Wunderland Pt 2 The Airport......

 

Wunderland the Airport

(Following text is from Wunderland webpage, Photo's are mine)

 

 

Airport Plan

 

 

In the past years, embedded between Knuffingen and Switzerland, Miniature Wunderland’s latest layout arose – our passenger airport. After more than 6 years of construction, it was inaugurated on May 4th 2011, at last. The development of the Airport began in June 2005, already. In 2008 the planning phase was finalised, and the final building plans were worked out.

Since the 22nd of August 2008 the plan was lying on the layout base, initiating the construction phase, officially. The layout arose right in front of our visitor’s eyes. Not only for aviation and technology fans, the impressive Airport is the new Wunderland highlight. Up to 40 different aircraft's (from Cessna to Airbus A 380) are taxing independently on this Airport to the gates. They are also being moved back from the gates by push-back vehicles in order to taxi to the runway. There they are accelerating and taking off or landing respectively. Each aircraft is equipped with original lights and original, realistic turbine sounds. 

 

Hamburg Terminal

 

 

 

 

The Carsystem of the Airport

In contrast to the original car system, our new vehicles at Knuffingen Airport are equipped with sensors, which transmit all data via infrared signals. Thus, it is possible to simulate a more dynamic movement of any vehicle, and lights, turn signals, as well as speed levels can be switched and altered while driving. Furthermore, infrared technology enables a more precise position analysis. Thus, the vehicles can drive with a shorter safety distance to other vehicles in traffic. Constructing the Airport vehicles was quite challenging for the team. In order to stuff ever more technology into ever smaller vehicles, we had to make many laborious modifications. Here, we have to point out those relatively small interior cleaning vehicles for the Airport, as all components had to be exchangeable, in order to save time when repairing them.
The following vehicles can be seen on the Airport, as well: tankers, catering trucks, de-icers, septic tank trucks, garbage trucks, luggage cart tugs, dispenser vehicles, passenger shuttle buses, crew shuttles, snow ploughs and blowers, as well as ground staff vehicles.
However, the yellow-black Follow-me vehicles, which usually direct aircraft's on the airfield, do not exist on Knuffingen Airport, in this manner. Because the more tiny the technology, the more difficult it becomes to synchronise two vehicles following each other on the same stretch. Here, even two identical motors have different handling characteristics. That’s the reason we’ve created a fleet management system, functioning via lit carriageway markings, directing the pilot over the airfield. In reality, a similar system has been established on the London and Munich Airport by now – it seems as if our idea was not too far-fetched, after all.

 

 

 

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I spent well over 4 hours looking at this section of the layout, over the weekend.  There are 28no. Flying planes and i must have seen most of them take off, there is even a Bee and a USA Shuttle.

 

 

Sorry for the shaky camera at the start, but it was still getting used to my new camera.  On the Sunday we had a behind the scenes tour, the operation system in place for stacking the planes for take off, is a work of art.  The road system in the airport is very cool, each plane has a fuel tanker, bus (if required).  There is a working Flight information board, which tells you which is the next flight coming in and going out, All very impressive.