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Aviation History
1948
1948 - 2092.PDF
FLIGHT December gih, chip h o I The importance of Schiphol to the welfare of the country was, however, appreciated by the municipality of Amster- dam, and reconstruction was put in hand immediately. The first post-war civil air- craft landed during the next July, and by November all runways were in use. Temporary wooden buildings were constructed as offices and workshops, and runway extensions were started, so that on October 8th, 1948, Schiphol was established by the Dutch Council of Ministers and the Minister of Traffic and Power as the International Airport for the Netherlands, suitable for all types of inter- national and national air traffic. Although credit for past development must go to the municipality, in the post-war period the Ministry, which is responsible for all communi- cations in Holland, has given encouragement and financial passenger- and freight-handling buildings and modern hangars to make the airport suitable for international traffic over an interim period up to about 10 years. Construction was to1 be such that those interim buildings should fit into that ultimate scheme for the airport which would place it on an equal standard of efficiency with the best airports in the world. In this long-term plan, the interim and ultimate runway design represented the most critical problem. . Although the interim scheme will not be completed until the end of 1950, the terminal buildings are now well under way, and passengers will soon cease to be accommodated in austere wooden hutments. The plan includes a five- storey, all-glass control tower and accommodation for fire- fighting and emergency equipment. The main terminal building is divided into separate sections for dealing with all arrivals from abroad; transit passengers ; departures Airfield sketch legend : 1-8 Hangars. A = Temporary accommodation. £ = Terminal building. C = Conrol tower. D = Direction finding nation. £ = Non-directional beacon. backing to make reconstruction rapid and adequate. The total grants from the Government already amount to nearly £5 million and the project has now reached such dimen- sions that a new company with 60 per cent Government interest and 40 per cent Municipal interest will probably be formed to take over full responsibility for the airfield. Post-war development has taken a definite course, and reconstruction has been planned on a different principle from that for the construction of London Airport. After the runways had been attended to, an apron and hangars were constructed, whilst in the meantime, office and passenger accommodation was provided in caravans and wooden huts. Hangars which had been built by the Germans to resemble Dutch farmhouses at Deelen, a military base near Arnhem, were dismantled and reconstructed at Schiphol, and wooden pre-fabricated hangars were brought from Sweden. At the same time plans were made for building permanent offices. for Europe; departures for transatlantic and inter-Con- tinental routes ; freight and mail; and also to provide offices for all services, and for K.L.M. and the foreign airlines. The whole is on ground level, with the exception of com- fortable and exquisitely decorated restaurants on two floors in the centre of the building, overlooking the apron. Along the whole 750ft frontage is a roof promenade for visitors. As sections become available for use, so the huts are being taken down from the apron (131,560 sq yd) to provide greater movement area for aircraft. The north-south runway is nearly completed, and the airport will then be capable of accepting aircraft up to 200 tons gross weight. Runway 230-050 is in the direction of the prevailing wind, measures nearly 2,500 yd and is equipped with S.B.A., I.L.S., and Schiphol's own Course- and-Bearing system of approach, which has proved popular with many captains using the airport. It may be described as a " semi-talk-down " using radio bearings, and is worked in conjunction with a non-directional holding beacon north- east of Amsterdam. In QBI conditions, aircraft home to this beacon and fly the holding pattern at stacked height,
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