History Of Airports

Author: Marta Więch
ID: 45816
Group: I
Department: Faculty of Economics
Specialization: Aviation Management
Semester: II
Subject: Aviation Management English
Teacher: Catherine Lockhead-Strzępka, M.B.A.

Table of content:

1) Cover page
2) Table of content
3) Introduction
4) Background
5-7) First airstrips and airports
8-12) Major milestones: 8. Runway 9. Hangar 10. Air traffic control tower 11. Lighting system 12. Terminal
13) Airport of the 21st century
14) Future - what will it bring?
15) Conclusions
16) Bibliography

Introduction

This report describes one of the most important innovations of modern times - an airport, which followed another great invention - an airplane. It indicates the major role of aviation industry and shows how it revolutionized the way people travel around the globe. This paper concentrates on the history of an airport, the way it used to look like and how it evolved during last two centuries. This work is also about differences and common points between an airstrip, commercial or general aviation airport and a hub. It also tries to find out what kind of improvements aerodromes of the future are going to bring for passengers and airlines. We can also get acknowledged with the authors of this building project. Let's find out who they were and which nationalities made the biggest difference in the world of aviation. What is more, we will get familiar with the countries with the biggest amount of airports, as well as the ones that are left without any. Basically saying, we will have a look on the spread of airports around the Earth.

Background - before the era of airports

People have been travelling for centuries. At the beginning they could have depended only on their own feet, but with the time passing new ways of moving appeared. First improvements for human travelers were rough pathways from 10,000 BC. Next invention that improved the quality of life was a wheel dated back to the 4th millennium BC in Mesopotamia. That was a huge step forward making it easier to carry heavy products for long distances. On the other hand, water was found as a great way of travel a long time ago. The first boat was used in the Neolithic Period, about 10,000 years ago. Unfortunately not everybody had an access to rivers or seas so, even though it was an amazing invention, it was not suitable for those living in the hinterland. That is why people started looking for another way of getting from one place to another. The first stories about flying come from the ancient myths, such as the one about Daedalus who made the wings out of wax and feathers. Next worth mentioning step in aviation history was introduced in China, where since 3rd century BC hot-air balloons were known. In the same country in 559 Yuan Huangtou Ye built first manned kite glide and used it to take off from a tower. Although these inventions changed the way people started thinking about travel, they did not need any special area for taking off or landing. Any piece of land was good enough for this purpose. Everything changed when in the 9th century Ibn Firnas flown for the first time with the use of a glider, which was followed by Jan Wnęk's controllable glider in 1866. The true beginning of the era of aviation was in 1903, when Wright brothers flew on their own first controlled, powered aircraft. That is when the need for the airports arose.

First airstrips and airports

At the beginning planes had in their disposal only flat grassy areas for take offs or landings. Aircrafts were using only wind direction to be able to find a suitable angle for all movements. The next step was introduced by fields full of dirt, but without any grass on them, which helped by reducing the friction of the wheels. But the side effect of those landing sites was that they could have been used only in dry conditions with a good weather. That is when the concrete came handy. As to the name "air-port", it was used for the first time by the Mayor of Southampton in England. The name referred to the Port of Southampton intended for the flying boats. People have been arguing about which airport was the first in the history. Most of them agreed that this title should be given to College Park Airport in Maryland, US, which was established in August 1909 by United States Army Signal Corps. Its purpose was to let Wilbur Wright train two officers how to fly on the first government airplane. As you can see on the pictures above it was just a piece of land with some wooden workshops and hangars. It is important to mention that it is still in operation. Also Bisbee-Douglas International Airport in Arizona is known as the oldest. In 1908 an aeronautical club was formed in there. President Roosevelt declared its status as the first international airport in America. Let's move to Europe now. One of the first airstrips was opened in 1910 Taliedo in Milan. It turned into commercial airport in 1920 and ten years later was abandoned.

First aerodrome in Britain was opened in 1910 Shoreham Airport near Brighton. In 1913 the first flying school was created in there. During the World War I the aerodrome was used by Royal Flying Corps. Underneath, we can see a photograph of how it looked like in 1930.

One of the oldest airfields still in operation is Rome Campino Airport in Italy. It was opened in 1916 and until 1960 stayed the main Rome airport. Also Australia has an airport that it can be proud of, as it is one of the oldest still operating aerodromes. Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport was opened in 1920 in the place that used to be a bullock paddock. Nigel Love found this place ideal, because cattle running on this perfectly flat area grazed the grass so evenly that it did not involve a lot of work to make this place suitable for landings. The first official flight was on 9 January 1920 but regular operations began in 1924.

