I agree RENURRP. It is not unknown to see the piano keys and touchdown markings displaced "into" a runway where an obstacle exists for a landing approach to that runway.
I don't buy the fighters on the ORP part though. Runway obstacle gradients are in the range of 1.2% to 2.0%, which meant that moving the aim point in by 150 odd metres only creates room for an aeroplane with a tail not greater than 3m tall. An F-18 stands 4.6m at the tail.
Something else is at work here.
Maybe I am being a bit dim, but lets put it this way. Say we are making a no flap approach into 29 and we are confirming from the Aircraft Flight Manual that we have adequate LDA for a full factors flap zero landing. Do we (1) fly the approach one dot low to confirm a TCH of 50' and put the wheels on the 1000' markers, or (2) is the LDA calculated from the wheels going on at the aim point defined by the intersection of the VASIS/ILS path and the runway?
My thought is that we fly through the 50' gate to ensure that we are using the same datum that the performance guys used to write the requirements.
Fully aware thought that 11/29 is one of the longest runways in the country, so perhaps it is academic. I'd still like to know the answer though
RENURRP - didn't get to fly the 29 the other night, circled for 11 for practice
