Almost Hidden Treasure
(image via: Paul Freeman)
Photographer Tim Tyler captured this fast-fading helipad situated in front of Hangar 3 on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay. Treasure Island was “built” in the late 1930s from silt dredged from the bay, and facilities on the island were constructed and controlled by the U.S. Navy from 1942 through 1996. Check out the Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: California website for more images and info from California’s rich aviation history.
East Bloc Eggbeater Base
(images via: Paul Freeman)
In Soviet-controlled former East Germany, heliport abandon YOU! Heliport Dresden-Heller (Hubschrauberlandeplatz Dresden-Heller, in the local lingo) was built in 1957 by the Red Army and was one of the Warsaw Pact’s frontline bases.
(image via: Paul Freeman)
After the Russians left in 1992, the heliport was left abandoned: most of the buildings were torn down in 2005 and the remaining structures, runways and landing pads are slowly being subsumed by windblown sand and untended vegetation.
Mall Cop Air Force
(image via: Jonrev)
The mall cops at the Dixie Square Mall in Harvey, Illinois, are truly badass: they had their own chopper! “Had” being the keyword here; sometime before March 14th of 2009 when Flickr user Jonrev snapped this photo, the real cops pulled the financial plug and to coin a phrase, the chopper got chopped. We can all thank Jonrev for capturing the sign when he did, as a commenter (not Radar O’Reilly, sorry) at his Flickr page states that as of summer 2010 he discovered the sign broken in two, laying on the ground, and it “now resides in my garage”. My other car is a helicopter?