In this chapter we need to mention few words about the oldest airport in Poland. Rakowice-Czyżyny Airport in Cracow was opened in 1912 as an aerodrome for planes, thanks to the development of Austro-Hungary aviation, but actually since 1892 it was used as a landing site for balloons. At the beginning it covered the area of a size 55 ha with just few buildings, hangars and a fuel station. After some improvements and opening of the Civil Aviation Station it became second biggest airport in Poland in 1923. Unfortunately, during the World War II it was taken over by Germans, after which a lot of construction works started in the surrounding area. That all lead to difficulties in exploitation of the airport, which finally had to be closed in 1963. Nowadays, the remaining part is owned by The Museum of Polish Aviation.

Major Milestones

As it was mentioned before, first airfields were made on grassy areas, which then moved to non-grassy ones, and finally to the airports with the use of concrete. But as it goes with every invention improvements were necessary with the time passing. The first opportunity for improvements came, unfortunately with one of the worst periods in the history, with the outbreak of the World War I. A lot of new airstrips had to be built for military purposes and work on homing devises was started. When the war was finished a lot of those aerodromes were converted into commercial airports. An example of such airfield is Paris – Le Bourget Airport at Le Bourget, near Paris.
RUNWAY

The most important part of an airport that needed improvement was a runway, meaning a rectangular place where aircrafts have been landing and taking off. Some innovations were necessary to make it safer and more convenient for plane passengers to use it in any weather conditions. First of all, the material used for building a runway was changed into concrete, asphalt, mixture of both, tarmac or coral. But the standards of thickness had to be set in order to make it safe for all type of airplanes to land without rolling the surface. Also the proper lengths of runways were counted depending on the amount and size of the aircrafts they were serving, because it has to be mentioned that every one of them needs a different time limit to get off and land. With the increase of the traffic in aviation some signs and markings had to be put. They indicated threshold, touch down zone, center line and the number of a runway. Thanks to them division of sections appeared.

HANGAR Next essential part of every aerodrome is a hangar. The one used by Wright was just a typical barrack, which was nothing like the ones nowadays. The most important are doors, which ought to be really big to enable the entrance. Materials used for building hangars include wood, concrete, but the most often used is metal. Their purpose is to protect machines from ultraviolet light and weather. Sometimes they can be used to hide secret planes from spy planes or satellites. Sizes of hangars differ, depending on the amount and size of aircrafts it accommodates. They can be classified as S, M, L, XL and XXL, where the last one is suitable for planes such as Airbus A380 or Boeing 747. We can also indicate a special type of hangar, called "airship hangars". The difference is that they are extremely big and much higher than regular ones. The size depends also on the situation if it provides fuel station for planes inside the building, or is it situated somewhere else. It needs to be mentioned, that not all of them look the same. They can have different structure, like the Tee- hangar. Its enclosed structure allows for holding mainly private aircraft in a protective storage. They require less building material and are more economic. Below you can see a layout of such T-hangar.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL TOWER

An airspace is not like a terrestrial space, meaning that movements in the air are much faster and they need to be controlled to avoid collisions. The first controller was just a person standing on the ground watching if flights were safe to proceed, while pilots avoided other aircrafts by a method called "see and be seen". But with the increase of air traffic more advanced solutions were introduced. The first air traffic control tower was built in 1925 in Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Control tower is a building that should rise high above other ones, allowing people who work in there to have a view on airplanes, that move on and around the airport. Their job is to keep each aircrafts in a safe distance from each other and from the rest of objects on the ground. As long as the structure of the building is concerned, it should have windows around the top part of the tower, to give the vision all around the building. It was also discovered, that if the glass is tipped at a certain angle and the ceiling is painted black, it prevents the equipment from reflecting in the window, giving controllers clearer view. There is also a range of tools helping to keep the situation in the air in control. Every tower is provided with the radio system that allow controllers to communicate with plane pilots (for the first time used in Cleveland Hopkins International Airport). Also the set of telephones is essential to stay in touch with other control towers and outside units. The place is full of different type of computers and devises measuring wind, pressure, temperature and other weather conditions. Huge improvements appeared along with inventing radars. An example of such is the Airport Surveillance Radar, which allows to monitor the position of aircrafts in the terminal area.

LIGHTING SYSTEM

At the beginning of the era of aviation airports were unlit. Because of that, all plane movements were restricted to daytime. Not only they could not fly during the night, but also fog, rain and snow were a barrier. That limited number of flights to a large degree. Cleveland Municipal Airport in Ohio was a "father for many firsts" in aviation. That happened this time as well, because in 1930 it had installed the first lighting system. A set of lights illuminating the runway and an entire airfield lead planes to allow them for safe takeoffs and landings. This set is also called a flare path. The most important feature is that the lights have to be visible from at least 3 km, as the aircrafts approach with a very high speed. As every system needs to be controlled, this one needs as well. Depending on the size of the airfield different authorities take care of it. It is usually a Flight Service Station or employees of control tower. Sometimes Pilot Controlled Lighting can be used, in case of the absence of adequate authority. It is a very helpful solution, that allows for just temporary turning the lights on, which saves a lot of energy and money for extra staff or some automatic systems. A technical specification was introduced to show the difference between each light and make clearer for pilots to "read" them. For example, Runway End Lights turn green if approaching the runway, and red while looking from the ground. Runway End Identification Lights flash in a synchronized way on each side of the runway. Touchdown Zone Lights are white, situated on both sides of the centerline in groups of three. Runway Edge Lights change color from white to yellow, while approaching the end of runway. All of them and many others are a part of milestone in airport history.

