Circular Runway

"Kyler Laird" wrote in message
...
"William W. Plummer" writes:

Circular airfields were built to accomodate airships and blimps.
Lakehurst, NJ, where the Hindenberg disaster occured, still has a
circular
field. You can see it from normal scheduled airliners traveling from
DCA
to BOS as you approach the JFK VOR if you are sitting on the right of the
plane next to a window.

For those of us who avoid the "airline experience"...

http://mapper.acme.com/?lat=40.03651...ht=2&do t=Yes
Is that it?

Yes! Now, for extra points, what are the converging lines. If I remember
correctly there are 3 or 4 sets of 4 lines.

Rod Machado has suggested a similar runway for those pilots that don't know
what the rudder pedals are for.

"jsmith" wrote in message ...
Good article in the recent issue of AIR & SPACE.
A USN pilot got the idea for a circular runway after experiencing an
engine failure and landing on a country road.
He proposed the Navy test the idea. He was killed in an accident, but
someone carried the ball got the testing approved.
The tests were satisfactorily completed with Navy jet fighters at
Goodyear's test track.
A 10,000 foot banked oval works at low and high speeds.
Taladega?
Daytona?
(What are the other Super Speedways?)

In a previous article, jsmith said:
A USN pilot got the idea for a circular runway after experiencing an
engine failure and landing on a country road.

Sounds like the old joke: "If somebody made a runway that stretched
around the world, Convair would make a bomber that couldn't take off from
it."


--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you recognize a
mistake when you make it again. -- F. P. Jones

I actually remember reading about the circular runway in the early 1960's when
I was in grade school. I believe it was that august aviation publication "My
Weekly Reader". Don't know why, but as a young airplane nut, the artical made
a big impression on me, and I had a good chuckle when the subject popped up
again in Air&Space

Howard Kahn
Fairfax Station, VA
Howard Kahn
Fairfax Station, VA

On 02 Apr 2004 14:48:42 GMT, (Hjk40) wrote in
Message-Id: :

I actually remember reading about the circular runway in the early 1960's

For security reasons, subterranean runways/airports were proposed
during WW-II. Perhaps the time has come to consider that proposal
again.

I've often thought that a good way to deal with runway congestion
at places like Heathrow where expansion is just about impossible
would be double-decker runways. You could use the bottom
one for landings, and the top one (starting a bit further along)
for takeoffs. Not much different from a LAHSO when you think
about it.

John

( :-), for the (sadly numerous) irony challenged)

"Larry Dighera" wrote in message
...
On 02 Apr 2004 14:48:42 GMT, (Hjk40) wrote in
Message-Id: :

I actually remember reading about the circular runway in the early 1960's

For security reasons, subterranean runways/airports were proposed
during WW-II. Perhaps the time has come to consider that proposal
again.

John Harper wrote:

I've often thought that a good way to deal with runway congestion
at places like Heathrow where expansion is just about impossible
would be double-decker runways.

That would be a *very* interesting engineering exercise. The ramps at Hartsfield are
6' thick concrete slabs. I don't know how much thicker the runways are. I'm also
certain that they would have to be significantly thicker if they weren't supported by
the ground underneath them. Concrete weighs over 3,500 pounds per cubic yard. The
upper runway will be an unsupported clear span several hundred feet wide and about a
mile long. I'm not sure there is any material on Earth that could handle that job. I
think it safe to say that the upper runway wouldn't be concrete, though.

George Patterson
This marriage is off to a shaky start. The groom just asked the band to
play "Your cheatin' heart", and the bride just requested "Don't come home
a'drinkin' with lovin' on your mind".

double-decker runways.

Not a bad idea. For similar reasons, Colorado double-decked portions
of I-70 west of the Continental Divide.

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

The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
The Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com
Viva Bush! www.vivabush.org

Larry Dighera writes:

For security reasons, subterranean runways/airports were proposed
during WW-II. Perhaps the time has come to consider that proposal
again.

Hmmm...no more snow removal.

--kyler

"Larry Dighera" wrote in message
...
On 02 Apr 2004 14:48:42 GMT, (Hjk40) wrote in
Message-Id: :

I actually remember reading about the circular runway in the early 1960's

For security reasons, subterranean runways/airports were proposed
during WW-II. Perhaps the time has come to consider that proposal
again.

Wow, think of the windshear.

Paul (who got 20 knots of it descending below an edge of a
forest last week)