Runway Weight Bearing Capacity (2024 thread)

[Daniel N 69]

I saw a thread from 11 yrs ago with this almost same question and i never really saw an answer just guesses nothing substantial. then 2-3 posts in it turned into political BS nothing to do with the question and went downhill from there. I figured i would start a new one in case anyone else has the same question it will have a more recent update.

I was in San Diego and stopped by one of the small Ga airports there to watch planes for a few minutes to kill time. I happen to bump into the Airport Manager. An older Gent, like myself, I thought he defiantly would know. I asked him the chart supplement question that has been bugging me for months because i can not find the answer. I have asked my part 61 flight school and searched google with no luck.

Here is the question: I told him there is an airport that has weight bearing capacity of S-20 but if you go to google maps and look at said airport it shows a Gulfstream G550 on the ramp. that thing weighs more than 20K if he would explain it to me how that pane is at that airport so it will help in my training? He said it because the G550 has 2 tyres per axle on the mains so the weight is distributed over more tyres. in this case 4 instead of 2.

 

[RussR]

I don't actually see a question in your post, but the airport manager gave the correct answer. S-20 is for single wheel landing gear. The more wheels you have, the more it spreads out the weight, so the more the plane can weigh. I believe the Chart Supplement lists the different wheel configurations, likely in the AFD legend.

 

[Daniel N 69]

I don't actually see a question in your post, but the airport manager gave the correct answer. S-20 is for single wheel landing gear. The more wheels you have, the more it spreads out the weight, so the more the plane can weigh. I believe the Chart Supplement lists the different wheel configurations, likely in the AFD legend.

Thanks for the answer. I fixed my post to point out the question.

 

[RussR]

Now that I'm at my computer, I found the reference, it is indeed in the AFD legend.



And here's how it looks in the AFD entry:



Typically this is not a big deal for most GA aircraft. OKC, for example, can support 120,000 pound single-wheel aircraft. That's a lot, and I'd be interested if there actually are any single-wheel landing gear aircraft that weigh that much. The 14,000 pound King Air I fly for work is a D (double) style landing gear, and OKC will support up to 250,000 pounds on that style landing gear. But if you start flying your personal 747 around then you would definitely be checking this before going somewhere. Note, though, in the paragraph preceding the chart, this weight is not necessarily a limitation per se.

But here's a much smaller airport, one that actually has the weight bearing information (many small airports do not):



Note that my 14,000 pound D-landing gear King Air would exceed the stated 12,500 value. So what I should do before landing here would be to contact the airport manager - it may be okay. Of course, at 2900 feet long, I'm not likely flying my King Air in there anyway, but that's beside the point.

 

[YakDrvr]

Now that I'm at my computer, I found the reference, it is indeed in the AFD legend.

View attachment 131530

And here's how it looks in the AFD entry:

View attachment 131531

Typically this is not a big deal for most GA aircraft. OKC, for example, can support 120,000 pound single-wheel aircraft. That's a lot, and I'd be interested if there actually are any single-wheel landing gear aircraft that weigh that much. The 14,000 pound King Air I fly for work is a D (double) style landing gear, and OKC will support up to 250,000 pounds on that style landing gear. But if you start flying your personal 747 around then you would definitely be checking this before going somewhere. Note, though, in the paragraph preceding the chart, this weight is not necessarily a limitation per se.

But here's a much smaller airport, one that actually has the weight bearing information (many small airports do not):

View attachment 131532

Note that my 14,000 pound D-landing gear King Air would exceed the stated 12,500 value. So what I should do before landing here would be to contact the airport manager - it may be okay. Of course, at 2900 feet long, I'm not likely flying my King Air in there anyway, but that's beside the point.

In almost every case you can get this limitation waived by whoever “owns” the airfield (generally airfield manager). The limitation is there to ensure that the paved surfaces are not destroyed by aircraft too heavy for their design. For air shows or other one off type events, these limitations can be waived. It just puts extra wear and tear on the airfield driving higher maintenance costs.

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

It seems to depend on how much fuel the aircraft is going to buy.
We've had many taxiway repairs over the years by aircraft much too heavy for the surface.

 

[Gilbert Buettner]

On one flight in a C-130, our mission was to search for a missing F-111 lost somewhere east or north of Grand Island, Louisiana, its last known position. We were assigned a 30-mile grid in Mississippi. After taking off from Little Rock, we flew an instrument approach to Natchez to get below the clouds. I was in the right seat and expected the pilot to make a missed approach, but instead he did a touch and go on the narrow asphalt runway. As I looked over at him, I could see two guys looking out of the FBO with their jaws wide open as the big Herc rolled down the little runway.

I am sure if we stopped it would have ruined the asphalt.

(The F-111 was found in the woods in Alabama months later by some Boy Scouts. The crew was dead in the cockpit capsule after ejecting.)

 

[hindsight2020]

It seems to depend on how much fuel the aircraft is going to buy.
We've had many taxiway repairs over the years by aircraft much too heavy for the surface.

Ain't that the truth. Only time I ever ran into the weight category potato issue during my crew airplane days, t'was over that.

Doing a legit "need to check that runway code stuff" into some intl civil field (CYQG) for an airshow, trying to put a Buff on it. Bunch of back and forth due to some NATO designation (typical buff nuclear pita) kerfuffle or some such. Finally got it squared away and approved by all the Bobs, planned to land light enough to not be a problem and not need to pop the chute on landing.

Well, trouble came when the fuel vendors and our crew chiefs didn't coordinate properly, and allowed that diabetic memphis belle to be fueled mid week, letting the thing settle on the ramp while heavy on multiple overnights. By RTB date there were ponds deep enough for marine life to thrive around every gear trunnion. We definitively "left a mark" on ol' Windsor airport that year.

Apropos of nothing, found some rando footage (the internet truly is forever) of a young uncle 2020 getting the covfefe outta Ontario before the Province sent me the bill for the beautification project. Planned to do a second handwaving pass, but the crew chiefs in the back insisted we'd overstayed our welcome. Fair enough.

You can see me rolling out of the banana pass and just pushing for the cloud deck and checking in with Detroit. If the video was a painting I would have named it "whistling past the graveyard..."