Finding Old Airport Diagrams: A Historical Aviation Guide

Old airport diagrams can be found online, with some websites offering multiple diagrams from different years. These diagrams can be useful for understanding the changes that have taken place at airports over time. For example, one user noted the difference in headings between a 1959 diagram and a 2007 diagram. While some sources suggest specific websites to find these diagrams, others recommend searching for the relevant country's AIP (Aeronautical Information Publication) or eAIP. These publications contain aerodrome information and charts, which can be useful for finding airport diagrams, especially for airports outside the United States.

Check the countries' AIP (Aeronautical Information Publication)

To find old airport diagrams, you can check the countries' AIP (Aeronautical Information Publication). This is a good way to find diagrams for airports outside the United States. You can Google the country's name followed by 'AIP' or 'eAIP' to find the relevant website. For example, searching for 'Egypt AIP' will bring up aerodrome information with charts. The website layout will generally be the same, although the appearance may differ between countries.

You can also try searching for specific airport charts, such as 'HECA charts' for Cairo International Airport. Local CAA websites often publish instrument approach/STAR's/ SID's charts for public viewing and these must be kept up to date for safety reasons.

Online forums such as Airliners.net and Aviation Stack Exchange are also useful resources for finding old airport diagrams. Users on these forums have mentioned Skyvector.com, Airnav, and Google Earth as sources of old diagrams, although the accuracy of these has been questioned.

Another suggestion is to look in good engineering libraries for old Jeppesen charts, which can be scanned and uploaded.

Use eAIP instead of AIP

You can find old airport diagrams on departedflights.org, which has many old diagrams sorted by airport. You can also find them on Skyvector.com, although you can't download the images.

The eAIP is an AIP document made available electronically for consultation on a computer. It should be available on CD, DVD or other media and/or online on the internet. It should allow for displaying on electronic devices and printing on paper. The eAIP brings a number of advantages compared to a PDF AIP, including the ability to precisely mark changes.

Search for Jeppesen charts in good engineering libraries

To find old airport diagrams, you can try searching for Jeppesen charts in good engineering libraries. Jeppesen charts are a comprehensive guide for those planning to become pilots, and they are regularly updated. They are available on Scribd, the world's largest social reading and publishing site, and can also be found on Jeppesen's own website, JeppView, which offers a complete library of terminal aeronautical charts on CD-ROM. You can also try searching for old diagrams on departedflights.org, which has many old diagrams sorted by airport. Additionally, you can find airport diagrams in the countries' AIP (Aeronautical Information Publication). By Googling the country code followed by "AIP", you can access aerodrome information with charts.

Try Google Earth images

Google Earth images can be used to find old airport diagrams. One source mentions that Google Earth images can be used to find airport diagrams, but they are not current, and the runway numbers are different from what is actually designated and used. However, another source mentions that Google Earth images can be useful for finding old airport diagrams.

Google Earth is a virtual globe, map, and geographical information program that can be used to view satellite imagery, aerial photography, and geographic information. It is possible to use Google Earth to view historical imagery, which can be useful for finding old airport diagrams. To do this, you can open Google Earth and enable the historical imagery feature. You can then search for an airport and use the time slider to view historical imagery of the airport.

It is also possible to use Google Earth to create your own airport diagrams. You can do this by using the drawing tools in Google Earth to add runways, taxiways, and other features to a satellite image of an airport. This can be a useful way to create your own custom airport diagrams.

In addition to Google Earth, there are other sources of old airport diagrams. One source mentions departedflights.org, which has many old diagrams sorted by airport. Another source mentions Skyvector.com, which may have some old airport diagrams available. However, it is not possible to download the images from this website. Instead, the images have been scanned and uploaded by users, and they may still have copyrights on them.

Look at old Aeronautical Information Manuals

Old airport diagrams can be found on departedflights.org, and they are also available in good engineering libraries.

Aeronautical Information Manuals (AIMs) are another good source of old airport diagrams. These manuals are available to read and download from the Federal Aviation Administration website. They are also available in HTML format.

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