I'm a bit envious Mike - you were fortunate enough to witness the golden age right before your very eyes.

You’ve lived out the dream of many of us. I grew up sketching airplanes (not of your caliber!). Seeing your early sketches brings back memories. Man… I love your channel. You have me back to doodling!👨‍✈️

I lived a mile from IDL/JFK and used to walk there all the time. Brown bagging my lunch on the International Arrivals building observation deck. I've seen a lot of happenings there from blown tires on a Braniff 720, to pilots opening up their side window for a wave to me and my younger brother. I miss it a lot especially all the Airlines that are no more! My Dad helped build the TWA building that now is a hotel. LOTS of good memories!!!

Mike, Thanks for sharing your personal backstory and so much of your early artwork. Funny, some of my "nerd" friends and I would hang out at LAX every so often and I ended up in a career in Aerospace..... Thanks again for your time, work and posting. Oh and the model box art. mike

I did stiple in art class. That stiple DC-8 is impressive.

Thank you for the memories of my youth.

Some fabulous nostalgia Mike ...your talent was obvious from an early age . Very enjoyable as always .

Nice trip down memory lane. I was in 2nd grade when we moved from about a mile north of Idlewild to Rockland county (about 20 miles northwest of the city). My dad was in heavy construction and was involved with the runway upgrades when they were building "terminal city". On sundays we would go out to the airport and do walkthroughs on the new jets parked on the apron. I can still remember the smell of the jet fuel that permeated the air and the ear piercing scream of the turbines for take off. Hanging out on the observation deck was fun. The evolution of airport design is interesting. When they built terminal city most flights were point to point. Not a lot of transfers, you were booked on the same airline. My grandfather worked for the united states post office and was assigned to the team that was going to figure out how the mail was going to get around. One of his early observations was there was no real plan to get from one terminal to the next. Succeding designs incorporated monorails or trams, e.g. Dallas Fort Worth. The old Kansas City airport was a great idea at the time (pre TSA). The terminal was a giant doughnut with the automobile parking lot in the center and the airline gates around the outside. You entered the terminal and walked to your gate for xheck in. Your bags went right out to the plane on check in and the baggage carousel was right there on landing. This turned into a nightmare when TSA checkins were required and there was no way to expand the terminal. There are now multiple doughnuts and I assume/hope there are connections. Ultimate prize for poor design was the old Newark airport. They started withva single terminal and just kept adding on. It looked like a New York Times crossword puzzle from above and the gate numbering was attrocious. If you got mixed up you could wind up on the wrong "leg" and wind up walking back 300 feet to get to the correct one. Dulles had the mobile gate busses on stilts to get passengers to their planes. Cincinatti used busses to get you from one terminal to another for connecting flights. I wondered if they had a ground traffic contoller to guide theses guys around, dodging planes and ground crew vehicles.

I really miss the days of viewing platforms for exactly the same reasons you mentioned - the sounds, smells, proximity to the planes, it all made for an amazing experience that these days is all but gone. I can only dream of your artistic skills, but I would have been doing the same thing as you if I could draw like you!

Mike Machat Monday! Another fun one. The picture of the Connie is stunning. Thanks, Mike

Thanks for the memories. I grew up in Ozone Park and well remember the planes bound for rwy 13L pre-carnarsie approach. Civil Air Patrol, we used to drill in TWA hangar 14! Moved to Valley Stream, just off rwy 22L approach in 1972. So most of my 75 yrs is watching the airplanes. Now in Bucks County, Pa. It's dead quiet and I miss the planes flying over. I do regularly visit family in VS so all is not lost. Again, tnx.

Thank you for Sketch book stores of JFK I love your art work and your history behind the paintings and model box art !!.

Throughly enjoyed this trip back through time with you, Mike! I look forward to traveling with you every time you fire up your time machine!

Awesome!! I grew up between JFK and LaGuardia. Many times I went to JFK where my uncle was an avionics technician for TWA. I remember we'd park at the Worldport and watch the planes takeoff. I miss those days

Thanks much for the trip back in time. I grew up in Brooklyn, Queens and Port Jeff, Long Island in the 60's. I have fond memories of the observation decks watching the 707"s taking off, seeing my grandmother arrive from Europe in the International terminal and seeing the TWA building for the first time was such a thrill! Great video Mike!

A world class aviation artist in his incubation period. And what better place to have it than IDL / JFK. Wonderful story, photos, and art work.

