NASLEĐE / HERITAGE 1923.
GOTOVO CEO VEK OD PRVOG NOĆNOG LETA ALMOST A CENTURY SINCE THE FIRST NIGHT FLIGHT
WHILE PREPARATIONS WERE UNDERWAY TO FORM the first international airport under Bežanija hill, the airfield ne- ar Pančevo began operating in 1923. It was actually a grazing meadow positioned alongside the road to the village of Ja- buka, and it remains remembered as the location from which the first plane departed on a regular night-flight line. That historic flight took place on the night between 8 th and 9 th September 1923. For the Franko-Rumen company, the predecessor of Air France, this flight represented an attempt to beat a train! The legendary, luxurious Orient Express was slower than an aeroplane, but it had the advantage of travelling through the night and therefore arrived quicker when travelling from Paris to Istanbul. The conditions of air traffic at the time meant that flights were only conducted during daylight hours. Flights would be interrupted with the first twilight, only to conti- nue the next morning. That’s why runways at the airports in Pančevo and Bucha- rest were fixed with lights and two strong spotlights that illumi- nated the runway from two different directions. To ensure safe navigation, beacons were placed every 20 kilometres along the route between the two cities as terrestrial landmarks. Two were on the territory of our country, while 22 were on the terri- tory of Romania. Those were the world’s first terrestrial naviga- tion devices for the first night flying air traffic, but also the first link connecting the then Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slove- nes with the rest of the planet.
DOK SE PRIPREMAO PRVI MEĐUNARODNI AE- RODROM pod bežanijskim brdom, u blizini Panče- va 1923. počelo je da radi letilište, koje je zapravo bilo pašnjak uz put ka selu Jabuka. Ostalo je upam- ćeno pošto je s njega poleteo prvi avion na redov- noj noćnoj liniji. Taj istorijski let dogodio se u noći između 8. i 9. septembra 1923. godine. Za kompaniju Franko-Ru- men , koja je preteča Er Fransa , u to vreme ovaj let predstavljao je napor da se pobedi jedan voz. Le- gendarni, luksuzni Orijent ekspres bio je sporiji od aviona, ali je bio u prednosti pošto je putovao i noću, pa je brže stizao iz Pariza do Istanbula. U uslovima vazdušnog saobraćaja u to vreme letelo se samo danju. Putovanje bi se prekidalo s prvim sumrakom, a let bi bio nastavljan ujutru. Zato su duž staza na aerodromima u Pančevu i Bukureštu postavljena svetla i dva jaka reflektora koji su iz dva različita pravca osvetljavali pistu. Duž rute između ova dva grada za sigurnu navigaciju su na svakih 20 km postavljeni farovi kao zemaljski ori- jentiri. Dva su bila na teritoriji naše zemlje, a 22 na teritoriji Rumunije. To su bili prvi zemaljski navigacij- ski uređaji za prve noćne letove vazdušnog saobra- ćaja u svetu, ali i prva veza Kraljevine SHS sa ostat- kom planete.
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