[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by widgeon13

I knew a guy who had a Mig, his biggest problem was finding asphalt thick enough to support the weight. Too thin and it would sink right in, they were meant to operate on cement, think cement.

If you have ever been in Eastern Europe or Russia, the airports are (or were) almost always the same, being built with typical combat methods. The runway is made out of slabs of reinforced concrete and that measure 10 by 10 meter sections. You want it wider, put another slab or two on there. Longer? Pour another 20 slabs and extend it by another 600 feet or so.

This made it easier to repair combat damage by just removing the debris and so on and replacing that section with fresh and you were once again able to fly off of the airport.

Hard stands (parking areas) were the same materials. The MIG airplanes have the typical high pressure (200-300 Psi min) tires that do not do well on anything other than concrete...

Only problem with runways like this is that they are rougher than a cob and get worse with time. Water gets under the section and then they go up and down with each freeze, so that touching down during landing and you can have a 1"-2" bump at each joint. Some airplanes handle it well, while others not so good.