Airstrips with bends in them

The below article talks about landing a Herk on a strip in the back of
beyond in Afghanistan.
'The strip, composed of dirt, rock and gravel, is about 8 thousand feet long
with a five-degree bend in the centerline. Its elevation is nearly 8500 feet
in the air."

I'm curious as to how much of a challenge a 5deg bend is to handle in
something like a Herk.

Cheers


http://www.nzdf.mil.nz/news/articles.../0910-afh.html
Air Force Hercules Touches Down in Afghanistan
10 September 2004
Amid a cloud of dust and a shower of gravel an Air Force C-130 Hercules
touched down for its first flight in to Bamyan airfield in Afghanistan.
The flight, on 1 September carried 56 personnel joining the Provincial
Reconstruction Team (PRT) and was the first of several to the region.
photos snipped
A sight to behold from the air, the bent Bamyan airfield is lined by jagged
mountains that tower thousands of feet above the strip. On one side
buildings pass within 100 feet of the aircraft's wingtip.
Further down the valley and within easy sight on the airfield is what
remains of the two Buddha statues destroyed by the Taliban. Nearby, the New
Zealand camp houses around 100 members of the PRT.
For the pilots, their first recent 'in-theatre' flight posed an extra degree
of technical difficulty. The strip, composed of dirt, rock and gravel, is
about 8 thousand feet long with a five-degree bend in the centerline. Its
elevation is nearly 8500 feet in the air.
The high altitude not only affects the performance of the four engines, but
the aircraft's true approach speed is also significantly increased.
For aircraft captain Squadron Leader Greg Caie and co-pilot Flight
Lieutenant Oliver Bint, preparation was the key.
" We conducted practice runs in a flight simulator, as well as high
altitude, short field training flights around the South Island of New
Zealand," said Greg Caie.
And their homework paid off. After a clearing pass Greg Caie skillfully
maneuvered the Hercules onto the deck.
To avoid problems with high altitude engine starts the passengers
disembarked out the tail of the aircraft with all four engines running. Four
minutes later the Hercules was airborne again and making its way down the
valley towards Bagram to the East.
The flight in to Bamyan highlights the versatility of the C-130 and the
broad skill set required by the New Zealand crews.
For Greg Caie the weeks of preparation were well worth it.
"Such a large team effort was required to mount this a task. It really is
rewarding for the crew and everyone else involved behind the scenes, " he
said.


--
Errol Cavit | | "The Battle of Romani was the
decisive engagement of the entire Sinai and Palestine Campaign. Before
Romani British policy, strategy and tactics were all defensive, those of the
Turks were offensive. The stand of the 1st and 2nd Light Horse brigades and
the counter-attack of the New Zealanders reversed the situation." ANZACs at
War, J Laffin

"Errol Cavit" wrote in message
...
The below article talks about landing a Herk on a strip in the back of
beyond in Afghanistan.
'The strip, composed of dirt, rock and gravel, is about 8 thousand feet
long
with a five-degree bend

bend? dont you mean slope?

in the centerline. Its elevation is nearly 8500 feet
in the air."

in the air? Is the runway floating in the air is it?


I'm curious as to how much of a challenge a 5deg bend is to handle in
something like a Herk.

a 5% slope? Easy as ****


Cheers


http://www.nzdf.mil.nz/news/articles.../0910-afh.html
Air Force Hercules Touches Down in Afghanistan
10 September 2004
Amid a cloud of dust and a shower of gravel an Air Force C-130 Hercules
touched down for its first flight in to Bamyan airfield in Afghanistan.
The flight, on 1 September carried 56 personnel joining the Provincial
Reconstruction Team (PRT) and was the first of several to the region.
photos snipped
A sight to behold from the air, the bent Bamyan airfield is lined by
jagged
mountains that tower thousands of feet above the strip. On one side
buildings pass within 100 feet of the aircraft's wingtip.
Further down the valley and within easy sight on the airfield is what
remains of the two Buddha statues destroyed by the Taliban. Nearby, the
New
Zealand camp houses around 100 members of the PRT.
For the pilots, their first recent 'in-theatre' flight posed an extra
degree
of technical difficulty. The strip, composed of dirt, rock and gravel, is
about 8 thousand feet long with a five-degree bend in the centerline. Its
elevation is nearly 8500 feet in the air.
The high altitude not only affects the performance of the four engines,
but
the aircraft's true approach speed is also significantly increased.
For aircraft captain Squadron Leader Greg Caie and co-pilot Flight
Lieutenant Oliver Bint, preparation was the key.
" We conducted practice runs in a flight simulator, as well as high
altitude, short field training flights around the South Island of New
Zealand," said Greg Caie.
And their homework paid off. After a clearing pass Greg Caie skillfully
maneuvered the Hercules onto the deck.
To avoid problems with high altitude engine starts the passengers
disembarked out the tail of the aircraft with all four engines running.
Four
minutes later the Hercules was airborne again and making its way down the
valley towards Bagram to the East.
The flight in to Bamyan highlights the versatility of the C-130 and the
broad skill set required by the New Zealand crews.
For Greg Caie the weeks of preparation were well worth it.
"Such a large team effort was required to mount this a task. It really is
rewarding for the crew and everyone else involved behind the scenes, " he
said.


