Now this is a short runway!!

[widgeon13]

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

The one in Aspen does not show that its in the middle of a valley with 14,000 foot mountains around much of the airport area. Its tight and not for the un-experienced. Several planes have crashed there but many of them due to stoopid pilot error.

There's a clip circulating I believe of landing at Aspen at night w and w/o FLIR, very valuable technology for that kind of airport. Great stuff!

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Mammoth Lakes (MMH) is pretty interesting too. Especially at night. Especially at night with a 30-knot direct crosswind ripping out of the south. There's a large plateau just off the departure end of the runway (assuming you're departing to the east which normally you are) offset slightly to the north. You can see it on the photo (bottom/right of the picture with all the trees on it). With strong southerly crosswinds (which are almost always present) you better be adept at tracking the extended runway centerline. Best thing to do is get airborne and crank it to the south and stay directly over the 395 highway which is slightly to the south of the airport and extended runway C/L. On a moonless night (or one with lots of clouds/weather) it can be downright pucker-inducing up there.

Density altitude in the summer is interesting too. I've seen it get over 11,000' D.A. 200-300 fpm rate of climb if you're lucky. All the more reason to take off to the east - the terrain slopes downhill that way. Taking off to the west is a bit dicey since it's a gradual upslope and there's a bowl you can get caught in (at least it's reasonably large and you can make a 180 if you don't wait too long).

I flew that airport daily for about 6 months back in my cargo days. There are all kinds of creative ways to potentially get killed up there. Wind shear, ice, terrain, you name it. Oh, and there's no instrument approach - VFR only.

http://www.airnav.com/airport/KMMH

[rattlsnak]

I have a complete .pps of that airport, very cool,.

To me, this would be mush more hairy. St. Bart

(the last half is best)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IObZQvdH7g&feature=related

and of course, how cool is St. Maarten!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1YHn9c3AAY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hvh7KrW8jV0&feature=related


Aspen is cake compared to TEX!

[kstar]

Originally Posted by rattlsnak

I have a complete .pps of that airport, very cool,.

To me, this would be mush more hairy. St. Bart

(the last half is best)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IObZQvdH7g&feature=related

and of course, how cool is St. Maarten!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1YHn9c3AAY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hvh7KrW8jV0&feature=related


Aspen is cake compared to TEX!

Wow!

[onewhippedpuppy]

St. Maarten is seriously cool. Some great videos out there filmed from the beach.

[cashflyer]

One of my favorites when I was still actively flying. 24A, Jackson County NC, sits atop a hill (elevation ~2800') with larger hills surrounding it. It's plenty long enough (3000') but for a while the near end in the photo was victim of a landslide that took out part of the runway. Everyone continued to use it - they just issued NOTAMs with the amended length.

[ZOA NOM]

So far, I haven't seen anything that comes close to a carrier landing during night ops, in even moderate seas.

[rattlsnak]

yeah, but the photos i have of that didnt come out because its too dark outside.

[Tim Hancock]

I have posted these before from a fly-in we "used" to host, but for those who have not seen them.... 1/2 scale O-200 powered Corsair and full VW powered "Minimax" that crashed at the far end of our runway within 3 minutes time.

My runway is 75' x 2500' with clear approaches and a the time there was also a 2300' N/S runway crossing in the middle. The old man in the Corsair had little time in the Corsair and this was the first time he ventured from his 5000' paved home base.... he later admitted that he came in too hot and slammed on the binders which flipped him over violently (even coming in hot, if he had never touched his brakes, he would have only rolled maybe 1/2 of the runway length). He was in the hospital for over a week and had he not lived, I am quite sure his wife would have sued us.

The idiot in the Minimax decided that instead of using the available N/S runway, he wanted to land "short" of the wreck so he could hop out and check it out fast . Never mind that 20 or so people were standing at the wrecked airplane a couple hundred feet from the threshhold

Well he came in real low and slow and his cleaned his gear off the bottom of the plane when he hit the edge of the ditch bank! The plane pretty much stopped right there and he just sat there in the cockpit for a minute wondering why he was not moving anymore I guess Dumbest @ss "pilot" I have ever come across yet.

I guess the point is that when armed with the proper skills and experience, safe runway length means different things to different aircraft types and pilots....2500' seemed short to the first guy in the Corsair who was used to 5000' while the Minimax nimrod thought a couple hundred feet was sufficient











Edge of the ditch bank #2 cleaned his gear off on

[DMRK]

leadville CO.
9927'

[Normy]

Ladies and Gentlemen [where....?] I had that seat cushion going UP my rear end when I tried to land a 727 in Aberdeen, Scotland in 2001.

