Born in UK 100 years ago today, the first air-traffic control tower
THEY ARE now a feature of any major airport across the globe, tracking tens of thousands of flights a day.
And today will mark a landmark anniversary for the world’s first air-traffic control tower, which was commissioned by the UK Government exactly 100 years ago.
It was built at the now-closed Croydon Airport and stimulated the development of air-traffic control.
Due to the rise of airline passenger services, on February 25, 1920, the Air Ministry ordered the construction of a building 15 feet tall, with large windows on all sides, to control traffic in the air.
The Aerodrome Control Tower was completed in 1928 and provided a name and design that has remained synonymous with air-traffic control.
Ian Walker, who chairs the Historic Croydon Airport Trust, said: “In 1920 there was no blueprint for what air-traffic control, or even an airport, should look like.
“It fell to those early pioneers to develop, test and implement the ideas that would enable air travel to grow safely.”
He added: “Airfields before this had radio offices and aerial lighthouses but nothing with the explicit intent of providing technical air-traffic services
Ian Walker, of the Historic Croydon Airport Trust.
to aircraft. The control tower was described as an essential development and its legacy lives on with us today.”
The first air-traffic controllers were responsible for providing basic traffic, location and weather information to pilots over the radio.
The progress of about a dozen daily flights were tracked using basic radio-based navigation and were plotted on to paper maps.
Today, the UK’s air-traffic control provider, Nats, handles up to 8,000 flights a day in some of the world’s busiest airspace.
It fell to those early pioneers to test ideas that let air travel grow safely.