--
Errol Cavit | | "The Battle of Romani was the
decisive engagement of the entire Sinai and Palestine Campaign. Before
Romani British policy, strategy and tactics were all defensive, those of
the
Turks were offensive. The stand of the 1st and 2nd Light Horse brigades
and
the counter-attack of the New Zealanders reversed the situation." ANZACs
at
War, J Laffin

Bushy wrote:
"Errol Cavit" wrote in message
...

The below article talks about landing a Herk on a strip in the back of
beyond in Afghanistan.
'The strip, composed of dirt, rock and gravel, is about 8 thousand feet

long

with a five-degree bend


bend? dont you mean slope?

in the centerline. Its elevation is nearly 8500 feet

in the air."


in the air? Is the runway floating in the air is it?


I'm curious as to how much of a challenge a 5deg bend is to handle in
something like a Herk.


a 5% slope? Easy as ****


Cheers




Bushy: slowly and carefully re-read Errol's original post, note the fact
that he quoted directly from the article on the NZDF website, and you'll
realise that the only foolish post was yours, not Errol's.
Dom

"Dom" wrote in message
...
Bushy wrote:
"Errol Cavit" wrote in message
...

The below article talks about landing a Herk on a strip in the back of
beyond in Afghanistan.
'The strip, composed of dirt, rock and gravel, is about 8 thousand feet

long

with a five-degree bend


bend? dont you mean slope?

in the centerline. Its elevation is nearly 8500 feet

in the air."


in the air? Is the runway floating in the air is it?


I'm curious as to how much of a challenge a 5deg bend is to handle in
something like a Herk.


a 5% slope? Easy as ****


Cheers




Bushy: slowly and carefully re-read Errol's original post, note the fact
that he quoted directly from the article on the NZDF website, and you'll
realise that the only foolish post was yours, not Errol's.
Dom

ah yeah i know that, im bagging the article. not Errol.

"Bushy" wrote in message
u...

"Errol Cavit" wrote in message
...
The below article talks about landing a Herk on a strip in the back of
beyond in Afghanistan.
'The strip, composed of dirt, rock and gravel, is about 8 thousand feet
long
with a five-degree bend

bend? dont you mean slope?


Nope. Slope wouldn't be an issue. RNZAF Whenuapai has an interesting
two-level runway, with one half noticeably higher than the other. Looked
quite odd when I saw a C-5 taking off in fog - only the top of the tail was
visible until it made it 'up the hill'. And half the farm strips (used by
topdressers/cropdusters) in NZ are on a slope.

in the centerline. Its elevation is nearly 8500 feet
in the air."

in the air? Is the runway floating in the air is it?


It's a phrase in use by the general population, you can hardly blame
whatever PR weenie that wrote this for using it.


--
Errol Cavit | | "The Battle of Romani was the
decisive engagement of the entire Sinai and Palestine Campaign. Before
Romani British policy, strategy and tactics were all defensive, those of the
Turks were offensive. The stand of the 1st and 2nd Light Horse brigades and
the counter-attack of the New Zealanders reversed the situation." ANZACs at
War, J Laffin

I'm curious as to how much of a challenge a 5deg bend is to handle in
something like a Herk.

On a bush-flying course in New Jersey (that's not a typo!), landing on
crooked runways was on the menu. It was fun. Of course, that was in an
Aviat Husky, not a C-130.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
Expedition sailboat charters www.expeditionsail.com

The runway 17/35 at (defunct) Webb AFB Big Spring TX has a gentle E/W
rise crossing the mid section, high enough so standing at one end you
can't see a bird taking off toward you until it traverses the rise. In
the early 50s the F84Bs and Cs in the summer (100+F) used to use all
the runway and once in a while all the overrun getting airborne. Once
a Navy F3D landing to the south got the distinct impression the top of
the hill was the end of the runway and blew both tires trying to stop.
Face was red when he found he still had about 4000 feet left.
Walt BJ

I had a tour of the GM proving grounds next to Williams Air Force Base. One
of the more interesting tidbits was that the banked circular track was used
by the air force to test landing and taking off. They proved you could do
it just couldn't find a reason why you'd want to

On Tue, 14 Sep 2004 19:44:35 -0700, "Leadfoot"
wrote:

They proved you could do
it just couldn't find a reason why you'd want to

Well, supposing you lived on a small island?
all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
Expedition sailboat charters www.expeditionsail.com

Anderson, on Guam once (mid 1950's), (and maybe still does) have a low spot
somewhat near mid-length that caused more than one properly trimmed B-47s to
have a "hard landing" on take-off. Lots of outdoor retraction tests
examining struts and wheel well door alignment! You had to be there.
Old Chief Lynn