Permitted landing on roads

[Sam Rutherford]

I recall (I think) that above a certain latitude in Norway/Sweden/Finland you can legally land on roads.

Is this mere optimistic fantasy, or are there regulations allowing this?

Heading that way tomorrow for a few days, and figure it would be a fun thing to do...

Fly safe, Sam.

[AdamFrisch]

Alaska allows it, but I'm not sure the Nordic countries do. Not as I recall, but it was 20 years ago I flew there, so..

[Bonniciwah]

Sweden, like other countries including South Africa, has sections of highway designed to double as runways during wartime. SAAB Viggens were designed to operate from such runways. As far as I'm aware it's only for military purposes, though I guess it would be handy to know where they in case of emergency - you'd just have to fins a way to get rid of those pesky cars.

[achimha]

I guess most countries have those highway sections that can be used as landing strips at wartime. Germany has loads of them (still waiting for the Soviet invasion). However, they usually need to be setup, lane dividers and road signs removed, etc.

[chevvron]

There are two or three sections of motorway in Cyprus (south) that have:
Huge hinges on the roadsigns.
Removable central crash barriers.
Rectangular white markings on the road surface.
Large square concrete areas near the white markings.
Wonder what they're for?

[achimha]

Some nice pictures on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_strip), also here (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobahn-Behelfsflugplatz). The famous Ramstein Airbase (US Air Force) evolved from an Autobahn landing strip. There are about 30 highway strips in Germany, you can spot them when there is no vegetation between the lanes but concrete.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/C130_Hercules_taxidriving_on_Autobahn_DoD_DF-ST-84-09439.jpg/800px-C130_Hercules_taxidriving_on_Autobahn_DoD_DF-ST-84-09439.jpg

[Dan the weegie]

From what I've seen of the condition of the roads in Sweden, particularly in the North I'm not sure you would want to land a plane on it :). The deep winter does some shocking things to the roads :). Plenty of lovely and quiet airfields around though.

[pshz11]

Here's from Latvia AIP

Non-commercial private flights are permitted for take-off and land at:

- any certified aerodrome listed in Latvian AIP in accordance with the procedures as prescribed;
- any non-certified aerodrome;
- any other suitable place over land or water (ice).

Note: For take-off and landing on places other than a certified aerodrome the permission of the aerodrome or land/water (ice) owner may be required. Permission to use a certified aerodrome listed in AIP has to be requested only if Prior Permission required (PPR) is stated in section AD 2.3 Operational Hours.

So, perhaps, permission must be granted from someone responsible for roads, not CAA.

[pshz11]

I know, there also was situation with mayday airplane (carburator icing) landed on highway. After landing he asked permission for takeoff, but was not allowed. Probably, it was not because of highway, but because of recent mayday. I'm not sure...

[david viewing]

I once alarmed a quite aviation aware passenger (but a Canadian) by suggesting that an interesting landmark we were looking at had a long straight desert road beside it and a convenient parking lot and that we might 'drop in'.

"You're not really going to do that are you?" he asked. No, I wasn't, because it was quite a narrow road and it was in Oregon, but to my Canadian passenger the idea was evidently quite plausible.

[west lakes]

It's been done in the UK, this was on the M55 before it opened to vehicle traffic

Jaguar Fighter Jet lands on Highway - YouTube

[Heathrow Harry]

I've seen it done regularly in places like Wyoming - it's common courtesy to drag the road first just in case...........

[Genghis the Engineer]

From my experience of the gutless and unreliable wonder that was the mighty Jaguar, that was a very lightweight aeroplane, in full reheat, with a very nervous pilot.

Do microlight pilots in that part of the world still land in the field behind the Wisbech service station and go in for a chip buttie. I did that once with an instructor when learning to fly flexwings back in the day.

G

[DX Wombat]

All over Australia, particularly in remote areas of the Outback, there are sections of road designated as landing strips for the RFDS.
I've done a search but have so far failed to find any details of the incident in Shropshire when a light aircraft landed by mistake on a stretch of newly constructed but unopened road. I think it was near Ludlow and the pilot thought he was landing at Shobdon.

