Pilot Harry M. Jones had a hangar and operated a small airport at Old Orchard Beach. The hard-packed sand surface provided a landing strip and runway for the post World War I craze of flying. A number of famous pilots and planes landed on the beach -- and some took off from there for overseas flights.

Jones began his business of flying sightseeing passengers in his biplanes in 1919. This photograph was taken sometime in the 1920s.