5900 feet. Sounds long, but try stopping 160,000 pounds worth of airplane in that length. Not even that length- we touch down 1000 feet from the threshold!

The worst, however: Runway 24R at Los Angeles. I flew 747's for a while, and if you arrive in Los Angeles from the north they naturally want to sequence you for the north set of runways. Problem: 24R is 8925 feet long. Sounds WAY long right? It isn't! The 747 aircraft has a huge problem with brake temperature. You can literally put the brake temperatures in the yellow or even red zone just by taxiing! A hard stop on a short runway with heavy weights? You are just asking for trouble. Whenever I flew the leg from ANC to LAX, I routinely told my first officer to ask for the SOUTH RUNWAY COMPLEX. LAX always came back to us "Do you realize that this will result in considerable extra vectoring".

Me: "We need the south side for operational necessity. And I'm paid by the hour, sir"

I never did land on 24R! Then again, I've never blown a tire as Captain in the 1500 hours of time I've served in that position on Boeing jets.

-I've flown with people who have pounded the brakes on the 727 in order to make a turn-off on the other hand, and have indeed seen a tire deflated after we got to the blocks. Oh well, they didn't have to pay for that $900 tire. It's only money right?

N-

[Joeaksa]

Samaden, aka St, Moritz in the Swiss Alps. This one is a "Day VFR only" airport as it requires 4 degree descent profile going into the runway due to high terrain in all quadrants. Its 5900 feet in length and at an altitude of 5600 feet, its one of the most difficult in the world to land at.



Innsbruck Austria. In the top 10 of the most difficult airports in the world. Situated between two 14,000 foot mounts and terrible crosswinds swirling in the valley, its not for the faint of heart and special checkout required.




Telluride Regional Airport (IATA: TEX, ICAO: KTEX) is a public airport located 5 miles (8 km) west of Telluride Colorado, USA. It is the highest commercial airport in North America, at an elevation of 9,078 feet (2767 m) above sea level. Located on a plateau, the airport's single runway literally dips in the center.

Runway 9/27 can be a very challenging approach for pilots, particularly those operating commuter aircraft or business jets. During winter months, approximately 20% of the scheduled commuter airline flights end up having to divert to other nearby airports because of abruptly adverse landing conditions. Pilots must contend with high terrain exceeding 14,000 feet at all quadrants, as well as the airport's location on a plateau where 3 sides (including both ends of the runway) plunge about 1,000 ft to the San Miguel River below.

Pilots must exercise great caution whenever southerly winds exceed 15 knots (some say as little as 8 knots), and be aware of rotors, strong turbulence and down-drafts associated with the plateau cliffs during the approach. Most approaches into Telluride come from the west onto Runway 9, from the direction of Placerville and Sawpit. Pilots must stay on the right side of the valley on approach, to avoid potential traffic conflicts. In addition to all this, touch and go landings are prohibited at TEX, and the minimum traffic pattern altitude for the Telluride area is 10,500 ft MSL (1,500 ft AGL). Residential areas located to the east of the airport are generally avoided by arriving and departing aircraft, for both safety and noise abatement purposes.

A short video that will scare the waddin out of most people...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ED-mHC85p1o



Sure you guys want to come and play in my world?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Cool video - reminded me a lot of flying up in the pacific NW. There were plenty of days you'd go wheels up, be in the clag at <100' and not see ground again until DH. You gain a new appreciation for "rain" up there.

What kind of airplane was that? Kinda' thinking it was a KingAir or some variant.

Just fly the numbers and keep the needles centered, right?

[rattlsnak]

TEX is cool, i got the t-shirt.

[9dreizig]

Rohn Roadhouse strip north of Anchorage ( first stop on the Ididerod)

[m21sniper]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpPJdDNHRKc&feature=related

[onewhippedpuppy]

Leadville is where most of our local companies go for their high-altitude testing.

Very cool stuff, lots of pucker factor on all of these.

[cashflyer]

Somewhere I have a photo of the grass strip we used to fly Cubs from.
1200'.
Hanger on one end and swamp on the other.

[tcar]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

What kind of airplane was that? Kinda' thinking it was a KingAir or some variant.

Sidebar says it's an MU-2. Double pucker.

[rattlsnak]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHmrcCfdZFM&feature=related