Airports in Svalbard - Svalbard Airport, Longyear, NY-Alesund Airport, Hamnerabben, Svea Airport, List of Airports in Svalbard (Paperback)

Chapters: Svalbard Airport, Longyear, Ny-Alesund Airport, Hamnerabben, Svea Airport, List of Airports in Svalbard. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 20. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Svalbard Airport, Longyear - The first air strip on Svalbard was constructed in Adventdalen, near Longyearbyen, by the Luftwaffe during World War II. This was not used after the war; during the summer the archipelago was served by ships, but was completely isolated from November to May. In the early 1950s, the Norwegian Air Force started postal flights using a Catalina aircraft that departed from Tromso and dropped postal parcels at Bear Island and at Longyearbyen. However, these aircraft never landed until 9 February 1959, when a resident had become seriously ill, and needed to be flown to mainland Norway for treatment. The mining company Store Norske Spitsbergen Kullkompani cleared the runway at Adventsdalen and the 14-hour flight and landing was successful. A second landing, this time for delivery of post, was made on 11 March. While the Catalina was suitable for postal flights, it was not suitable for a permanent solution for transporting passengers and freight, mainly due to its small size. Store Norske contacted the domestic airline Braathens SAFE for a regular service. The first trial flight was made on 2 April 1959 with a Douglas DC-4 with 54 passengers from Bardufoss Airport. Store Norske cleared a 1,800 by 40 metres (5,900 by 130 ft) runway for the aircraft. The next flight was done in 1962, followed by one in 1963 and two in 1964. Due to lack of runway lights, flights could only be done during daylight, thus hindering flights during parts of December and January, when the sun never rises. By April, the runway could melt, and no flights could be done during summer. Navigation was conducte...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=5043085