Carl A. "Slim" Hennicke - Early Long Island Aviation Pioneer

"Slim" Hennicke, 1958

Many members may not know of or even heard of Carl Hennicke. Without him the Long Island Early Fliers would not have been formed. He lived and breathed Aviation. If you had ever seen him you would know why he was affectionately called "Slim." What follows is a brief history of Slim’s accomplishments before he passed away of February 21, 1991.

Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1902, Carl A. Hennicke developed an early love for flying. He would ride his bike to Sheepshead Bay Race Track as a young boy, to watch the airplanes fly in there and the early days of aviation.

Slim learned to fly at Campbell Field in 1920. He did quite a bit of barnstorming throughout New England in the 1920’s as a wing walker and sky diver. In 1925 he made the first parachute jump in the state of Maine at Bangor. He held Parachute License Number 13.

Slim worked as a mechanic at Roosevelt and Curtiss Fields during the 1920’s, keeping the engines of many famous fliers running such as Lindbergh, Chamberlain, Corrigan and Nungesser, a French World War 1 ace. Slim was at Roosevelt Field the day Lindbergh took off for Paris in the Spirit of St. Louis. They were personal friends.

In the 1930’s Slim worked for the Radio Corporation of America which operated a long-distance receiving station in Riverhead. H later settled in North Sea where he helped organize the North Sea Fire Department. This experience eventually led to a professional career in selling and servicing fire extinguishers for the fire departments and schools throughout Nassau and Suffolk Counties, Long Island.

He was the first American employee of helicopter pioneer Igor Sikorsky, who worked on Long Island before moving his operation ot Bridgeport, Connecticut.

"Slim" Hennicke by Paul Kotze's Thomas Morse SC4 at Michel Field, 1953

A tennis buff, he founded the Triangle Tennis Club in the 1940’s, which was next door to his home, and at the age of 85 was still a good contender in tennis matches. His famous answer to anyone seeking tips on the game was, "Hit it where they ain’t."

In 1958 Slim founded the Long Island Early Fliers Club and held Membership Number 1. Through is club he was instrumental in founding the Cradle of Aviation museum in Nassau County. He devoted 33 years of his life trying to establish a similar museum in Suffolk County. But Slim was not to see his dream come true. He died peacefully on February 21, 1991 at his Southampton home at the age of 88.

Through the years, Slim amassed a large and impressive collection of irreplaceable aviation memorabilia. He was the proud owner of the funnel used to pour the fuel into the Spirit of St. Louis before taking off on its historical flight.

Slim even had a hand in the creation of the Suffolk County Airport. As a mechanic for the Campbell Ford Agency in Riverhead in the 1920’s, he convinced his boss, who had decided to start selling airplanes, to move the airplane operation to the Westhampton area where scrub land was cheap and where there were wealthy people who could afford to by airplanes. Campbell Field came into existence. The Army built an air base adjacent to the field during World War II (it later became County Airport in 1970).

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