I got my start at five with my dad on the observation deck of Stapleton Airport in Denver. After that we spent ten years taking photos of military jets on the tarmac of Buckley Air Base. It was the best of times!

Thanks so much for this. Brings me back to the early sixties when my father, a former WW2 AAF fighter pilot took me to IDL to see the 707. Saw many of them but the biggest treat for me was seeing the Comet 4. I still like the lines of that airliner.

Lovely presentation Mike. Now I'm going to have to find a Caravelle to build!

Enjoyed the heck out of that. Thanks Mike!

As soon as I saw your Caravelle I went "Hey! He pulled a Lynnwoodism"! You have us trained. I do not look at box art the same way now. It is even better now as I scan for artist's tricks. Great video Mike.

Wonderful, Mike. Thank you!

Mike, that was cool! The first ten years of my life were spent in Lynchburg, VA. Back in the 1950s, we'd sometimes "go to the airport." The terminal was made of wood, and dated to the 1920s. Piedmont, and possibly Southern, were the only airlines that flew into Lynchburg. Lots of tail draggers! Thanks for the great memories.

Wonderfull,thank you very much for such a tremendus piece of history! A golden era gone forever,everything had changed so much in aviation (and life) and is so very nmice to see and feel how things were plus your excellent skills! The TWA terminal,thank god will stay there,what a marvelous building! That kind of mentality no longer exixt in the world!

Love your artwork and love of aviation. One of my fondest memories is when I got to go to work with my dad. He was a mechanic for Hughes Airwest at the time in Las Vegas. After being around those DC-9s and F-27s for a day, I was hooked.

Nice video of JFK in its earlier days. Terrific photos and great aviation-airline artwork (I like that UAL DC-8) that paid big dividends for you years later. Thanks for sharing! I have a few artifacts from United's "The Executive" flight ("for Men only") which includes a smoked glass plate with an image of a UAL Caravelle on it, a deck of cards and, get this, a fish scale with the box it came in.

What a wonderful episode. Really appreciate you took the time to dig up some of those early drawings and put them here (plus those pictures you had, I'd never seen any picture from the renaming of IDL to JFK ceremony). While with very different subjects my youngest (6 yo) has been taking up a lot of drawing and painting, and last year had that moment where she got frustrated, cried and said she was no good. Fortunately the instructor (this was at Disneyland btw) was very kind and you could tell she was great at doing this, gave her the original she drew for that class and asked her to keep practicing using her drawing as a reference. I can't help to think of that while watching your drawings, I will show your progression if/when she needs another pep talk, if you don't mind.

It is such a shame that modern demands for space and security concerns mean that outdoor public viewing spaces no longer exist. I have fond memories of my family travelling on the bus to Heathrow Airport in London in the very early 60s for a day out, and when I got to my early teens I was trusted to get the 285 bus there on my own and spend a day watching the aircraft come and go from the viewing area on what used to be called "The Queen's Building" which evolved into Terminal 1. VC10s, Tridents, Vanguards, 707s, Caravelles, Britannias, Viscounts, etc, all in the immediate foreground below us. And, of course, I had to build Airfix kits of them and all the usual military aircraft from the world wars and into the jet age. Happy Days.

Very, very interesting indeed. I’ve been in aviation all of my working life. You’ve captured a real slice of history with your artistic skills. Excellent work!

I grew up at the bottom of the east /west runway at Essendon airport Melbourne...the children of Essendon Fields all became tarmac rats Thankyou for your presentation.it brought back many great memories..cheers d

Always enjoy seeing your early work. And I never tire seeing the Saarinen building.

So very cool. I have my old sketchbooks, not as unique as yours, but ever present for a long time. Congrats on an Amazing career!

What a special treat! Loved seeing the photos from a previous (better?) time. So cool that you treated your mom to her first flight with what sounds like your first sale/barter! Looking forward to next Monday for your next video!

I love these. My father in law worked at PanAm is whole life. Lived in Valley Stream. We would watch planes take off from JFK and he would see the tail number and talk about the planes history. I have all his Pan Am memorabilia such great history

Some great photos. And the art is always amazing. Great work by the team.

Thanks Mike, enjoyed this immensely, brings me back to the day...

Wonderful story. I've been on that flight deck when a kid while visiting relatives in New York, we may have crossed paths as it would have been about the same time. While you where drawing at JFK I was going to LAX (Mom drove-no public transportation) and taking pictures with my "Brownie" from outside Mike Lyman's Flight Deck restaurant which is where the viewing area was. I sure miss those hangouts.

