Can you land a 744 safely in 1800 meters?
I am asking this question in this column because I am hoping to get some expert answers. The reason is because Qantas VH-OJA a 747-400 is about to be retired in to an aircraft museum located at Wollongong airport south of Sydney NSW Aus. The airport has a PAPI to runway 18 with small hills rising to about 200 feet at the end with no run off, makes it the only direction to land safely. Elevation is about 30 feet, runway lenght is 1800 meters.
I have no idea about performance figures but should I expect a few blown tyres on landing?
Considering that QF has plenty of experience operating the 744, a bunch of competent people working in Performance Engineering, good contacts with the Boeing technical folks, and prior experience of taking a Classic into Longreach (shorter runway, higher density altitude) - I'd regard the fact that they're happy to operate into YWOL as enough of an 'expert answer' for me.
