Brindley Field

Written By Dino DiPietro

Located right in the middle of the Parking Lot @ Home Depot in Commack..

Here’s a clear and well‑rounded history of Brindley Field in Commack, Long Island — one of Suffolk County’s most interesting early aviation sites.

✈️ Brindley Field – World War I Airfield (1918–1919)

Brindley Field was a temporary U.S. Army Signal Corps Aviation Section airfield constructed in 1918 during World War I.
It occupied farmland in Commack, near what is now Jericho Turnpike (NY‑25) and Larkfield Road.

Why It Was Built

  • Created as an emergency landing field for pilots training at Hazelhurst Field (later Roosevelt Field) and other Long Island air bases.

  • One of several auxiliary fields positioned across Western and Central Suffolk County to support the booming military flight training program.

Purpose & Operations

  • Used primarily for:

    • Training flights

    • Emergency landings

    • Fueling and minor aircraft repairs

  • Hosted Curtiss JN‑4 “Jenny” aircraft, the standard WWI training plane.

Army Presence

  • Manning was minimal: usually a small detachment of airmen, mechanics, and guards.

  • No major hangars were built — most structures were temporary wooden sheds and canvas shelters.

📌 A Historic Crash Site

Brindley Field is best remembered because it was the location of a fatal aircraft accident in 1918, commemorated today with a roadside historical marker in Commack. The crash involved a training aircraft, and the marker recognizes the site’s contribution to early military aviation.

📍 Present‑Day Location

The airfield no longer exists — the land has been fully developed. The approximate area is around:

  • Jericho Turnpike & Larkfield Road

  • Portions extending toward Town Line Road

A New York State Historical Marker titled “Brindley Field – U.S. Army Airfield 1918–1919” stands near the original location.

🏆 Historical Significance

Brindley Field is important because:

  • It represents Long Island’s deep connection to early American aviation.

  • It supported one of the largest military flight‑training programs in the world at that time.

  • It predates the major aviation period at Mitchel Field and Roosevelt Field, helping lay the groundwork for Long Island’s reputation as the “Cradle of Aviation.”

 

Why Brindley Field was located near a cemetery

Brindley Field (1918–1919) sat on open Commack farmland, and the nearby cemetery (most commonly associated with Holy Sepulchre Cemetery to the north or the smaller Commack Methodist Cemetery to the south) was already there long before the Army built the airfield.

In other words:

The cemetery wasn’t placed near the airfield —
the airfield was placed near the cemetery.

Here’s why that happened:

1. The land was flat, open, and sparsely developed

During World War I, the Army needed large, flat fields close to existing training bases. Much of Commack was farmland, so it was easy and fast to clear for emergency landing strips. The nearby cemetery simply sat on one small part of that rural landscape.

2. Cemeteries often occupied quiet rural parcels

Cemeteries were commonly established on:

  • church-owned land

  • quiet farmland on the edges of towns

  • areas unsuitable for farm expansion

So having farmland, churches, and a cemetery clustered in the same area was typical.

3. Brindley Field was temporary

It operated for only about a year. The Army was not concerned with long‑term community planning — they just needed a quick auxiliary field near Jericho Turnpike and the training routes.

4. No symbolic connection

Unlike some military bases, Brindley Field wasn’t placed near a cemetery for ceremonial or memorial reasons.
It was purely practical.

Dino DiPietro