With the benefit of hindsight it all sounds rather fanciful, but there was a time when the powers that be were envisaging a Fritz Lang-style future where Edinburgh locals travelled to and from work - by helicopter.
In 1953, Edinburgh Corporation began studying the possibility of building a helicopter station on the site of Leith Walk East Goods Yards as they sought to make personal air travel become a reality.
Planners predicted the facility, which would double as a bus station with a large helipad on the roof, would be constructed as early as 1962.
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The dream of public helicopter travel had been mooted in the early part of the decade, with many aviation industry experts predicting that the famous 'whirly bird' would transform our daily lives "even more than the jet engine" and that within just a few short years every large or medium-sized town in the country would have its own central helipad station.
In preparation for this brave new future, companies began designing helicopters fit for the task. In 1959, British firm Fairey Aviation launched the prototype of their Fairey Rotodyne, a compound gyroplane which could carry up to 50 passengers and was suitable for both commercial and military use.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Conservative MP Gerald Navarro said in 1953: “I believe we are on the threshold of a helicopter age in Britain for internal passenger transport.
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“The point I wish to emphasise is that only by the erection of elevated stations in the centre of our principal cities can we gain the maximum benefit from all the time-saving potentialities of these brilliant machines.”
Edinburgh was among a host of major UK cities tipped to introduce heliport facilities within the next 10 to 20 years and there really was a point where it looked likely that daily helicopter travel would become a reality.
At the start of the 1960s, traditional modes of transport such as the tramways and the railways were seen as old hat. More room was being made to accommodate cars and buses, while the helicopter, which could reach speeds of up to 170mph, was seen as the ultimate way to travel.
British European Airways chiefs confidently predicted that within eight years ordinary commuters in the likes of London, Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh would be cruising at 150mph in 70-seater helicopters.
As parliamentary secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, a pre-scandal John Profumo was defiant in his belief that helicopters would soon be the norm for folk getting to work.
“I am convinced the helicopter will be the bird of burden for domestic use in the future,” he told the House of Commons.
Ultimately, Edinburgh's dream of building a designated city centre heliport for public transportation use would never see the light of day.
In a 1984 report detailing the dream of mass helicopter travel in the post-war era, Joseph Corn and Brian Horrigan wrote: "The concept for a high-speed personal helicopter was an early expression of what would become in the years immediately after World War II an extremely popular vision of the future.
"To many observers, the helicopter seemed to promise wings for the city dwellers who might land atop their apartments or office buildings. Unfortunately, helicopters were – and remain – difficult to fly, relatively unsafe, noisy, and energy inefficient."
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