[davidjohnstone]

It was some years ago & the details are a little hazy, but as I remember the Rallye aircraft was talking to Shobdon Radio, called field in site & then Finl for 27.
After a few minutes the staff at Shobdon became concerned as no aircraft had landed, and initiated a search.
The aircraft was found on a new piece of road on a new industrial park to the south of Leominster, it had sleeping policemen all along it's length, as well as street lights so an easy mistake !,

[DX Wombat]

Thank you David, that's the one I was thinking of. :ok:
Edited to add, I've never seen speed bumps on 27, ruts in a rain-sodden taxiway occasionally, but not speedbumps. Maybe I need to pay a bit more attention. ;)

[Dg800]

As far as I'm aware it's only for military purposes, though I guess it would be handy to know where they in case of emergency - you'd just have to fins a way to get rid of those pesky cars. Handy, yes. Allowed, no. It's forbidden to mark the location of such strips and you can be prosecuted for doing so (no kidding!). Although in the age of Google Earth anybody can now scout for them from the safety of their home. Unless they are blanked out (http://news.cnet.com/2300-17938_105-10012183.html) like military installations in the Netherlands, which would make them even easier to spot. Just look for the blanked-out strips of road. :E

Ciao,

Dg800

[david viewing]

The aircraft was found on a new piece of road on a new industrial park to the south of Leominster

The chap told me that the first indication that he had that it wasn't a runway was when the wing tip hit a street light. I think glare (rwy 27) was a factor and perhaps a warning to us all that anyone can screw up.

[Halfbaked_Boy]

davidjohnstone and DX Wombat -

Just out of curiosity I decided to have a look for an industrial estate to the south of Leominster on Google Earth, and see if I could find any roads that could be mistaken for runways, and I found one...

... And I found the right one! Because if you zoom in to it there are a few image buttons you can click, one of which is entitled 'Ooops my mistake'.

Type in 'Owen Way, Leominster' into the search function on Google Earth, the pictures of the aircraft after landing are all there, and to be fair to the pilot, even though some alarm bells should have started ringing during the final stages of the approach, I can definitely see how you could mistake that area for an airfield, given that the buildings on the East side of the road kind of look like hangars from above! :ok:

[DX Wombat]

Thanks for that HB. :ok:

[Dan Winterland]

There are a several road sectons in the UK which could be designated emergency airfields in time of conflict. One is the section of the A1 near Cottesmore which runs passed the WW2 airfield at Woolfox Lodge.

[Dan Winterland]

I onece has to get my prop checked for regrinding at an engineering facility at Little Staughton airfield near Bedford. me and a mate flew over there, parked at a hangar where another engineering company were based and asked how to find the one we wanted. We got helpful instructions, got in the aircraft, started her up and taxied over there - via a quite complex route.

On arrival, we went inside and the engineer we had come to see asked where the prop was. We said outside, he asked had we taken it off the aircraft. When we said no, he looked slightly confused, so we took him outside. When he saw the aircraft parked outside the workshop he was gobsmacked! It turned out the first engineer we had spoken to hadn't seen the aircraft, assuming we had driven there and gave us instructions how to get to the new place by public road. As this fact was explained to us, a bus went down the 'taxiway' we had just used to reinforce the point.

To be fair (to us!), the local council had built a road over one of the old taxiways to save hardcore and the taxi route seemed natural to get to the hangar we could see in the distance. But we had wondered why one taxiway was maintained perfectly with newly painted centreline markings!

We got the Police to close the road while we taxied along it later to get to the runway again. I seem to remember one of them muttering something that sounded like "Clucking Stickheads!" under his breath.

[lotusexige]

Not a road but I read somewhere years ago that there were some gaps left in the tree lines in either Kensington Gardens or Hyde Park to allow enough of a runway for a Twin Pioneer to operate if it were needed to evacuate the Royal Family in times of emergency.

[DeltaV]

They'd need something bigger than a Twin Pin to get that lot out of there in a hurry.

[Floppy Link]

Land on roads all the time...but it's kinda not what the OP was asking about I suppose! Having a "helimed" callsign helps a lot...

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc264/Boecopter/road.jpg

[madflyer26]

FL,

That road looks like familiar. Is it the Tyndrum to Oban road? A fair few organ donors produced on that road on a yearly basis!

Regards

MF26

[Floppy Link]

Correct!

For a bonus point, what's the name of the pub at this road junction?

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc264/Boecopter/DepartureDirectionsmall.jpg

[piperboy84]

Haven't landed on a road yet but will do soon, I am making an existing farm track running north south into a 15ft wide road and laying tar plainings on it, this "road"/landing strip will be used by tractors etc and myself for landing in the event the home strip (9/27) has wind conditions beyond my comfort level. The straight section is 900ft long

[madflyer26]

FL,

Do I get a chocolate watch and yesterday off for guessing correctly?

Being a local of that area with my house in the background, I can emphatically answer with the Oyster Inn. I was home for that little shunt on the road.

Regards

MF26

[Weeds round the prop]

Don't forget 'Mattias Rust Airport' (AKA Red Square, Moskva)