Timemachine: where & when was this?

 

Rolf Larsson sent me this photo and email in Feb.2008:
"Got this interesting picture from a friend, of Cubana CU-T397 c/n 10319.
As this aircraft was delivered to Cubana late 1949 and crashed on 06 December 1952, it had a rather short history with Cubana and the picture obviously was taken in the early-1950s.
But my friend wonders where it was taken and so do I!
In the background a Stratocruiser and a Connie can be seen as well as DC-aircraft."

"My friend told me that it was his father-in-law visited New York and Washington in 1950, so most likely the picture was taken at one of these places..?"

So where was this ?

 

Here we have some suggestions:

1.- I think it might be Madrid...? Cubana started services there on 17 June 1948 with the DC-4 and the area where the couple are standing looks like the now closed terrace in front of the famous spotting cafe in  Boulevard Barajas.
Peter

2.- I think the couple could be standing on the viewing terrace by the central part of the old 36th street terminal on the Pan American field in Miami....greatly expanded in the mid-late 1950s...
The Conair CV-240s behind look like Pan Am, the Connie too, and the first two DC-4s in the group.. so I'm guessing Miami. There could be one or two white tops or maybe it's the sun so 1951 at the latest.
Micky West

3. Before even reading the caption, I thought it looked like LaGuardia...
David Kiersh

 

THE ANSWER:
This photo was taken at Miami-KMIA.
Camera is pointed in a heading of about 050 degrees. Behind the CUBANA DC-4 is runway 9L/27R. TDZ of RWY 27R is just behind the tail of the Connie.
Lined up behind the CUBANA DC-4, left to right are two PAA Convair 240-2, a PAA Connie, and then a PAA Stratocruiser and the some miscellaneous four engined Douglas DC-4, 6, or 7.
KMIA used to have wonderful observation decks. As a kid growing up in Miami in the 50's and the 60's, and just a few miles from the airport, it seems like I spent half of my life at the airport up on those decks!
It cost 10 cents to gain access. Big bucks for me back then.! LOL.!
The decks were closed to the public sometime in the mid 70'S as a result of the rash of hijackings to Cuba. It was just to easy to jump down to the ramp and off you go...
Some more attachments of KMIA-
www.airliners.net/open.file/0174134/L/ - Miami KMIA observation decks in 1964
www.airliners.net/open.file/0016963/L/ - Miami observation decks in 1961
www.airliners.net/open.file/0961390/L/ - PAA CV-240 KMIA
by Steve Smith through http://groups.yahoo.com/group/airline2/ (Feb.2008)

 

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