aerodrome

Etymology

* (aircraft): In the obsolete sense of “flying machine” coined by American aviation pioneer Samuel Langley in 1897, from Ancient Greek ἀεροδρόμος (aerodrómos, “traversing the air”). * (airfield): In the sense of “airfield”, from aero- + -drome, a suffix formed in analogy with hippodrome (“horse racecourse”), from Ancient Greek.

noun

1. An airfield:
   1. (law, Australia, Canada, term of art) Any area of land or water used for aircraft operation, regardless of facilities.
   2. An airfield used for managed aircraft operation, either military or civilian, having such facilities as are necessary for operation.
      Any person authorised by the Governor shall have the right of access at all reasonable times to any aerodrome other than a Royal Air Force aerodrome for the purpose of inspecting the aerodrome,[…]. June 30 1928, Kenya Gazette, page 862
      Apart from these aerodromes where ATC services have been established, a number of aerodromes exist where ATC services are not provided. In such cases the establishment of ATC services may be required by the aerodrome operators. 1998, Walter Schwenk, Rüdiger Schwenk, Aspects Of International Cooperation In Air Traffic Management, page 15
   3. (Britain) An airfield equipped with air traffic control facilities and hangars as well as accommodation for passengers and cargo; an airport.
2. (obsolete) A flying machine composed of aeroplanes (“airfoils, aerodynamic surfaces”). An aeroplane (“airplane, aircraft”), particularly one constructed by or according to the design of Samuel Pierpont Langley and Charles M. Manly.
   1908 June 8, Nikola Tesla, Little Aeroplane Progress: So Says Nikola Tesla-But He Is Working on One of His Own, letter to The New York Times, Page 6, The Langley and Maxim aerodromes, which did not soar, were in my opinion better pieces of mechanism than their very latest imitations.
   An aerodrome, chiefly of steel, weighing, apart from fuel and water, about twenty-four pounds, was launched on the Potomac River on May 6, 1896, and flew for over half a mile. 1911 October, “The Progress of Science: Langley Memoir on Mechanical Flight”, in Popular Science
   This was apparently due to the weakness of the old Manley motor with which the aerodrome was originally equipped and which was capable of developing only 52 horsepower. 1914 December, Popular Mechanics, page 811
   During the years 1892 and 1893 four steam-propelled aerodromes were constructed. 1918, Automotive Industries, volume 39, page 718