It gets worse! (Or better...)
As my dad worked for BMA, I was once taken onto the ramp, aged 7 or 8, on the back of a BMA tractor by one of his colleagues. Cue Eric Dyer, Airport Commandant, on the 'phone to dad to ask what on earth was going on. Amazing to think that Mr Dyer looked out of the office and spotted such events. And we could drive straight on.
Fast-forward to 1978, and I have a summer job with the airport grounds maintenance depot, and learning to drive. One of the chaps allows me to practice in their 7.5 tonne flat bed truck, and drive onto the ramp to turn the truck around in a large loop, much to the consternation of the folks in the VCR.
Different times.
Sadly, it's lost much of it's character with the rise of lo-cos. It now seems like a huge facility for processing SLF. I have trouble spotting the remains of the original "small but perfectly-formed" CLASP-constructed terminal building.
However, my local airport, Teesside, remains very neat but deserted, clinging to commercial life.
Last edited by Midland 331; 3rd Apr 2015 at 22:04.