Quote:
Originally Posted by red-beard
Nope. Need to re-think that. Lift only has to overcome the weight. The issue is the application of rudder, which might require more thrust.
The real problem with a runway like this is that you want to take-off and land against the wind. Going in a circle you could rapidly gain or lose effective lift as your angle to the wind changes.
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Your stall speed increases as bank increases and seeing as you have to be in a coordinated turn on the ground as you take off, takeoff speed increases.
Also, you are flying relative to the wind so whether you turn into or away from the wind "direction" does not matter. Your airspeed is the same.
How do you setup precision approaches? What about visual approaches and VASI? WAAS could help with some of the newer aircraft and ILS approaches, but older stuff wouldn't work very well and your approach would either have to have a large circular approach intersect a smaller circle or a straight in approach that suddenly becomes a circle. How do you setup the transmitters for that? Do you have 360 of them for all approach angles? Then you have effectively one runway now instead of multiple, unless you make multiple circles and then do you make concentric to save land or have them side by side? What if there is a gear issue like the Westwind that had to make an emergency landing in Sarasota? He would have shot off the runway much sooner on a circular runway.
Those are just a few things off the top of my head. I cant think of any advantages.