Fly-In Drive-In
1727 New Jersey 34,
Wall Township,
NJ
07727
1727 New Jersey 34,
Wall Township,
NJ
07727
5 people
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Additional Info
Architects: Claude Birdsall
Previous Names: Monmouth County Airport Fly-In Drive-In
Nearby Theaters
This theatre was another first. On June 3, 1948 Edward Brown Jr., a former navy pilot, opened the first Fly-In Drive-In theatre. There was room for 500 cars and 25 airplanes. The planes landed at an airfield next to the drive-in (today known as Monmouth Executive Airport), then they would taxi to the last row which was set up for planes. The charge for the planes was 25 cents. When the movies were over Mr. Brown provided a jeep to tow the planes back to the airfield. It was operated by Frank Damis and Eastern Management Outdoor Theatres of Newark, NJ.
Contributed by
Lost Memory
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Recent comments (view all 24 comments)
Grand opening ad in photo section.
The Fly-In was really neat, and there are some remains if you visit the site. I did a post in Nov 2014 with some information :) https://driveinadventures.wordpress.com/2014/11/22/fly-in-drive-in-theater-wall-township-nj-closed/
This site is possibly unique, it should be heritage listed!
A more accurate address (at least for Google) is 1727 New Jersey 34, Wall Township, NJ which maps it directly to the site of the projection booth/concession stand.
Today, the property retains the outline of the drive-in and a business has seemingly built a new building atop the old foundation of the projection booth/concession stand. http://tinyurl.com/j3yv3gq
“Is the airport next door still there?”
This might be the same fly-in drive-in mentioned on page 99(strange drive-in’s) that opened on June 3, 1948 near Asbury Park, New Jersey. The planes taxied over the last ramp where they equipped with speakers for the pilot and passenengers. There was a jeep supplied to tow the planes back to the airport the movie/s finished!
Correction – page 99(chapter 10) of Drive-in theaters a history of their inception in 1933(Kerry Segrave).
RobertR, in 2004 you asked for a photo of a plane at the Fly-In Drive-In. I just posted one from June 1948. It may have been one of the LIFE Magazine photos posted in 2008, but those links are now dead.
I just uploaded a 1953 aerial that matches the angled aerial shared by jeterga. DEFG is right in saying that the thick-walled screen tower from the June 1948 photo doesn’t match the metal supports in jeterga’s.
Also, it’s true that there are too many photos posted on CT without permission (and too often without proper attribution!), but keep in mind that CT is a non-profit, and these photos are typically posted for the Fair Use of illustrating some point of history.
DEFG, you are correct. The one I posted (now removed) was the Dennis Drive-In in Dennis Massachusetts. Photo number 3 of 19 in the below Daily News link. I usually always cross reference after doing a reverse image search, but somehow missed that one.
https://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/drive-in-theaters-america-gallery-1.3226245?pmSlide=1.3226227