Fornebu Airport – An airport is born, 1934-1940 (NORWEGIAN TEXT ONLY!)
In 1934, the work on the new airport of Oslo started. The bulk of the working force was there during the winter months when unemployment was at its peak. Most of the work was done by hand (!) and using only small wagons on rails: an unbelievable accomplishment. Initially, work was to complete in 1937, but extension of the original plans led to delay in the work. But on 1 June 1939 (this year 75 years ago), Danish Air Lines’ Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor was the first to depart from the airport. But it took off from the taxiway! An accident was but just avoided…
The operation of the airlines on Fornebu is described in detail, and so is the usage of the airport by private aircraft, both foreign and domestic. We should also mentioned that all services are described in detail, as are services like the custom office, the post office, the bank, and the air traffic office with all its problems and challenges. We also take a look at the period September 1939 – April 1940, when the airport was also used by the Army Air Service. The book ends with the occupation by the Germans and a review of the war years, right until the airport was peacefully taken over by the Allied forces from the German occupying forces on 16 May, 1945.
The book has 208 pages (+ 125 pages on a CD disk) and is illustrated with 218 photographs and drawings, eight colour profiles, a reconstructed landing journal (1939-1940) and an index.
Note the book has only Norwegian texts and captions.
WINNER OF THE AWARD: “AVIATION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2014 IN NORWAY “
Book reviews:
Flyhistorie 32 (2014) ved Ulf Larsstuvold
