deSitter, the reason that JFK is the way it is goes back a few years. At the time of the original build most aircraft were piston {DC6/Connie/ DC4/ DC4M/plus all the twins} these aircraft were OK on 6000ft strips, so JFK was built with a whole bunch of runways radiating out like spokes from the centeral terminal, one end being tangental to the terminal , the theory being that wind permiting ,flights could land straight in no matter which direction they were coming from.THEN somone introduced the early four engine jet transports which required a lot of blacktop to get of and on the ground, so those runways became taxiways , thats why its the way it is today. At Heathrow it a bit different, they lost the plans in 1955 and have just been making it up as they go along ever since!
Last edited by clunckdriver; 12th Apr 2011 at 17:28.