PITrules From United States of America, joined Jun 2000, 2685 posts, RR: 3 Posted (6 months 5 days 2 hours ago) and read 1033 times:
Nov 19 marks the 50th anniversary of commercial ops at Dulles airport. It was inaugurated by President Kennedy on Nov 17. Dulles is famous for its iconic main terminal and tower, mobile lounges, initial 'white elephant' status, and Concorde ops.
Below are random items scanned from my collection of stuff; all of it is from the airport's mid life (late 1980's). Of interest is the plan for two 24 gate midfield concourses, with the potential for up to 4 more. This was of course revised and evolved into the A and B concourses.
A few pics as well from the same era. These were taken from the open air observation deck that was once at the base of the tower.
tymnbalewne From United States of America, joined Mar 2005, 912 posts, RR: 1 Reply 1, posted (6 months 5 days 2 hours ago) and read 1042 times:
Wow! Thanks for this. I worked at Dulles from '97-'99. My first visit was in the mid/late-70s on a NW3 747 service from JFK-IAD (continuing to ORD and TYO)
hhslax2 From Bahrain, joined Jan 2012, 93 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (6 months 4 days 23 hours ago) and read 1042 times:
Now if they would actually plan to replace the almost 30 year old "temporary" C/D terminal, I wouldn't need to hang out in the A/B concourse before UA flights.
lows From Austria, joined Oct 2011, 984 posts, RR: 1 Reply 4, posted (6 months 4 days 20 hours ago) and read 1042 times:
Quoting hhslax2 (Reply 3): Now if they would actually plan to replace the almost 30 year old "temporary" C/D terminal, I wouldn't need to hang out in the A/B concourse before UA flights.
...and make the RJ area in A less overcrowded and dark.
Amazing how the airport 'stuck it out.' Eventually business will grow around an airport as as the OP post notes, the limits on National eventually 'pushed' traffic to Dulles.
Quoting hhslax2 (Reply 3):
Now if they would actually plan to replace the almost 30 year old "temporary" C/D terminal, I wouldn't need to hang out in the A/B concourse before UA flights.
That just amazes me...
and build the rail. (Stop planning and DIG!)
But overall, I really like Dulles as an airport (for a large city, that is).
STT757 From United States of America, joined Mar 2000, 16260 posts, RR: 52 Reply 7, posted (6 months 3 days 13 hours ago) and read 1040 times:
Eastern only flew to IAD for brief period, mid-late Eighties ('87-'89) but not during their bankruptcy period (March '89-January '91). The service was 3-4 daily DC-9s to Atlanta. I was surprised they never tried something more from Dulles, like San Juan. In the Washington market Eastern concentrated on DCA and BWI, from BWI they had Ottawa, Bermuda, San Juan etc..
panova98 From United States of America, joined Apr 2008, 280 posts, RR: 0 Reply 8, posted (6 months 3 days 4 hours ago) and read 1040 times:
Oh the struggles they had to get airlines to serve Dulles. Going to Florida, having to change planes in the Florida panhandle was an intersting Southern Airways DC-9 trip, but not particularly an efficient use of time. National reigned supreme!
But hey, the Concorde era at Dulles was a sight to behold. To be able to go outside on the viewing mezzanine, right there under the tower at the main terminal and to be able to almost touch the craft as it passed by on the taxiway headed for the runway, and then hear and see it power up for a takeoff, run the length of the runway making you wonder if it was ever going to get off the ground, and then up it went. Wow!
And of course, the unforgettable Transpo '72 weekend, ending it shear tragedy. Three crashes, 3 pilots/participants killed. A pilot in a sport plane race clips another racer and crashes to earth. A guy in a hang glider, sort of a "kiteman" is pulled by a car down the runway only to have his craft fail and he crashes to the runway. And then, an Air Force F-4E Thunderbird pilot in a vertical maneuver, has his plane flame out. The plane stalls, then floats and flutters to earth like a kid's paper airplane, crashing into a spectacular fireball. The crowd is stunned, then cheered when they see the parachute open and believe the pilot will survive. Then, the sad truth is learned. He lands directly into the fireball and perishes.
I'm not sure there's ever been another Thunderbird/Blue Angels show at Dulles. The FedEx plane pulls are nice events, but ...!
Viscount724 From Switzerland, joined Oct 2006, 21481 posts, RR: 24 Reply 9, posted (6 months 3 days 3 hours ago) and read 1040 times:
Quoting panova98 (Reply 8): Oh the struggles they had to get airlines to serve Dulles.
Even as late as 1979, 17 years after it opened, IAD only had about 70 departures a day, and only 2 international destinations (LHR and CDG), compared to almost 400 daily departures from DCA.
bohica From United States of America, joined Feb 2004, 2409 posts, RR: 0 Reply 12, posted (6 months 2 days 21 hours ago) and read 938 times:
Quoting kgaiflyer (Reply 10): Those folks complaining about the condition of the C/D terminal obviously don't remember ACA and "T" terminal.
The "T" made C/D look -- by comparison -- like one of the Trump Towers. Great nostalgia since I used to fly the ACA J31s and J41s frequently [sniff]
The "T" Terminal was an improvement over the original "A" Terminal. That was nothing but plywood and a deteriorating carpet with wall-to-wall people and a Starbucks Coffee. More craftsmanship went into a house trailer. Also ACA's ramp looked more like the deck of an aircraft carrier due to the way all the planes were crammed into such a small space. The most amazing part of that operation was that it worked day in and day out. Those were the good ole days.
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