Originally Posted by
wowzz
Sorry to intrude, but in the early 1980s I flew (as SLF) out of LBA on numerous occasions, mainly to Glasgow on a twin turbo prop (?).
The locals would have me believe that in adverse wind conditions, traffic lights held road traffic at the end of the departing runway, as a precaution in case the departing aircraft was struggling for height.
I know it sounds far fetched these days, but was there any element of truth in that story ?
Yes, LBA was like that at the time, before the 1984 runway extension opened. Several UK airports had such traffic lights at the time, operated from the tower, and a couple still do, as the road is regarded as in the runway overrun area. Also avoids propwash/jetblast from departing aircraft departing in the reciprocal direction impacting light vehicles.