Times change, but floating airports? I just read a CNN article discussing the possibility that floating airports will be in our future. One obvious reason cited is the difficulty of finding enough acreage to continue building land-based airports. Then there’s the NIMBY (Not-in-My-Back-Yard) attitude of neighbors. If you get by that, then you’ve got to grade that land to make it level, then build fences around it, guard it, and — you know the routine…
Floating airports would eliminate or minimize some of those problems. Evidently, vast areas of flat water are more available than vast areas of flat land.
I wonder about this, if for no other reason than the fact that I grew up almost surrounded by salt water. Everything — and I do mean everything — suffered the damages of high humidity, high heat, and salt. Guns, pocket knives, saws, hammers were corroded, encrusted, and ruined. After every use we had to clean such equipment, oil it up, wrap it up or put it in a case.
What in the world would such an atmosphere do to beautiful airplanes, avionics and engines — especially engines? When I sold airplanes we were highly suspicious of aircraft that had been based in Florida — and rightly so.
Also, how are we gonna get all of those passengers out to a floating airport? Some of them would surely be a good bit offshore. Would they have to take a ferry boat? Hey, getting to a major airport on dry land is already the worst part of many airports.
I dunno about this idea. But, if it is done, it’ll surely be fun to watch.
