Round runway airport?

ApacheBob

ApacheBob

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ApacheBob
What is the name of that US airport with a round runway. The runway that you can land on from any direction?
 
It might be KDNE.... as in Does Not Exist.

There was talk of a circular thing... I don't know one was ever built.

But I can also opine that every airport in the US can be landed on from ANY direction. Subject to the winds and the skills of the pilot(s).
 
ApacheBob said:
What is the name of that US airport with a round runway. The runway that you can land on from any direction?
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Anywhere where there is something round and you land on it and then takeoff. The fact that you landed and took off, made it become an Airport.

AIRPORT− An area on land or water that is used or
intended to be used for the landing and takeoff of
aircraft and includes its buildings and facilities, if
any.
 
Not round but you could land in several directions at Spencer NOLF.
1D2E1CC0-89D7-4C26-8F10-FBA7EDE1257A.jpeg
 
There is one here in Indiana. I can’t recall the identifier though.

Edit: Converse Airport 1I8

Converse_IN_10_sw.jpg


https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/converse-1i8-concrete-landing-mat.98680/
 
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FL5 is pretty round. And you can takeoff/land in any direction.
 
For land the Bonneville salt flat otherwise, any lake or ocean of sufficient size.
 
pmanton said:
There used to be a field in So Cal called Mile Square.
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Mile Square was there when I learned to fly at Fullerton in the 1960s. Whenever my CFI and I got within gliding distance of it, I knew an "engine failure" was imminent. :p

It was a Navy field, auxiliary to Los Alamitos. The boundaries of the property were square, a mile on each side, but the paved runways were arranged in a triangle.

Here's a 1969 photo of Poso-Kern County Airport (L73) near Bakersfield. The runway and the drag strip are still there, but the rest of the big paved pad has been torn up.

D27DC491-A606-4658-9EB8-D3D6ECDB2867.jpeg
 

BBC did a special about this once. Here’s a short link about it.
 
Would be great for us TW guys, put her on the ground and into a ground loop and just sit back and relax like you nosedragger pilots do after landing ;)
 
benyflyguy said:

BBC did a special about this once. Here’s a short link about it.
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And it was pretty much determined that that arrangement isn’t feasible. No matter which direction you land it has to be in a straight line. Curved runways are problematic.
 
Greg Bockelman said:
And it was pretty much determined that that arrangement isn’t feasible. No matter which direction you land it has to be in a straight line. Curved runways are problematic.
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Big enough circle would probably work. I just never saw the point. Airliners have no problem landing in some pretty gnarly crosswinds and there is little benefit of a circular field vs.a set of crossing runways.
 
Doug Reid said:
I flew out to Wichita years ago to look at an airplane. The owner had his own airfield at his home. I asked him the runway heading and he laughed....he owned many acres and if he needed to depart to the east...he aimed that direction, south...aimed south. Just a huge field, very flat, with not obstacles in any direction when departing from his hangar beside his house.
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Seems like a lot of wasted farmland and a lot of grass to mow.

Back in the day before tail skids were replaced by tail wheels, I guess that's how they did it.
 
Maybe a story you've heard before:

My Instructor asked me who invented crosswind. I didn't know.

He said that back in the day they had airfields. Pilots would land into the wind in whichever direction needed. But airfields could get soggy so they asked to have them paved. The accountants couldn't go for paving the whole field, and suggested strips of pavement (aka runways).
Thus, accountants gave us crosswinds.
 
Brad Z said:
Seems like a lot of wasted farmland and a lot of grass to mow.

Back in the day before tail skids were replaced by tail wheels, I guess that's how they did it.
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I wouldn't call 0.0013% "a lot" - assuming a section. But probably less.
 
benyflyguy said:
BBC did a special about this once. Here’s a short link about it.
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I did not understand why BBC bothered to do a special about this... there are *so many* issues with a round runway airport that the one its intended to overcome (crosswinds?) seems completely ridiculous. I don't understand why airtime is given to obviously stupid ideas. Imagine flying an instrument approach to a circular runway? Or what... are they all CIRCLING approaches..?

Stupid
Stupid
Stupid
Stupid
 
Tantalum said:
I did not understand why BBC bothered to do a special about this... there are *so many* issues with a round runway airport that the one its intended to overcome (crosswinds?) seems completely ridiculous. I don't understand why airtime is given to obviously stupid ideas. Imagine flying an instrument approach to a circular runway? Or what... are they all CIRCLING approaches..?

Stupid
Stupid
Stupid
Stupid
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That was the consensus the last two times we discussed this:

https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/circular-runways-yep-it-just-might-happen.101971/

https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/circular-runways.90775/
 
Don't make it a circle but a dodecagon - sort of. 12 sides, but runways cross about 2000' from each vertex. Then you can have an instrument approach to each runway, minimal crosswinds, parallel ops, etc...
Use all the other runways as taxiways, I could see a certain efficiency if implemented correctly.
 
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A circular runway is essentially the worst of all worlds. You're guaranteed a crosswind and perhaps a tailwind if not big enough.
 
I'm in the airport engineering and planning business, I swear, if I ever meet that guy who is pushing this circular runway madness, it'll be all I can do to keep from punching him in the throat.
 
a572mike said:
I'm in the airport engineering and planning business, I swear, if I ever meet that guy who is pushing this circular runway madness, it'll be all I can do to keep from punching him in the throat.
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What would be the downside of the dodecagon setup?
 
a572mike said:
I'm in the airport engineering and planning business, I swear, if I ever meet that guy who is pushing this circular runway madness, it'll be all I can do to keep from punching him in the throat.
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EdFred said:
What would be the downside of the dodecagon setup?
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I think he's talking about the annular runway proposal depicted in post # 11.
 
Greg Bockelman said:
And it was pretty much determined that that arrangement isn’t feasible. No matter which direction you land it has to be in a straight line. Curved runways are problematic.
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Curved runways are no problem...
 

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a572mike said:
It's an incredible amount of pavement to maintain.
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But you could eliminate quite a few taxiways since you could develop a good flow in and out of the terminal. (I'm thinking for a Class B type airport, not Podunk municipal)
 
Stingray Don said:
There is one here in Indiana. I can’t recall the identifier though.

Edit: Converse Airport 1I8

Converse_IN_10_sw.jpg


https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/converse-1i8-concrete-landing-mat.98680/
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455 Bravo Uniform said:
I saw that south of my route between Tiffin OH and Lafayette 2 weeks ago. It was hazy, and that’s what I thought I saw, but meant to do more research. Now I know. Thanks!
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I grew up with cousins that lived in Converse and we used to fly in there a bunch. I don’t think it had real markings like that 30 years ago. An RC group used to fly at one edge there too.
 
Old thread. I just saw the BBC video and used the search instead of creating a new thread.

Unpopular opinion:
Pilots have concerns but those concerns should be balanced against the other major goal of the proposal which is environmental impact reduction.

From an aviation perspective the question is simple: can we safely use it? Yes or No? I think yes is the consensus but not wanting to buck habit we resist change.

I say: let the politicians resolve it.
(Runs and ducks for cover)
 
benyflyguy said:

BBC did a special about this once. Here’s a short link about it.
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This concept bothered me so much. Obviously it was designed by a group of people with zero actual knowledge about aviation.. I guess every instrument approach just becomes a CIRCLE to land

For a busy place like Heathrow this would be a total nightmare, and how would you calculate take off length requirements? Is it infinite, could you theoretically orbit this thing numerous times??
 
Go to windhistory.com. Why build a circular runway which means many of its landing directions will not be needed?

Asphalt and concrete are expensive!

-Skip
 
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