Worlds largest model airport goes live...

[tr7v8]

This is incredible 500sq ft in HO scale. Scroll down to the video.

http://news.travel.aol.com/2011/05/05/knuffingen-a...

[dr_gn]

It's brilliant: I watched it being built last year when I visited. The railway is amazing too. There's some pretty serious control engineering involved, much of it on display through perspex panels. You can spend hours in that place.

[Evangelion]

Impressive!

[Eric Mc]

Some nice touches. I noticed a classic prop airliner (a DC-7?) parked at the terminal and the Airbus A320 in the retro-Lufthansa scheme (which is based on a real Lufthansa A320 which was painted in 1960s colours).

However, to be completely accurate, the Turkish Airlines 737-800 should land a half mile short of the runway and the Air France A340 should run off the end of the runway and burst into flames.

[fatboy69]

Thats incredible. Totally pointless but i think its great.

All it needs is for Bruce Willis to appear shouting yippe kiyee m**********r as he single handedly brings down a Boeing 747!!

[rix]

Random but v cool. Can't work out what happens once the aircraft have 'taken off'

[fatboy69]

it looks as though they disappear into a void at the end of the runway & then get re-routed around the back of the model. there is one shot where the plane disappears however you dont see anything else.

[Vixpy1]

Eric Mc said:

However, to be completely accurate, the Turkish Airlines 737-800 should land a half mile short of the runway and the Air France A340 should run off the end of the runway and burst into flames.

Ouch

[Simond S]

Fabulous model. Agree on the railway set up as well.

It would be fun to do some gentle reprogramming though

[Eric Mc]

Vixpy1 said:

Eric Mc said:

However, to be completely accurate, the Turkish Airlines 737-800 should land a half mile short of the runway and the Air France A340 should run off the end of the runway and burst into flames.

Ouch

Only because it's happened in real life.

[scubadude]

That is pretty amazing, must contain a massive amount of control hardware and software in the backroom!

Some of the linked Youtube videos showed more detail than the one in the report, it even appears as if the planes that "land" can leave the runway loop bit and taxi around the airport.

[dr_gn]

scubadude said:

That is pretty amazing, must contain a massive amount of control hardware and software in the backroom!

Some of the linked Youtube videos showed more detail than the one in the report, it even appears as if the planes that "land" can leave the runway loop bit and taxi around the airport.

They do - all the aircraft are guided electronically from under the surface of the board. The taxiing and take offs are co-ordinated just like a real airport - there's even a live arrivals/departures board on the wall...well worth a visit.

[andy400]

Wanna go! Wanna go!

[Eric Mc]

If Gomez Adams made a model like this, he'd chose Tenerife.

[cptsideways]

For some reason I have a real urge to go & see that - Its rather cool

where is it based?

[tr7v8]

cptsideways said:

For some reason I have a real urge to go & see that - Its rather cool

where is it based?

Everything you wanted to know is here http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/
Go to the loo, get a drink make sure you have an hour or so without interruption & enjoy the website..... Oh & it is Hamburg.

[dr_gn]

cptsideways said:

For some reason I have a real urge to go & see that - Its rather cool

where is it based?

If you like "transport", there are loads of other things to see within 20 minutes' walk of there:

Awesome Maritime Museum:

http://www.internationales-maritimes-museum.de/

Small, but perfectly formed car/racing museum:

http://www.prototyp-hamburg.de/

A few museum ships and submarines, and of course as much WW2 history as you can take. You can even get a guided tour of the Airbus factory, which is great (if you like that kind of thing).

[TomN1994]

rix said:

Random but v cool. Can't work out what happens once the aircraft have 'taken off'

If you go through their videos on youtube, there is one "Gerrits Tagebuch" dedicated to this, where the plane, flies up through the void, then levels out, lowers onto one of 3 levels of "shelves" where it is controlled via the car system that controls them around the airport, and then...selected at random for when they will land back at the airport...The video explains it much better than me.

[TomN1994]

Watched the build from start to finish on Youtube, and...i can't believe how amazing it is...they don't do things by halves this lot, the blades in the Jet engines even spin around, and props spin on little planes etc, it is an incredible feat what they have accomplished, its the minor details that make Miniatur Wunderland fantastic.

[Starfighter]

Eric Mc said:

If Gomez Adams made a model like this, he'd chose Tenerife.

When given clearance to take off at tenarife, you ask again.

Dave Gunson said:

I don't care if you get out on the wing to have a good look but once we know we are the only 747 on the runway then we will give it a go.