全世界第一個機場係邊度?

History and development of airport:

The control tower of Croydon Airport in 1939, with the BOAC de Havilland DH 91 Albatross Fortuna alongsideThe earliest airplane takeoff and landing sites were simply open, grassy fields. The plane could approach at any angle that provided a favorable wind direction. A slight improvement was the dirt-only field, which eliminated the drag from grass. However, these only functioned well in dry conditions. They would eventually be replaced by concrete surfaces that allowed all-weather landings in both daylight and at night.

Early airfields were often built for the purpose of entertainment. These aerodromes consisted of a grassy field, with a hangar for storage and servicing of airplanes, and observation stands for visitors. One of the world's first aerodromes was Taliedo Airport in Milan, which was opened in 1910 and in the mid 1920s was transformed into an airport and opened to commercial traffic. It was closed in the 1930s because it was too small for the commercial transportation boom of those years. Linate Airport, which still serves as one of Milan's airports, was then built a few miles north. One of Europe's first airports was S. Darius and S. Girėnas airport (in Kaunas, Lithuania), which was opened in 1915.

The first known usage of the term "airport" appeared in a newspaper article in 1919, in reference to Bader Field in Atlantic City, New Jersey.[2]

Increased aircraft traffic during World War I led to the construction of regular landing fields. Airplanes had to approach these from certain directions. This led to the development of aids for directing the approach and landing slope.

Following the war, some of these military airfields added commercial facilities for handling passenger traffic. One of the earliest such fields was Le Bourget, near Paris. The first international airport to open was the Croydon Airport, in South London [3]. In 1922, the first permanent airport and commercial terminal solely for commercial aviation was built at Königsberg, Germany. The airports of this era used a paved "apron", which permitted night flying as well as landing heavier airplanes.

The first lighting used on an airport was during the later part of the 1920s; in the 1930s approach lighting came into use. These indicated the proper direction and angle of descent. The colors and flash intervals of these lights became standardized under the ICAO. In the 1940s, the slope-line approach system was introduced. This consisted of two rows of lights that formed a funnel indicating an aircraft's position on the glideslope. Additional lights indicated incorrect altitude and direction.

Following World War II, airport design began to become more sophisticated. Passenger buildings were being grouped together in an island, with runways arranged in groups about the terminal. This arrangement permitted expansion of the facilities. But it also meant that passengers had to travel further to reach their plane.

An improvement in the landing field was the introduction of grooves in the concrete surface. These ran perpendicular to the direction of the landing aircraft and served to draw off excess water in rainy conditions that could build up in front of the plane's wheels.

Airport construction boomed during the 1960s with the increase in jet aircraft traffic. Runways were extended out to 3 km (9800 feet). The fields were constructed out of reinforced concrete using a slip-form machine that produces a continual slab with no disruptions along the length.

Modern landing fields are thickest in the area where the plane touches down in order to support the force of the landing gear touching down. Runways are constructed as smooth and level as possible using measuring devices to correct for variations in height.