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Aviation History
1938
1938 - 0191.PDF
JANUARY 20, 1938. FLIGHT. 73 Some Tendencies in Design : Planning of Landing Areas and Buildings for the Future •• A European runway layout—that at Bromma, Stockholm,where the landing area has virtually been blasted out of the solid rock. The position of the terminal building and hangarin relation to the runway system is noteworthy. It is not necessary to point out that the people behind any aerodrome project must have a very clear idea of the nature and the volume of the traffic which they expect to see. The modern airline operator expects to be able to plan his schedules to a winter and summer and to an almost day-and-night time-table, and if transport machines are to be attracted or expected all kinds of lighting material and so forth must be installed. The Air Ministry is responsible only for the radio equipment, which is put down where the need is most obvious, and for the supply of control officers in the same conditions. A glance at the illustrations and descriptions of some of the more modern designs which will be found in the centre pages will show that' no two architects have the same ideas. A notable tendency nowadays, for instance, is to provide a covered area on what is at present known, for some good historical reason, as the tarmac, so that both the machine and its freight, live or otherwise, is under cover for unloading and minor attentions. In this connection the sliding canopies, such as were designed for Gatwick, provide a useful alternative, though the little tunnels are often of necessity rather cramped in size and a machine, which has no reverse gear, cannot always be taxied accurately to the correct spot. At Tempelhof, Berlin, an immense cantilever will pro- vide simultaneous covering space for the largest possible fleet of transport-machines, but experience will show, in this case, exactly how far passengers will walk on their own feet without making complaints. Probnbly some kind of local transport will be provided for them as the number of arrivals and departures become so large Tk *uture vears that the entire covered area is in use. The same idea, on a smaller scale, will probably be seen at Birmingham's new airport, with additional canopiesor tne u se of passengers from machines which cannot be accommodated under them. Another point which has not so far been very seriously considered in this country is the provision of spectatorial facilities. These have been an important feature of a number of airports on the Continent, where the authorities have fully realised that the interested spectator of to-day is the fare-paying air traveller of to-morrow. It is ob- viously necessary to provide them with comfortable winter and summer terraces whence a complete view of the airport is obtainable. Such accommodation is only likely to be necessary' at larger terminal airports' where there is any volume of traffic to provide the necessary spectacle, though even at some of our less-used aerodromes the public appears to be glad to come along almost for the sole pleasure of taking tea in the fresh air. Another original feature of Berlin's airport is the fact that the administration buildings, hangars and workshops form one complete structural unit. One of the least pleasing features of the average airport is the appearance of usefully enormous, but sometimes extremely ugly, erections scattered around a terminal building which may itself be quite a handsome object. If, however, the build- ings are to be designed as one complete unit it is obvious A model of the projected Birmingham airport building, whichhas been designed by Norman and Dawbarn. The canopy system is a feature of many modern layouts.
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