin 404, the Lockheed Electra and the Boeing C-97, a military version of the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, and older versions of first generation jets such as the Boeing 707, Douglas DC-8, and the Convair 880 and 990. Aviation and science fiction author Martin Caidin even rebuilt his own Junkers JU-52 at this same historic location during that time, which Van Stavern saw taking off from the airport sporting Confederate Air force regalia!

	Pan American Boeing 707 deplaning passengers at Miami International Airport in the 1960s. Note the fenced-in observation roof deck on the left hand side of the photo.

Across the field one could see the more modern aircaraft of the day, such as the Boeing 747 jumbo jet, the Lockheed L-1011 and Douglas DC-10 tri-jet heavies, as well as the less exotic workhorses such as the re-engined Douglas DC-8-71's, the Boeing 727, the Douglas DC-9 and the Boeing 737. But the most breathtaking glimpse to be captured amidst all of this tired iron and aviation history at this magical airport was the Aerospatiale Concorde flying in the colors of British Airways. I'll never forget visiting Cockroach Corner during the Labor Day Weekend of 1984 with with best friend Greg Van Stavern (who has one of the finest collections of late '70s through early '80s photos of the airport due to his working in Miami at the time) and within minutes seeing an Air Haiti C-46 take off, followed by a United DC-8-71, and then by a British Airways Concorde.

But while Van Stavern and I were revelling in the glory that was "Cockroach Corner", the Metropolitan Dade County Aviation Department had its own take on this once hallowed part of the field. Concerned with the public image that the area presented, as well as concerns over all of the abandoned aircraft and tramp cargo operators that resided there, the Department began to make moves to little by little remove this acrage of aviation buff paradise (where the tails of Belize Air Boeing 720's literally arched over the outside eastbound travel lane of N.W. 36th Street) that also housed the U.S. Customs office, and a U.S.D.A. inspection center. By the mid to late 1990's this goal was pretty much accomplished, much of it through the addition of yet another east-west runway, and now there is very little remaining of what was once Miami International Airport's most unique feature.

Historical Annual Passengers