Carolyn Russo, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution
Birmingham Airport, United Kingdom (BHX/EGBB)
The Birmingham Airport (formerly Elmdon Airport) opened on July 8, 1939. It served as a flight school and test center during World War II. Today the airport serves over 9 million people a year with just a single runway. Its new control tower, which replaced Elmdon Airport's original one in 2012, stands 33 meters (108 feet) high. The cab, the tower section where the controllers work, has heated windows to evaporate water for better visibility.
The photograph is a part of Art of the Airport Tower, an exhibition that explores contemporary and historical air traffic control towers in the U.S. and around the world.
Image by Carolyn Russo, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution
