Design and Planning of Airfields and Airports

WHEN your Committee honoured me by asking if I would give the Institution a paper, they suggested that it should be entitled "Aerodrome Construction." I felt, however, in view of the rapidly changing aspects of aerodrome construction and the possibilities
of greatly increased size of aircraft in the fbture, that the title of " Aerodrome Construction" would be too limited, and that in any case I might have to go outside the scope of that title in giving you a paper today. I, therefore, suggested that the title of this paper should be "Design and Planning of Airfields and Airports," which I feel is a subject of controversy rather than one of statement of fact, and therefore one of more interest at the present time Papers as given to the various Technical Institutions are so frequently those which are concerned with past construction of works and with design which is well known that they are merely a description of the construction or a statement of facts which are of little or no interest to the Members of the Institution to which they are read, and raise few subjects which are not already well known. I feel that if a paper is to be of value it must be upon a subject which is of interest to the Institution as a whole and leaves something to the imagination. The subject which was suggested to me, namely, "Aerodrome Construction" indicated a descriptior, of something which had been done and therefore a mere statement of facts, of which most, if not all, of you are well aware. I therefore asked your Secretary whether he would be prepared to accept a paper on "Design and Planning of Airfields and Airports," which may allow more scope to raise a number of
issues on design and layout which are not known facts, which may raise controversy, and upon which I may be able to suggest conclusions, but upon which discussion and argument are possible (and upon which I may in the long run be proved wrong).

Brian H. Colquhoun