BWI’s room with a view features hand-on-fun

The observation gallery at Baltimore/Washington International (BWI) Airport is becoming as popular as was the airport’s open-air observation deck, which was closed in the mid-1970s when stricter Federal Aviation Administration rules banned direct access to airsides as a safeguard against highjackings. The deck was succeeded by two lounges that were comfortable enough but never equal to the multisensory experience of standing on the balcony just 100 feet away from the sights, smells and sounds of busy airfield operations.

The Maryland Aviation Administration (MAA) committed $6.3 million to th gallery, part of a $450 million capital construction program.

Located on the upper level of the terminal between piers B and C, the two-level, crescent-shaped, steel-framed gallery is built above the original terminal. Features include a 147-foot-wide “skywindow” crowned with a glazed roof sloped 30 degrees toward the airfield and supported by a space frame. The panoramic view from the gallery’s second level includes three of BWI’s four runways. A post-mounted audio panel at the center of the window’s radius enables visitors to eavesdrop on communications between pilots and air traffic controllers and other transmissions.

A series of flip charts explain the equipment on the tarmac below and just beyond the window.

Through an array of interactive exhibits and aircraft sections used essentially as sculptures throughout the 16,500-square-foot space, the gallery provides insight into past and present commercial aviation.

Jutting out from the upper level of the observation gallery, for example, is a 4,500-pound nose section of a Boeing 737-22. With its nose wheel lowered, the exhibit creates the illusion of a plane frozen in a glidepath toward a simulated runway centerstripe aligned on the floor immediately below. The perception is reinforced by flashing centerline lights.

This is one of several large cutaways from an intact aircraft that were restored and placed throughout the gallery. Other parts include the fully accessible cockpit, a 47-foot-long section of wing, an 11-foot-wide cross-section of the first class passenger section, the plane’s 11 1/2-foot-high vertical stabilizer, a B-707 landing gear and aircraft engine.

The first of two cafes is immediately off the corridor and flanked by a children’s play area, equipped with tot-scaled versions of an airplane, tug, luggage cart and fuel truck. A 51-foot-long, porcelain-enamel mural of the wonders of flight adorns one wall.

Flanking a 3,000-square-foot glass skywindow is an 88-foot-long serpentine backdrop with exhibits on air travel, history, weather, piloting, air traffic control and the nation’s airways.

A 13-foot-wide cutaway of a B-747-400 includes identification of every part of the plane. By pushing a button, visitors may view the history of air travel, highlighted with documentary footage of a venerable Ford Tri-Motor, the stalwart DC-and 3 a summary of BWI’s legacy in aviation.

A neighboring exhibit provides touch-screen updates on the latest weather conditions at major airports.

These are provided from a computer link with Accu-Weather, a computerized meteorological information service used by many news stations. Other exhibits include a flight simulator where a novice can try his or her hand at the yoke during computer-simulated landings at BWI.

There also is a 3-D airways model, crafted from multicolored acrylic and glass panels that depict the invisible vectors and flight corridors that serve as signposts in the aerial grid crisscrossing America.

Air traffic control is depicted elsewhere via an Aircraft Situation Display, which presents an electronic map of the United States freckled with dots representing actual aircraft en route across the country.

A keypad on the video monitor invites visitors to type in a flight number whose information is then depicted by a corresponding dot. This occurs in real-time off a direct feed from the FAA and represents the first link to the FAA nerve center in a public display. Updates occur every three to five minutes.

In 1994, BWI served more than 12 million domestic travelers and 800,000 international passengers. The project was designed by a team led by the Baltimore-area office of Greiner, an engineering and architectural services firm that has helped shape BWI since its inauguration in 1950.