London Airport

Abstract

The one-thousandth-and-fourth Lecture to be given before the Society, " London Airport," by Air Marshal Sir John D'Albiac, K.B.E., C.B., D.S.O., was given on 6th November 1956 at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London, S.W.I. Mr. E. T. Jones, C.B., O.B.E., F.R.Ae.S.. President of the Society, presided. Introducing the Lecturer, Mr. Jones said that they were to hear from the most competent man in England to give it, a talk on what he would say was the finest airport in the world. He did not think they had had a lecture on a modern airport before and it was worth while reflecting on previous means of transportation. Every previous vehicle of transport before the aeroplane had had to have tracks made for it to take it from one place to another, as well as terminal stations built for it on long distance journeys. Soma people commented on the costs of airports, the amount of concrete, etc., but when one realised that the air was provided free of charge and itself provided the means for the aircraft to go from one concrete patch to another, one appreciated that the airport was cheap compared with previous forms of transport. Air Marshal Sir John D'Albiac had, he thought, possibly one of the most interesting jobs in London; he met all the personalities, film stars, and so on. He had been there since 1946 when London Airport was converted from a small airfield. He therefore knew every little bit about it, control, runways, buildings and everything. Sir John started his career in the Army. He found that a little too slow for him and so he transferred to the Royal Naval Air Service. Whether he found that still not quite fast enough he did not know, but he later transferred to the Royal Air Force and he remained in that Service until about 1946 when he retired with the rank of Air Marshal.