Model Airports on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
A model airport is a scale model of an airport.
While
A model airport is a scale model of an airport.
While airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...
models have been around, in a way, since airfields were open to the public, early model airports were basically restricted to public showcases about the airport and its surroundings to the public; these were usually located inside the airport themselves.
Since Herpa Wings
Herpa Wings is a brand that identifies the die-cast toy, die-cast model aircraft line of Germany, German company Herpa. The collection includes 250 airlines under 17 different aircraft manufacturers in 1:200 scale. The mainstay of Herpa Wings is i ...
's introduction of their ''airport set'' series to their line of airline
An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...
related toys, there has been an increase of aircraft modelers who have made mock airports to showcase their private collection of model aircraft. Often, the collector will model their airport after a real-life airport.
Model airports can be made to look very realistic, with many real airport features such as terminals, control towers, cargo terminals, hangars, passenger bridges and more. Companies such as Gemini Jets, Herpa Wings
Herpa Wings is a brand that identifies the die-cast toy, die-cast model aircraft line of Germany, German company Herpa. The collection includes 250 airlines under 17 different aircraft manufacturers in 1:200 scale. The mainstay of Herpa Wings is i ...
, and JC Wings
JC may refer to:
Transportation
*JC International Airlines, Cambodia
*Japan Air Commuter (IATA code: JC)
* JAL Express (1998–2014; IATA: JC), Japan
* Rocky Mountain Airways (1965–1991; IATA: JC), United States
*, symbol for Main Line and Rap ...
have produced ground support equipment in various scales.
Collectors who make model airports may use die-cast models for their creation. Among the brands of die cast aircraft models most commonly used on these airports are Aeroclassics, Herpa Wings
Herpa Wings is a brand that identifies the die-cast toy, die-cast model aircraft line of Germany, German company Herpa. The collection includes 250 airlines under 17 different aircraft manufacturers in 1:200 scale. The mainstay of Herpa Wings is i ...
, Dragon Models Limited
Dragon Models Limited (Dragon or DML for short) is a Hong-Kong–based manufacturer of plastic model kits, diecast models and military action figures. Founded in 1987, the company's products are distributed globally and can be found in most ma ...
, Gemini Jets, Phoenix Models, JC Wings
JC may refer to:
Transportation
*JC International Airlines, Cambodia
*Japan Air Commuter (IATA code: JC)
* JAL Express (1998–2014; IATA: JC), Japan
* Rocky Mountain Airways (1965–1991; IATA: JC), United States
*, symbol for Main Line and Rap ...
, and NG Model.
In 2011, what may be the world's largest model airport opened for public view at Miniatur Wunderland
The Miniatur Wunderland (German for: Miniature Wonderland) is, according to Guinness World Records, the largest model railway system in the world. It is located at the historic Speicherstadt in Hamburg and is one of the most popular and most vis ...
in Hamburg, Germany
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
. The model, named ''Knuffingen International Airport,'' is based on Hamburg International Airport
Hamburg Airport () , is a major international airport in Hamburg, the second-largest city in Germany. Since November 2016 the airport has been named after the former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt. It is located north of the city centre in th ...
.
Another popular park in Europe, Madurodam
Madurodam () is a miniature park and tourist attraction in the Scheveningen district of The Hague in the Netherlands. It is home to a range of 1:25 scale model replicas of famous Dutch landmarks, historical cities and large developments. The par ...
in the Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
includes a model airport featuring models of several airlines such as KLM
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, or simply KLM (an abbreviation for their official name Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. , ),
, Emirates
Emirates may refer to:
* United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective ...
, Lufthansa
Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), trading as the Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation group. Its major and founding subsidiary airline Lufthansa German Airlines, branded as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. It ranks List of largest airlin ...
, EVA Air
EVA Airways Corporation ( ; ) () is an international airline headquartered in Taoyuan City. It is one of the two largest airlines in Taiwan along with state-owned China Airlines. The privately owned airline operates passenger and dedicated c ...
, Turkish Airlines
Turkish Airlines (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Türk Hava Yolları''), or legally Türk Hava Yolları Anonim Ortaklığı, is the flag carrier of Turkey. , it operates scheduled services to 352 destinations (including cargo) in Europe, Asia, Oce ...
, UPS Airlines
UPS Airlines is a major American cargo airline based in Louisville, Kentucky, US. One of the largest cargo airlines worldwide World's largest airlines#Scheduled freight tonne-kilometers (millions), in terms of freight volume flown, UPS Airlines f ...
, Transavia
Transavia Airlines C.V., trading as Transavia and formerly branded as ''transavia.com'', is a Dutch low-cost airline and a wholly owned subsidiary of KLM and therefore part of the Air France–KLM group. Its main base is Amsterdam Airport Sch ...
, Thai Airways
Thai Airways International plc () is the flag carrier airline of Thailand. Formed in 1961 as a joint venture between Scandinavian Airlines, SAS and Thai Airways Company, the airline has its corporate headquarters in Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, Chat ...
, Korean Air
Korean Air Lines Co., Ltd. (KAL; ) is the flag carrier of South Korea and its largest airline based on fleet size, international destinations, and international flights. It is owned by the Hanjin, Hanjin Group.
The present-day Korean Air tra ...
, Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...
, and an A380 of Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines (abbreviation: SIA or SQ) is the flag carrier of Singapore with its Airline hub, hub located at Changi Airport. Considered to be one of the world's best carriers, the airline is ranked as a 5-star airline as well as ranked ...
, alongside a DHL
DHL (originally named after founders Dalsey, Hillblom and Lynn) is a multinational Import-Export Expert Company, founded in the United States and headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It provides courier, package delivery, and express mail service, ...
-branded Airbus A300
The Airbus A300 is Airbus' first production aircraft and the world's first Twinjet, twin-engine, double-aisle Wide-body aircraft, (wide-body) airliner. It was developed by ''Airbus Industrie GIE'', now merged into Airbus SE, and manufactured f ...
. The Madurodam airport is based on Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport (, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands, and is one of the major hubs for the SkyTeam airline alliance. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municip ...
.
In addition, the TWA Hotel
TWA Hotel is a hotel at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York City, that opened on May 15, 2019. It uses the head house of the TWA Flight Center, designed by the architect Eero Saarinen and completed in 1962, and two flanking ...
in New York features a model airport that demonstrates the way the TWA
The Twa, often referred to as Batwa or Mutwa (singular), are indigenous hunter-gatherer peoples of the Great Lakes Region in Central Africa, recognized as some of the earliest inhabitants of the area. Historically and academically, the term � ...
airline's operation center used to look like at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport is a major international airport serving New York City and its metropolitan area. JFK Airport is located on the southwestern shore of Long Island, in Queens, New York City, bordering Jamaica Bay. It is t ...
in the 1960s and 1970s. This model airport was made using TWA model aircraft and runways and buildings in the 1:400 scale.
See also
*Diorama
A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional model either full-sized or miniature. Sometimes dioramas are enclosed in a glass showcase at a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies like mili ...
*Model building
Model building is a hobby and career that involves the creation of physical models either from kits or from materials and components acquired by the builder. The kits contain several pieces that need to be assembled in order to make a final mode ...
References
Scale modeling {{Toy-stub