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Aviation History
1944
1944 - 0203.PDF
JANUARY 27TH, 1944 FLIGHT 103 Three Proposed Airports Southampton, Portsmouth and Morecambe as Sites for Transatlantic Terminals •^luP^ ^ TlfCNFtlUB ISLE OF WIGHT The land and water airport facilities suggested in the Southampton scheme. P ROPOSED schemes for the construction of combined land and sea airports at Southampton and Portsmouth were announced in " Here and There " in last week's issue of Flight under the sub-heading of "A Tale of Two Airports." It was mentioned' also that some rivalry between the two projects would appear to be likely, since the Southampton Harbour Board, in its brochure on the subject, intimates that its own projected airport would be conveniently situated to serve Portsmouth as well as Southampton. It was also pointed wit that any such rivalry may be conditioned by the fact that •art of the land embraced in the Southampton scheme happens T^ be under the jurisdiction of the Portsmouth Planning*; Authority. \ Flight will not, at this juncture at any rate, voice any opinion " on the merits of the respective schemes, or on the priority claims which may be made by the two authorities concerned; it will content itself with giving such details of the two projects as have so far been announced by their respective sponsors. But in addition to the purely local aspect of rival airport schemes in close proximity to each other, competition on a wider basis would also. appear to be inevitable since botli authorities see in their projects an Empire air base and trans atlantic terminal. And" they are not alone in this, for news of yet another proposed transatlantic and trans-continental air base for post-war land and seaborne aircraft has been announced at Morecambe. Doubtless there will be many others. North-West Revk^ng these three projected civil air bases in alpha- hc^jKorder, the Morecambe scheme was outlined by Mr, Ellis Sniith, M.P. for Stoke-on-Trent. •^ His scheme generally is to construct a Dutch dike, break water, or causeway, which will be ten miles in length, extending from Morecambe to the most easterly tip of the mainland near Barrow-in-Furness. Some four or five Lakeland rivers drain into the bay, and as the Lake District has the heaviest rainfall in Britain, these would provide a heavy run of water for hydro- elitJfric power for smoke-free townships and factories. The bay is swSlow across its full width from Lancashire to the West Cumberland coast. , " / Mr. Smith suggests that there should be a wide mbtopffay, a railway and a promenade along this ten-mile causeway. It would mean reclamation of more than 50 square miles of land in and around the bay, that the-'feeder streams could be canalised and their flow used forWg hydro-electric plants. The latter would be a>iiliilill.' fjUHtew industries, modern aircraft' works and elejstrtctractior^^Here 'sould be a huge airfield and a shelter© railway transport andJS Shap Already the main west coast lei to\ this runs the main road he Shap summit to CarlisJ^ cliKje an alternative to xht boat; _ar; ward pin ns a veNeveral advantages scarcely availabl United Kingdom, he claims—an almost freedom from(i<Jfs and mists and smoke belts, y to the busy industrial north where most bf Britain's factories areJaesTed. It is also pointed out that such an lorecambe Bav would save over 500 air miles 011 the return trj^to North America as compared with London, and it is neaj^^han pre-war Croydon to such important Conti nental airports as Amsterdam. Berlin, Stockholm. Prague and Moscow South Coast LaTkgstonc Harbour is the proposed site of the Portsmouth air base, and the city engineer has made a model foi>*fie inspection and consideration of members of the council .-^This shows' how the harbour could be dammed by three barrages and converted into a lake, giving a constant water level for flying boats. Portsmouth city engineer also proposes to reclaim land at the Farlington Marshes on the north shore of ^be harbour, to provide accommodation for land-based aircraft* hangarsiand factories. fV<2>«-v^^>- The council have decided that the Lord Mayor and Councillor F. G. H. Storey, chairman of the Airport Sub-commission-, should interview the Director-General of Civil Aviation before they go further into details of the scheme, ^f Coming finally to the Southampton project, it is stated in the brochure issued by the Harbour Board thai the aim is " to provide in Southampton accommodation for civil aviation com parable to that which has been provided for shipping.'.' and it reminds its readers that in pre-war days the port "was the
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