The Airport Book Author:Martin Greif The Airport Book from Landing Field to Modern terminal. Before there were airports there were landing fields, there were just open stretches of land--anywhere that the early spider-like flying machines could alight: farmers' fields, pastures, the lawns of resort hotels and country clubs, the grassy expanse of the local golf course, or even base... more »ball field, race tracks, and cemeteries. The first airports may have been remarkably casual affairs--a canvas or frame hangar was almost all that was required--but all of this changed in the days following Lindbergh's famous flight. The trend of aircraft design from small airplanes with light wing loading to the larger fast transports of the 1930s with their heavy wing loadings, higher landing speeds, and slower climb ratios rendered obsolete the casual approach to airfield and brought about the birth of the modern airport.« less