(2009)
Provincetown Municipal Airport | John Van Arsdale Memorial.
“Old Man Van,” John C. Van Arsdale Sr. (1919-1997), quite truly put Provincetown on the aviation map. Beginning with 150 passengers to and from Boston on his Cape Cod Flying Service in the last two months of 1948, to 20,000 passengers annually in 1984 aboard the Provincetown-Boston Airline, which he founded, Van Arsdale and his sons, John Jr. and Peter, dominated the Provincetown Municipal Airport for nearly four decades. The photo shows an armillary sphere — an instrument widely used by Portuguese navigators — outside the terminal building. It was designed by Anita R. Berman and installed in 1998, a year after “Old Man Van” — whom it commemorates — passed into aviation history.
¶ Last updated on 26 February 2017.