Quote:
Originally Posted by Seahawk
There is nothing new in aviation. NAS North Island, circular r/w:
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yeah nah, it's not the same is it. that's just a wider field.
In the old days, that's what airports were.. big fields.. they had no runways
They also didn't need a long distance to get up in the air like jets do.
They landed in a straight line, took off in a straight line..
look at the wind sock, find the longest cross section on the field.. and use it.
The just had a wide enough field to pick the direction on that field regardless of wind.
The neverending runway is different as it's really a circle.. the field inside the circle, that's taxiways, infrastructure and whatnot.. it's off limits to land, unless perhaps your name is Harrison Ford.
So to land on it, you have to aim your glidescope at the exact spot on the circle, and after landing, turn along with the circle..
if you are above or below the glide scope, you won't hit the circle at the right spot.
The approach is straight line
The Glide scope determines on what part of that line you end up for touchdown
But the runway isn't straight.. so there is only a limited space where the runway overlaps the approach and glide scope
No pilot can expect to start turning to follow a run way when he's landing.
I mean, it would be like landing on a carrier, They would have to aim for a very specific point, but with a much much heavier plane..
Sure the carrier turns in to the wind
Sure the circular runway is always in the wind
But the carrier actually moves away, in a straight line which helps
The circular runway.. doesn't move, but rotates away, that doesn't help.
But carrier landings is a pretty dangerous business, so they aren't a reference for commercial passenger planes..
oh yeah. and the circular runway is angled.. bit like a pitching deck, but fixed. Nope. Silly idea.