THE Berlin Airlift

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THE Berlin Airlift

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BERLIN AIR FiELD
The Soviet Union attempted to control all of
Berlin by cutting surface traffic to and from the
city of West Berlin. Starving out the population
and cutting off their business was their method
of gaining control. Truman reacted with a
continual daily airlift which brought much needed
food and supplies into the city of West Berlin.
This Air bridge to Berlin lasted until the end of
September of 1949---although on May 12, 1949, the
Soviet government yielded and lifted the
blockade.
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SEAPLANES
SALT WAS CORROSIVE TO REGULAR ALUMINUM PLANES SO
SEA PLANES WERE USED TO TRANSPORT SALT BECAUSE
THEY WERE ALREADY TREATED TO RESIST SALT ,AND
WOULDNT CORRODE.
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BERLIN AIR SChEDULE
At the height of the Berlin Airlift, two groups
of aircraft flew in four-hour blocks around the
clock. While one group of aircraft was loaded and
serviced, the other group was in the air. On the
264-mile route, 32 aircraft were in the air
simultaneously. In the photo, activity supports a
plane taking off and landing every 90 seconds in
Berlin.
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MANUAL LABOR
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MECHANICS HANGER
Another serious problem was a shortage of
mechanics. Non fraternization with the Germans
was still the rule, and they could be given only
menial jobs with little responsibility. To solve
this dilemma, they found a former German
Luftwaffe aircraft maintenance officer who could
speak excellent English. He located Maj. Gen.
Hans Detlev von Rohden, who translated aircraft
maintenance manuals into German, recruited top
German mechanics and started a mechanics school
to train them on the C-54.
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BERLIN AIR FEILD
This is a map of the air field for the Berlin
air lift. Every 3minutes a plane would come in
and leave. There were two landing strips and one
exit runway.
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Finito