Originally Posted by
chevvron
It was adults too, not just kids, however I do wonder how many 'accident's' there actually were having almost been one myself.
I was walking back with my parents, my older brother and sister (both about 10 or 11 years old) were some way ahead. I saw them crossing the taxiway and ran ahead of my parents to follow them, only to be grabbed by a man in an 'airline' style uniform and pulled back out of the way of the DC4 (or it could have been a DC6; at the age of 4 my aircraft recognition abilities had not developed beyond the aircraft operating from RAF Bovingdon near where we lived) which I hadn't seen coming along the taxiway!
What would 'elf an' safety' have to say nowadays about pedestrians in such close proximity to spinning props?
It must have been great living
relatively close by as a youth and interested in aircraft. Sadly I've never been close to an international airport other than when passing through. And I'm too young to have seen any of the props and early jets I find most appealing.
When you said Northolt was also in need of construction I'm not quite sure I follow. Wasn't Northolt only temporarily used for passenger services before the RAF took it back? I would have thought the focus would have stayed with London Airport (Heathrow) as prime concern over Northolt.
The only "developed" aerodrome in London, so far as I know, would have been Croydon. Which had actual arrivals and departure halls etc. So Heathrow, especially after being designated London Airport, should have seen rapid development. Though I'm sure the post-war era economy and several other more pressing concerns put it on the back burner for natural reasons.