backdating London..

[JasonK]

Not sure if this is the proper forum, but here goes..

lets say I was retro-ing Gatwick airport to the early sixties...(and doing it very badly)...what was the land like around it?
that is..was it city?..farm and fields, mixed? I did try to find maps or pictures, but the few pic's I did see are at such an angle that it looks like it is out in the toolies...seems odd..

could someone also explain "london airport north"?..I've seen flights to "London central", which I assume would be Heathrow...

and one last thing...What "four engine aircraft" did Derby airlines use in the early sixties?

Thanks in advance....

[DelP]

Hi Jason,

Derby Aviation:

http://www.flybmi.com/downloads/bmi/30s-60s.pdf

I'm not an expert on airports as I usually miss them ( ) but I think 'London Airport North' refers to the north terminal at what is now Heathrow:

http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/ ... 02912.html

I'm sure an expert will be along soon......

ATB,

Derek ;-)

[DispatchDragon]

not sure about the 60s Jason
But I can tell you that as late as the early 70s from Reigate to Gatwick was fairly agricultural even then

and once you got past crawley there was very little again to the west it was (and I guess still is) all agricurltural

Horley to Redill was built up as it was towards East Grinsted.
The airport itself was of course much smaller the most defining items were the main terminal under which the Brighton road ran, the Beehive and
Southside hangars.

Hope that helps

Leif

[nigelb]

Not sure if this is the proper forum, but here goes..

could someone also explain "london airport north"?..I've seen flights to "London central", which I assume would be Heathrow...


Thanks in advance....

It might be London City airport, though that is a guess.

Nigel²

[ianhind]

It might be London City airport, though that is a guess.

That would have to be London Airport East.

I like Derek's suggestion - I never knew it as London Airport North but by the time of my first visit it was known as "North Side" - a collection of large Nissan huts IIRC which was used by the freighting companies.

But a quick look on the web reveals that area was once the "International Terminal" http://www.airliners.net/photo/Panair-d ... 1095186/M/

This was also taken there: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: ... 96385).jpg


OFFTOPIC
When I found this photo, I immediately noticed the Alcock and Brown statue so I reckon I must have seen that in situ :o

For those of you who wonder what I'm on about :roll: , it was moved to Terminal 3 http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/comm ... wn-and-r34

but since then seems to have moved again.

[Techy111]

Great site for getting old PDF documents of the years you want....click on a date then a sub date within that section....some great reading....

http://www.flightglobal.com/sitemap/default.aspx

please be patient...long load times...

Tony

[DelP]

Hi folks,

I've just found my 'New Complete Guide to London Airport' booklet, dated 1962.

The map on the back cover (Crown Copyright, so I won't post it) shows the 'new' buildings in the centre of the complex (Heathrow) as 'Central' and the buildings to the north of the site, on the south side of the A4 road, as 'London Airport North' ;-)

ATB,

Derek

[tgibson]

Hi all,

There are some 1960 shots of Gatwick here:

http://www.cbfsim.org/cbfsim/cbfsBB/vie ... 45#p187538

We have started a very simple early 1960's Gatwick using library objects (i.e. no custom GMAX buildings), which looks close but not exact. No completion date though. If you are going all out I'll definitely be looking forward to it.!

PS. I can confirm the London Central and London North designations - both are Heathrow. In the early 60's most of the non-European airlines (US, Asian, African, etc.) were at the North Terminal. I don't know where the cargo activity was, but BEA, BOAC, Pan Am, and Air India all had hangars at EGLL.

Thanks,