Circular Runways - what a cracking idea this is.......

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Not sure quite how they reckon multiple aircraft could take off and land at different points of the circle at the same time? Surely by doing this they are still going to experience crosswinds, except on very still days.

Also, I'm not convinced it creates less noise for those living near the airport, all it does is spread it around more, but those living on the flight path where the prevailing winds determine the optimum take-off and landing points will still receive the highest traffic, which is why the runways were positioned where they were in the first place.

Or am I missing something?

http://www.bbc.com/news/av/magazine-39284294/think-again-will-circular-runways-ever-take-off
 
It's a non-starter.

Because of the banking needed, the centrifugal force on the plane will act to pin the plane more firmly to the ground and at take-off speed for a 747 Jumbo that extra force will account for the entire load capacity of the plane.
I reckon a 747 Jumbo would just about manage to reach take-off speed if it was empty but there's no money to be made flying empty aircraft around the world.
 
Flared Hicks said:
Really sorry I missed that. And yes it's old hat, it's been mooted since the 60s apparently, however I only saw the article this morning. What was the verdict last time it was discussed?
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on first appearance I thought it was a good idea but in reality

considering the size of the circle I don't think the banking would be that extreme. very shallow
 
And they moan about the room the third runway at Heathrow is taking up........
 
Why not just build them on posts and have the terminals underneath?
 
Makes everything far more complicated in a job that's already off the scales for stress.

Might be theoretically more efficient, but it would be a total mess in reality.

Also, who wants to land at 100mph, then instantly turn sharply round a neverending bend. It would be awful
 
maygo said:
For when one inevitably has a whoopsie and crashes, tons of burning Jet A-1 raining onto folk in the duty free isn't a good idea
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Adds to the fun of shopping in the rip off shops.
 
It's not as bad as I first thought.
To perfectly balance the plane so there is no sideways force on it at the point of take-off will need banking at about 20degrees.
For a modern 747 taking off on a 20 degree bank will reduce cargo weight by about 14%.
That's still enough to make it uneconomic and 20 degrees is enough to make the passengers very uncomfortable while taxiing.
 
Wouldn't the banking and curve add more components to the motion when landing and taking off? One of the things of conventional runways is as everything should go in a straight line, it lessens the amount of things that can go wrong?

Imagine when landing having to bank, turn and flair at the same time.
 
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