EDDI Berlin Tempelhof closing for good
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Happy Days! I remember parking under the roof; ideal when it's raining! You don't realise the size of the building until you're there, and how beautiful it is inside. A really sad day for aviation... again! Got a great pic to share, but it's not happening..
Last edited by Rantanplan; 30th Oct 2008 at 22:09.
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A sad day...the last scheduled flight has just left. Last will be a DC-3 and the Lufthansa JU-52. I have tears in my eyes and watch live-TV right now...
BBC-Video in English
BBC-Video in English
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Somewhere, I have an old photo of myself standing on the tarmac at Tempelhof in the 1980s. It is going to be very strange to look at that when I find it again, years from now. But, when I explain it to the younger members of my family, I will tell them this. I remember the architectural beauty of the airport, absolutely. But even more important to remember are these things: The courage and energy of the crews who flew the Airlift, under very demanding and dangerous conditions. And the strength and dignity of the Berliners -- proud and free citizens who refused to yield when a cruel attempt was made to starve them into submission. I salute both groups, and will remember them well, along with Tempelhof.
I Have Control
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Got ramp-checked at EDDI, felt like the Spanish Inquisition.
Thought the place looked like a kick-back to pre-WW2 days, architecturally. Imposing, but not beautiful.
Watched an Airship lose control and career about the place at 50ft. Whilst we sat in our 320 wondering if it would bump into us. Unusual.
Random memories, but the place certainly sticks in my mind.
Thought the place looked like a kick-back to pre-WW2 days, architecturally. Imposing, but not beautiful.
Watched an Airship lose control and career about the place at 50ft. Whilst we sat in our 320 wondering if it would bump into us. Unusual.
Random memories, but the place certainly sticks in my mind.
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The wizards who run or ran Berlin City Council, who have invested very heavily in the colossal white elephant down the road at Schonefeld, will rue the day that they closed THF.
Most cities in the modern world would give an eye tooth to have a city centre airport such as THF but lack of foresight, greed, incompetence and extremely bad planning have led them down this one way street towards closure.
They blame this closure on the fact that THF makes a loss but the Council are the very people who forced the airlines out of the airport, to operate from TXL and SXF against their wishes.
I lived close to THF for some years, used it regularly and often wondered why it wasn't allowed to operate to its full potential.
Now we know.
Politics, kick-backs, greed and money have once again killed a golden goose.
btw, if you are ever there, take the tour of the underground facilities. There is a huge, and I mean massive, factory down there where fighter aircraft were built right up to a few days before the Russians arrived in 1945.
Most cities in the modern world would give an eye tooth to have a city centre airport such as THF but lack of foresight, greed, incompetence and extremely bad planning have led them down this one way street towards closure.
They blame this closure on the fact that THF makes a loss but the Council are the very people who forced the airlines out of the airport, to operate from TXL and SXF against their wishes.
I lived close to THF for some years, used it regularly and often wondered why it wasn't allowed to operate to its full potential.
Now we know.
Politics, kick-backs, greed and money have once again killed a golden goose.
btw, if you are ever there, take the tour of the underground facilities. There is a huge, and I mean massive, factory down there where fighter aircraft were built right up to a few days before the Russians arrived in 1945.
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Sorry, but I've got to rain in on the parade a bit. Let's start with the "beauty" of Tempelhof. It simply doesn't exist. The building is ugly as hell and is a typical example of Nazi-architecture, designed to intimidate the beholder and definitely not for beauty (but, unfortunately, we're not going to get rid of this monstrous building). Yeah, it's impressive, but for all the wrong reasons. And yeah, there's a certain element of nostalgia also for me, having flown from Tempelhof (as SLF) since I was a small kid in the sixties, but so what?
Closing it down isn't just a question of incompetence, or even, as someone suggested, kick-backs and greed, at least as far as I can tell. I think it's undisputed that Berlin needs a larger, modern airport. Until yesterday we had three airports, two of them directly in the inner city. (Surprisingly, most proponents of Tempelhof don't mention that Tegel (EDDT) isn't that much further away from the city center than Tempelhof and don't complain about it getting closed down in the forseeable future.) Both of the inner city airports can't be extended. The only one that can is Schönefeld (EDDB), but, for several legal reasons, that's impossible unless the other two get closed. Keeping Tempelhof open for much longer would have opened up legal loopholes that would have further delayed the expansion of Schönefeld and might even have killed the whole project, so the Berlin City Council actually didn't have much of a choice at all (ironically, the opposition party, which is now so outspoken against closing Tempelhof, was in power when the whole process got started, knowing very well all the consequences).
Finally, as someone living beneath the approach path to EDDI I for sure will miss the view of landing airplanes coming directly my way but I definitely won't miss the noise;-)
Closing it down isn't just a question of incompetence, or even, as someone suggested, kick-backs and greed, at least as far as I can tell. I think it's undisputed that Berlin needs a larger, modern airport. Until yesterday we had three airports, two of them directly in the inner city. (Surprisingly, most proponents of Tempelhof don't mention that Tegel (EDDT) isn't that much further away from the city center than Tempelhof and don't complain about it getting closed down in the forseeable future.) Both of the inner city airports can't be extended. The only one that can is Schönefeld (EDDB), but, for several legal reasons, that's impossible unless the other two get closed. Keeping Tempelhof open for much longer would have opened up legal loopholes that would have further delayed the expansion of Schönefeld and might even have killed the whole project, so the Berlin City Council actually didn't have much of a choice at all (ironically, the opposition party, which is now so outspoken against closing Tempelhof, was in power when the whole process got started, knowing very well all the consequences).
Finally, as someone living beneath the approach path to EDDI I for sure will miss the view of landing airplanes coming directly my way but I definitely won't miss the noise;-)
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Somebody posted a
Youtube Video from last day and transcription of radio com between TWR, DC-3 and JU-52 before the last take-off
BBC-Info
Youtube Video from last day and transcription of radio com between TWR, DC-3 and JU-52 before the last take-off
BBC-Info
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It's a shame to close such a historic airport. I made my last visit there a few days ago. Unfortunately I couldn't be there on the 30th October, so I just watched the closing and the last take offs on TV. What a sad day...
The Associated Press: Berlin's historic Tempelhof Airport closing
Bye bye, Tempelhof!
The Associated Press: Berlin's historic Tempelhof Airport closing
Bye bye, Tempelhof!
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Pictures at Tempelhof
What a super picture posted by jhlinga.
I would like to see a picture from just before the war, with many different airliners on the ramp, or in the BEA/Pan Am/Air France postwar period when air travel to Berlin was subsidised. When did traffic start being moved to other airports? I remember flying to THF in a Pan Am 727 in the mid-sixties. We had to stay below 10,000 feet due to some Allied agreement, I think.
I would like to see a picture from just before the war, with many different airliners on the ramp, or in the BEA/Pan Am/Air France postwar period when air travel to Berlin was subsidised. When did traffic start being moved to other airports? I remember flying to THF in a Pan Am 727 in the mid-sixties. We had to stay below 10,000 feet due to some Allied agreement, I think.
