Control Tower with Character

Not saying too much, but this was one of the more architecturally interesting airfield control towers I remember … something more than a colorless monolith. Location was the very much rundown, and largely abandoned airfield in Ban Me Thout, Central Highlands, Vietnam – 1972. Surprisingly I’ve had no luck finding another picture of this tower on the web in an effort to get more info. Regardless, this tower had a bit of multicolor earth-tone style with some tile work and modest decorative trim. The prominent “ELEV – 1759” in photo indicated the elevation of the airfield … something very important to pilots in calibrating their altimeters although it was generally conveyed in a more sophisticated manner … a mis-calibrated altimeter could easily cause an aircraft to fly into a mountain in IFR (low visibility) weather. FYI – varying barometric pressure is very important to pilots setting their altimeters below 18,000 feet, above which a standard setting is always 29.92. Note this was in days before GPS and other more sophisticated avionics. The elevation of 1759 was indicative of this highland area … not far away was the Vietnam coastal plain close to sea level. Although this altitude is not excessive, thinner air makes for reduced engine performance, and therefore influences takeoff calculations.