P.A.B Stripping

Question:

As per subject has anyone ever uncovered any information on what exactly P.A.B Stripping was or even what P.A.B stands for?

The nearest I've come to it is page 50/51 of The Royal Airforce Builds for War where is mentions the Aerodrome Improvement Board visited airfields and laid down "stripping" plans.

I believe this "strips" are what are shown on site plans as the funnel lines drawn to meet at the runway ends and denote runway approaches or defined landing "strips"

Can anyone expand?

Actually, semi-disregard last message. If I'd read forward to Chapter 3 it expands a little on it.

Just curious though, does anyone know what P.A.B stands for?

Well on most of the site plans I have there is usually a small scale insert in the corner near the schedule of buildings that shows the general area and it's marked on those. It's labelled as "P.A.B Stripping" which I assume is the "Stripping" as defined by the Aerodrome Improvement Board as the standard landing "lanes" for aerodromes. I think the P.A.B is an acronym for "something" Air Board rather than any reference to a surface type.

Having a chance to take a look in some books, stripping is mentioned in David J. Smiths "Britains Military Airfields 1939-1945" on page 24/25 and Chapter 3 of "The Royal Airforce Build for War".

As I said, I just wondered what P.A.B might be short for.

Provisional Aerodrome Boundary?

I too have always wondered what PAB stripping is:



If it covered these runway lanes, it must have been substantial stuff requiring periodic maintenance, other wise why mark it on a site plan? I have always imagined it as a perforated relative to the tarred hessian used for runway consolidation.

To repeat - it's not a physical strip. It's just a mark on the plan to designate the landing lanes/strips and approaches. To quote from "The Book":

The Class 'A' Standard Operational Airfield 1942-1945

The Strips. The three strips were planned as far as practical at angles of 60 degrees to each other, the mainstrip of 2,000 yards x 400 yards and the two subsidiary strips of 1,400 yards by 200 yards.

It also states that the approaches funnel out from the ends of the strips at 15 degrees with a 1:15 vertical approach.

So the stripping was the AIB defined areas, clear from obstruction, which defined landing area's. Some airfields had one, some two, three, etc.

Surely the word strip, just means the runway or landing area.
Still don't get PAB though?
I've never seen it on my site plans, it's not something And Buildings for example?
And what is AIB? We need a a page of definitions I fancy!

Google revealed that PAB can mean Peek A Boo (children's game), Pick A Brick (Lego shop), Punk Ass Bitch, Peanut Advisory Board, Progressive Adult Beverage (alcohol product), People Against Boredom, and dozens of other less crazy things.

However AP3384 (1967) RAF Layout Specifications and Safeguarding Criteria for Permanent Aerodromes' (AIR10/9223) uses the term 'Prepared Area' on several occasions. Is this the clue?

Graham