Essendon Tower

	Tower Information, Views and History Location - Essendon Airport, Essendon, Victoria Postal Address - PO Box 1093, Tullamarine, VIC 3043 Height - Date Constructed - 1955 - 1956

The Tower was built as a temporary measure just prior to the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. It was felt that a modern facility was required to handle the expected rush, but as there was insufficient time to construct a brick and concrete building it was decided to build a Tower with a steel and wood frame and clad it in fibrous cement sheeting. The intention was to demolish it after the games and construct a permanent Tower nearby. However within a few years, planning commenced on the building of a new International Airport for Melbourne reducing the urgency to replace the "temporary" Tower at Essendon.

After Essendon lost its position as Melbourne's primary airport to Tullamarine in the early 1970's there was little chance of DCA spending the money required to build a new tower and so what you see today is one of the oldest operational towers in Australia.

The current staff of 7 Air Traffic Controllers handles a mixture of aircraft, ranging from Cessna 150's to Boeing 727's, a disparity in performance which makes the job very interesting at times. Essendon is also the base for a large number of corporate jets. Air Traffic Control at Essendon is technically complex due to the close proximity of the approach paths to Melbourne Airport.

Essendon Airport and its Tower is built on a plateau 7nm to the NE of the Melbourne CBD affording panoramic views over the city and suburbs. Looking further out the view is spectacular with The You Yangs, Port Phillip Bay, Arthur's Seat, Mt Dandenong, Mt Disappointment and the Macedon Ranges all sharing the horizon. The view at night with the city and suburban lights providing a fairy land look is worth seeing.

Facilities

Essendon has two runways [26/08 (1921m) and 17/35 (1585m)], an ILS onto runway 26, a twin locator approach onto 17 and an NDB approach. Abbreviated T-vasis are installed on runways 17, 35, and 08. The tower is equipped with Radar.