Brothers Build World's Largest Model Airport 90
kkleiner writes "Frederik and Gerrit Braun, energetic twin brothers with no shortage of dreams, have just finished construction of the world's largest model airport. With 40,000 lights, 15,000 figurines, 500 cars, 10,000 trees, 50 trains, 1000 wagons, 100 signals, 200 switches, 300 buildings and 40 planes, Knuffingen Airport is both a wonder to behold as well as a technological tour de force. The best part of Knuffingen is that it's alive. Forty planes and 90 vehicles move about autonomously. Located in Hamburg, Germany, the model is based on Hamburg Airport."
That's only a small part of a tinkerer's dream (Score:5, Informative)
There should really be a link to the whole site of the Miniature Wonderland, where the airport is merely integrated as a small part (!). The whole thing is a huge attraction, and I can't even imagine the amount of maintenance it needs. They have created their own control software and direction systems for a few hundred, magnet-driven street vehicles and trains. It's really quite impressive.
http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/
A better video with some tech (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Signage? Lighting? (Score:5, Informative)
With all that work I'm really surprised to see such a lack of taxiway and runway lighting and signage.
All the taxiway and runway lighting is fully operational. Here's the night view. [youtube.com]
This isn't just a static display with a little repetitive motion. The planes land, and taxi to the terminal on the taxiways. They position at a gate. The jetways move into position and mate with the plane. Fuel trucks and catering trucks come up to the plane. After a while, the support vehicles move off, and a pushback truck pushes the plane clear of the gate area. The plane then turns, follows the taxiways, gets into the takeoff queue, waits at the threshold, rolls onto the runway, takes off, and disappears through the wall.
The vehicles run on the Faller carsystem, which is used for road vehicles all over Minatur Wunderland. Guidance is via little magnets that follow a metal rail hidden in the table. There are switches at junctions, and the control system is railroad-like. The vehicles are battery powered, and get speed instructions from a central computer, but steering is mechanical, following the track with the magnet.
The planes use the same system when on the ground. When they're in position for takeoff, a rod comes up through the runway and engages a big pocket in the plane. A second rear rod engages a smaller pocket in the rear. Takeoff is driven from equipment under the runway, which can move and tilt the plane. At the end of the room, the plane flies through a row of strips of "sky" painted material and disappears.
Behind the scenes, the planes then are brought down, and return to driving mode. They move around on a hidden lower level and are staged to simulate various flights. There's also automatic charging for all vehicles, which make stops at hidden charging stations as needed.
The airport is only a small part of the whole exhibit, which has a model railroad with 890 trains and 12km of track. There's a staff of 185 people. It's a major tourist attraction.