Thursday, December 08, 2011

Hanging at the STOL Port

As a researcher it's all too often (or may just often enough) that you find yourself pouring over some obscure publication, peeking into corners, squinting at grainy old photos, hoping to uncover some amazing heretofor unknown treasure. It's the forever pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Friends, I'm here to tell you I found one earlier tonight. While browsing a pleasant but hardly promising looking little 1972 booklet called "The Walt Disney World Story", I found it. Look, can you see it???

It's the STOL PORT logo!!!!!!

I have never ever seen this before. I've talked in the past about Walt Disney World's amazingly cool old emblem system, and even gone so far as to suggest that the Golf Resort had the most amazing logo, but this one just beats them all. It's beautifully designed, relentlessly obscure, and amazing.

I'm going to assume that you know all about the STOLport, but if you don't, there's an excellent primer available here. We can't be certain of the colors, but I imagine the "D" is that lovely dark forest green on some sort of earthtone brown with a white arrow inside.

And that, my friends, is that.


Celeste Cronrath said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Celeste Cronrath said...

That. is. amazing. I must recreate this. NOW.

thosemccombs said...

So each arrow represents a jet, one landing and one taking off? Clever. said...

am I correct in my long-held assumption that much of the reason for the Contemporary resort having a blinking red light on top despite it NOT being over 200 feet tall is its proximity to the STOL port?

PiloTgod said...

I made an emergency landing at the STOL Port in 1980. I was a 22 year old student pilot on a cross country flight when my engine quite right over the the MK hub. I glided power off across Bay Lake to the only usable dry (I did concider ditching) un-occupied pavement within miles. It was close and I scared the heck out of a few thousand folks in or near the TTC. In the end I missed hitting the monorail track ( it was close) and managed to touchdown on the enterance drive to the STOL port. (Trees were a lot shorter then) Much more to the story if ya want to hear it someday. :-). I am a Commerial airline pilot today and everyday THANK Walt for putting that little strip of pavement where he did!!