Evening star., 1950-02-19

be the worlds most well-equipped
and up-to-date, if not the largest,
international air terminal" -Four
sets of parallel runWays are being
built, with provision for one addi-
tional single runway, or a total
of nine. The parallel runway
system is the key to the speeding
up of landings and takeoffs in
the foulest of flying weather by
enabling large airliners to take
off in the briefest of intervals into
the wind while others are landing
in the same direction but on an
other runway. The longest run
way at London's airport is 9,450
feet, the shortest 5000 feet. The
airport is 40 minutes by bus from
the business district and is due
to be completed in about three
years.
Named for Navy Hero
Chicago's future municipal air
port, to replace the one in Cicero,
which, like Washington's, has
reached the saturation point and
is incapable of further expansion,
is under construction on a site IT
miles west of the Loop. It will
occupy $500 acres or nearly 10
times larger than Washington
National. There will be total of
10 runWays, six being set aside
for simultaneous use in taking off
and landing. The longest runway
will be 9,700 feet, the shortest
$500. The total cost to complete
the international air terminal by
1857 is given at $75 million, which
is being borne by the Federal,
State and city governments. Chi
cago feels the completed air ter
minal will serve it's air transport
needs for at least 20 years.
Formerly known as the Chicago
Orchard Airport, it was renamed
and dedicated last September to
the memory of Naval Aviation S
Medal of Honor fighter pilot ace
1t. Comdr. Edward H. (Butch)
O'Hare, who shot down five twin
engined Jap bombers in 4 minutes
off Rabaul early in 1943 while op-
Grating from the carrier Lexing-
ton. Comdr. O'Hare, in November
OF that year, was lost on a night
raid in the Gilbert Islands.
Washington's air terminal plan
ners also would take a close look
at New York's Idlewild Interna-
tional Airport with its 4,527 acres.
1t was opened to airline traffic on
July l, 1948, although then, as
now, it is far from a completed
airport. Its cost to date has been
$50 million.
After nearly two decades of
expensive and disheartening ex-
perience, city planners and air.
port engineers developed a little
more self-conhdence as they un-
dertook postwar air terminal re-
location or enlargement to serve
important centers like New York,
Chicago and London, which in
cidentally are regarded as COM
petitive with Washington in fire.
quency of airline schedules and
volume of passengers handled.
The economic and operational
aspects of air transports built
since the war by American air
craft firms. have been satisfac-
torily stabilized around such types
as the Boeing Stratocruiser, the
Douglas DC-6 and the Lockheed
Constellation, large four-engined
airliners used in both domestic
and intercontinental service. AS
late as last July, airport planners
felt secure in the knowledge that
II they generously provided for
the accommodation of these three
types in respect to parallel run
ways. runway length. width and
strength and clear approaches
and then accepted the rosiest
possible outlook for heavy public
use of the airlines for the next
10 to 20 years, they could pour
concrete and relax for the first
time in the brief but story his
tory of airport development.
Now Come the Jets
But late in July the Comet
roared across the English sky
the first pure jet-propelled air
liner type to fly anywhere. Amer
leans at first were skeptical, now
they are not. they're very much
worried. The British are not yet
ready to guarantee that their
astounding success thus far with
this four jet-engine airliner, about
the size of our DC-6 and built by
the renowned De Havilland firm,
will drive all piston -engined air.
liners off the world trunk lines.
Nobody in the New York or Chi
cago air terminal planning de-
partments, not even in London,
knows exactly what effect the
Forthcoming jet airliners will have
on these big airports, with their
attendant air traffic problems.
For nobody knows how extensive
will be their development in size,
performance and numbers. Mel
ther does any air traffic expert
know to what extent the public
will embrace this new kind of
aircraft propulsion with it's pres
ent promise of nearly twice the
speed and altitude of our best
piston-engined airliners.
For the next few years, only the
large international airports of the
world need give immediate study
and concern to the rise of the jet
airliner. but Washington's pro-
posed new air terminal is to be
in that class. Airport planners
who have been through the
Wringer several times and are
rather worn out by it all, are not
accepting with childlike faith
some current observations that
the jet airliner can be worked in
all right at our new postwar air
terminals. They want to study it
very carefully with the airlines,