New Britain herald., 1927-10-29

which provides facilities for shelter supply and repair of aircraft or place used regularly for receiving or discharging passengers or cargo by air.
 Warning is issued by experts that one of the first considerations in locating the airport is that its value depends in great measure upon it's proximity 10 the center Of the com munity it serves. If the plane must land five. ten or fifteen miles from the heart or the business district much of the advantage in time gained hy irs use must be sacrificed in transferring it's cargo or passen- gers to slower vehicles to be trans> ported into the city
 Size. shape. topography. character of soil. and nearness to rivers or marshes are among the many other factors to be considered.
 Question of Size
 Tn the matter of size, while the question naturally will vary in the case Of different communities. ccr- tain specifications have been laid down which may be described as standard, In general. the com munity airport should be as large as possible with 100 acres as mini mum and 16O as desirable, The model airport described by the De partment Of Commerce is comprised of square plot. $500 feet wide by c,5O0 feet long. If is what is known as an Hallway" airport in that planes may land upon it or take-off from it in any direction, with the result that the prevailing wind con- dtions will have little effect. Financial and other considera- tons, however, will make it inn possible for all communities to have square fields of these ideal dimen- sions. The airport may be L. shaped. T-shaped, triangular, rec tanguiar or round, so long as it provides adequate safeguards for landing and taking-off, regardless of wind conditions. II must have landing strips. or runWays, of 1000 | N'l Ill l'llE LII to "NN piliiiioi"'' 'ii' large airliners that already are in the air and soon will be augmented by scores Of others. In high alti- tudes above sea level even longer landing and take-off paths arc needed.
 Provision for circumventing the effects of the wind are important. In almost all cases landings are made directly mp the wind" or, in other words into it. It is possible 10 make crosswind landings in light planes and some pilots are expert enough to turn the trick with t, heavier ships. but the practice is one that the Department of Com mnrco frowns upon in the case of aircraft used for public transporta- ! ton.
 If the airport site does not permit 1 Of all-way landings those who sc- l lect it should see that the longest 1 landing strip is in the direction Of 1 the prevailing WiNd-that is, the ! normal air drift for the particular section Of the country over a period of five years Local weather bu- reaus can supply this data. In the matter of topography, tn" tand free from Instructions and de prcssions that would make landing and taking off hazardous. II is Of the utmost importance that ap- breaches to the fl Id be clear. The soil Of the airport should be firm to permit it's use by planes under all weather conditions. It should be. naturally. as perfectly drained as possible, even if artificial means must he employed.
 We'll Drained Soil Good
 If tho soil is firm and well drained. it is possible in some circumstances to avoid the expense of building ar tiicial runWays. These. however, are p"co ssarv in eases whero the field becomes so begged or slippery in rain or snow as to make land ing hazardous. If these ar" built, it is recommended they be al least 100 feet wide and that at no point should they com" closer than 100 feet to the edge of the field.
 Tn the selection Of an airport, it should be borne in mind that pro- vision should be made for future. expansion. This also involves con- sideration of the fact that land values in the vicinity Of existing airport. have appreciated in value consistently and considerably. Also,