Thank you for sharing. I enjoyed every one of your art pieces.

I lived in the SanFernando Valley in the 1960s. My parents let my brother and I fly from Van Nuys to LAX on a LA Airways copter that looked very much like the Boeing you showed in your video. They drove to LAX to pick us up and take us back to the airport ”Valley”.

Very nice story Mike! Enjoyable to see your career progression. Such a skilled youngster, but more importantly we see that you put in the time and effort to become world class. ❤

Thx Mike ! I grew up in BKLYN and one of my memories back then in the 50's as a young kid was seeing one of those go overhead. As a family once in awhile we'd go out to Idlewild to "watch the planes come in". There was the Idelwild Inn (with a/c and a pool!!!..oh boy)

Thanks for that nostalgic dip into the past. I was 8 in 1961 when I arrived and departed IDL in a BOAC 707 from/to the UK. No memories of the airport except a night departure bound for Prestwick, I remember we were accompanied by fire engines when taxying out. I always wondered if it was a regular procedure departures of the early jets or just coincidence.

Very nice throw back video Mike! I am two weeks for a business trip to US. Unfortunately not close to California to meet you in person. Anyway, one more excelent video to start the week. Greetings from Brazil!

Great video, thank you. At 3:26 the car you see is a French Renault Dauphine. Meant to be a big hit in the U.S. and Canada, it was severely defeated by its competitor the VW Beetle.

Wow Mike I remember spending so many hours on the Pan Am roof taking Photos!

Love your story, and the history you teach us. Its a crying shame there is no way to observe the ramps and the flying. Best place at lax is from the in n out hamberger restaurant just across the street from the north side runways. One of my favorite places to go.

I was at the United Club three weeks ago at a special airport, Mike: Washington National/Reagan. I was stunned to realize I had eaten lunch there 55 years ago when it was a restaurant on the north end of the original terminal. Now the club is thought of as being at the south end of the new terminal. Right outside the club is one of the early observation decks. It was awesome, great view as Reagan is a very intimate airline airport. But they wouldn’t let me go outside for some reason.

That was cool, really enjoyed it Mike!

I remember going to the observation deck at YQG in the seventies, I'd see Air Canada 727, DC9 and Canadian Airlines 737 200's. We grew cut flowers on the family farm and for a time we shipped them to Montreal on Air Canada twice a week. My dad would go to the lounge and have a beer and I'd go to the observation deck, then head home and back to the greenhouse work.

Gorgeous drawings

Lovely video and story Mike, in secondary school I did a dot drawing, took months :) but a good way of learning shading, take care

The ultimate evolution-13:04 in video, looks like a turtle and starfish. Remember watching the planes at Regional Airport, can’t do that anymore

Very nice, thank you!!!

Great video as always.

I loved to go out on the observation deck at Pittsburgh's airport. I took lived under the glide way and watched planes all day long. I got to recognize all the different logos. I had to curb my enthusiasm once I got hit with keratosis in my right eye at age 12. This is a genetic disease that causes the cornea, the clear protective part of you eye to deform. I was literally getting new prescription glasses every six months for a few years. At that time, and up to a decade ago, medical insurance wouldn't cover ELECTIVE surgery. In 2013, they changed the rules and I had my first of five surgeries on my right eye. I can see excellent color, but one of the procedures clipped my iris so I can no longer focus even with glasses. It's better than before. My left eye is getting keratosis now but also cataracts. It's like my right eye sees perfect color, though blurry, while my left eye is sharp but behind sunglasses. It is darker seen from my left eye. Hard to read, it's as if there wasn't enough light. At 73 life is still good.

I can draw a stick man, I know l have seen your work on airline literature. Excellent illustrations.

Hi Mike, loved your new video with the drawings. I see you had a pilgrim airlines drawing that you did I work for Pilgrim airlines for eight years.

Thanks!

I wonder how many models I assembled with box cover art by you!!

You know it's recognized that the 1930s the official Golden age of aviation but most people don't remember the 30s anymore so I think it's time that we redesignate 1960's jet age as the new Golden age of aviation what do you think Mike?

So, the original DC-8 was sold into commercial service? Wow. Actually, wasn't the original 727 operated by United Airlines?

Where do you to sign to the VIP I had issue is utube wasn't sure where to go

Your the Best! But...Helicopters? No visible means of support.