SKY HARBOR

AIR TRAVEL CENTER

Sky riders who, on swift airline wings, leave wintry climates and suddenly find themselves at Sky Harbor, Phoenix, Arizona, are in for quite a thrill when they step from these modern magic carpets into a garden of warm sunshine, green lawns, palms, orange trees, giant saguaros, cultivated color-swatches of bright flowers and fragrant borders spelling out friendly phrases like "Hi Amigos" and "Welcome to Phoenix" in blue and white sweet alyssum.

Further welcoming the visitor is an up-to-the-minute new terminal building completed in 1952 at a cost near one million dollars. Most prominent visual accent of the terminal building and airport is the unusual control tower of nine foot diameter tubular steel construction projecting to a height of 107 feet. This gleaming sentinel of the airways, the first of its kind in the world, contains radio equip-ment, air conditioning, an office for the chief controller, a sub cab and a top cab with facilities for two or three operators.

ment, air conditioning, an office for the chief controller, a sub cab and a top cab with facilities for two or three operators.

A battery of plate glass doors near the base of the tower leads to a spacious, centrally located lobby. Scores of conveniences to add to the comfort and ease of airline travel are located in wings on either side of the main lobby including airline representatives, counters, a coffee shop, dining room, cocktail lounge, gift shop, barber shop, car rental service, U. S. Weather Bureau, Civil Aeronautics Administration offices, etc. The parking area, but a few steps from the terminal building, can accommodate 850 cars. An observation promenade deck on the roof of the terminal building offers excellent vantage points from which the general public may observe activities on the ten-plane apron below,

OF THE SOUTHWEST

As 44 major commercial flights arrive and depart each day. A large section of the 50,000 square foot terminal building is occupied by the U. S. Weather Bureau offices where the latest electronic devices are in operation 24 hours a day, determining, receiving and transmitting weather data and disbursing weather reports and service for airport operations and to the public.

The excellent flying weather at Sky Harbor surpasses all other major fields in the country according to Civil Aeronautics Administration statistics. The average wind velocity is 5 miles per hour and the annual rainfall 7.25 inches. Even when other airports are hampered by poor visibility, Sky Harbor is rarely involved. During 1952, visibility dropped below one mile for only three hours, with approximately the same record in 1953. Instrument landing conditions averaged less than an hour for each of these years. Since 1926, this airport has been closed to traffic for only 4 hours and 29 minutes because of weather conditions. After Sky Harbor's humble beginning in a cow pasture three miles from the central business district, the city of Phoenix purchased 253 acres of land in 1935 at a cost of $70,000. Today, the area has grown to 964 acres with an investment of $7,000,000 in land, buildings, runways and other improvements. Three new runways, 150 feet wide and over a mile long, are capable of accommodating the largest commercial aircraft now in use. Two transcontinental airlines, American and Trans World Airlines, and two regional airlines, Bonanza and Frontier, serve the Phoenix area at Sky Harbor. In a recent survey of aircraft operations by the Airport

Forty-four major commercial flights arrive at Sky Harbor each day.

OPPOSITE PAGE “SKY HARBOR” BY ALLEN C. REED. This study of the terminal building, control tower and immaculate landscaping was made in March. Speed Graphic, 4x5 Ektachrome, tripod, f16 at 1/10 sec.

One wall of the cocktail lounge is decorated with a mural by André Durenceau of New York depicting dramatically future flight into space.

The large dining room with an encompassing view of the field has a seating capacity for 176.

OPPOSITE PAGE TOP "TERMINAL BUILDING" BY ALLEN C. REED. In the winter and spring, Sky Harbor landscaping is in its prime. Speed Graphic, 4x5 Ekta. f22-1/5.

BOTTOM-"AIR VIEW-SKY HARBOR" BY DON KELLER. This view greets the air traveler arriving at the municipal airport in Phoenix.

The new, modern Sky Riders Hotel located across the parking area from the terminal build-ing will be in operation by the first of October.

The United States Weather Bureau in the Sky Harbor terminal building utilizes the latest electronic weather recording devices available. This office is under the direction of Louis R. Jurwitz, seated at desk right foreground. Each morning and evening a large weather balloon is released by the weather bureau carrying weather instruments.

Operations Council, fast growing Sky Harbor ranked seventeenth among all the leading airports of the United States in traffic volume and overall activities including scheduled airlines, military, civil, itinerant and civil local flights. In the same survey Phoenix was listed as 99th in population.

For business and private flying, Phoenix ranks 4th place nationally. A separate terminal, conveniently located in proximity to facilities of the main terminal, is devoted exclusively to the private and business flyer. Modern fueling equipment, full Weather Bureau and C.A.A. service and many other advantages and courtesies are bringing an everincreasing number of transient flyers to Sky Harbor. At present, this private plane terminal averages around 10,000 arrivals and departures per month.

During 1953, 325,321 people enplaned or deplaned atSky Harbor, more than the combined population of Phoenix and its suburban areas combined. For this same year, 715 tons of U. S. mail, 366 tons of express and 1,256 tons of freight were loaded or unloaded at the airport. Arizona Air National Guard has constructed a $1,500,ooo hangar and ramp on the south side of Sky Harbor property to accommodate the 197th Fighter Bomber Squadron that is stationed there. On the north side of the field, where the original Phoenix airport buildings were located, there are 100 acres leased or available as industrial sites. Located on this land at present are approximately 20 operations such as manufacturers of aircraft parts, aircraft sales, repair, charter and crop dusting services. The AiResearch Manufacturing Company alone occupies 33 acres there and operates a $5,000,000 plant.

Arizona Air National Guard Fighter Bomber Squadron located at Sky Harbor.

This outstanding airport, in the land of ideal flying weather, as a worthy tribute to the modern science of flight, is well in pace with the present and has an alert outlook to the future. By October 1st, 1954, the new Sky Riders Hotel, with 42 all modern, air conditioned, sound proof, television equipped rooms and a 62 foot tiled swimming pool, will be in operation. Still other additions, a theater, garage, service station, bank, shopping center, miniature golf course, to name a few, are planned to welcome riders of the skies and make their visits more pleasant and convenient, whether they drop in for moments or days. A recent visitor paused to take one sweeping glance over his shoulder at this airfield and the distant Phoenix sky line and said: "My first visit out here but I'll be back. This place is like a warm and friendly handshake."