TERMINAL

Airports have been designed to serve not only planes, but ultimately people, passengers. That is why a need for a building that would serve them occurred. It is difficult to determine which airport had the first terminal, but Flughafen Devau, near what used to be Königsberg in East Prussia, is said to be the first one only for commercial aviation. First terminals where just wooden sheds where people would pick up their luggage, go through security or buy a ticket. Later, it became a place, where all airport customers were transferred from planes to other destination places. With the time passing, a lot of additional services were available. Cleveland Hopkins International Airport was again the first one to provide passenger information boards, air taxis, railway-air passenger services and onsite paramedic unit. Terminals became full of restaurants, shops and other entertainments in order to make time, that people had to spent there, as pleasurable as possible. They also provided currency exchange offices for travelers from abroad. Terminals have also provided facilities for aircrafts staff, and later for airlines. Pilots and "air stewardesses" (the first was Ellen Church working for United Airlines since May 1930) also needed the place where they could rest between flights. That is when terminals came with help. Worth mentioning is a special type of terminal, called a satellite terminal. It is separated from other buildings, which allows aircraft to park all around it. The first aerodrome, that introduced such solution was London Gatwick Airport. Another design, but a very rare one, is so called mobile lounge, where passengers are transported in a vehicle from the gate to the plane. An example of such we can see at Mexico City International Airport. Hybrid layouts can also be found at an airports, such as the one in Melbourne.

Airport of the 21st century

Nowadays, airports do not only play a role of buildings, where passengers can get on or off the planes. They became places where people can spent a lot of hours or sometimes even days, without getting bored. Today's big aerodromes turned into, so called hubs. Working with airlines brings a lot of advantages for both parties. Airlines can have slots booked especially for them, which provides them with sets of operation hours, without the need for trying to get the best ones every time. They can also have a part of or even the whole terminal designated just for their use. On the other hand, airport can be sure that the traffic stays on the certain level. What is more cooperation with well known airlines brings them prestige. Hubs are intended mostly for stops during long flights.

Airport owners and managers moved even farther, when designing first airport cities, which are said to be one of 10 ideas that will change the world. They are meant to attract not only travelers, but all people with different needs. These cities are full of all kind of entertainment and business facilities. You can now go to the airport just to have a meal, go shopping or spent a night in a hotel. It is also a place for entrepreneurs for conferences and other business meetings. They did not forget about medical units or banking facilities. All different kind of entertainment can also be found, such as cinemas, museums or theme parks. We cannot forget about all forms of transportation one could look for, including taxis, buses and even a rail station (like in case of Fraport at Frankfurt Airport). 21st century airports became also an inspiration for computer games, books and movies. Worth watching is "Terminal" with Tom Hanks.

Future - What will it bring?

Below, we can see the spread of airports around the world. As we can see, they covered the whole Earth and it is not a surprise, that their number will be constantly rising.

It is known worldwide, that airplanes are statistically the safest means of transportation. Nevertheless, airports also need to keep security on a really high level. As airports became recently a terrorist target, safety is what we should concentrate on in the future. New scanning systems have been introduced and probably sometime soon they will be available at each aerodrome. Hopefully, engineers will also think about improving ground airport transportation and ways to decrease clearance time. So, how will the airport of the future look like? Maybe like this?

Conclusions

Summing up this report, we have to indicate how huge step forward was made with the construction of the first airport. An entire aviation business changed the way people, not only travel, but also live. It improved the quality of life significantly, by allowing to reach the most inaccessible areas and doing it in hours, instead of days, months or even years. At the beginning, airports were just meant to facilitate and store planes. But, with the time passing, they were becoming more and more complex. What is more, nowadays aerodromes changed into places, where people not only have to, but actually want to spent time at. Thanks to providing them with all facilities, that the 21st century man would need, they turned even into cities. We cannot even imagine, what surprises and innovations are waiting for us in the future. Let's just hope, we will witness as many of them as possible. In order to show, how much airports evolved, here is just a list of a few records in this business: * World's largest airport by area is King Fahd International in Saudi Arabia, with 780 km². * The largest single terminal building, with the area of 1,500,000 m² is owned by Dubai International Airport in United Arab Emirates. * The longest paved runway can be found at Qamdo Bangda Airport in People's Republic of China, with 5,500 m. * The highest free standing control tower is 132,2 m high and was built at Suvarnabhumi Airport near Bangkok, Thailand.

Bibliography

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