Originally Posted by
atakacs
Sounds rather odd... Is there an actual technical / performances issue or is it more a paperwork matter ? I'd be surprised that an empty, lightly fueled 747-400 could not safely depart from a 7900 ft runway....
They launched one from Kemble once - not a -400 but still impressive.
From the Old Kemble Aerodrome Facebook Page
Fed up trying to post a link to the above!!!! Sounded like the biggest issue (well, for ATC that is) was accessing the cockpit to sort out the paperwork ahead of departure!!!
I believe the declared distances at EGBP are TORA/TODA/ASDA 1799m on 26 (actual tarmac is 1973m but only 1799 available) and not much to bump into on the climb-out if I recall! From the pic, that got off the ground quite a way back from the end of 26.