During my VFR XC nav training days around southern & eastern England I'm sure I saw many old WW11 disused airfields that had a triangular runway layout, with one side being the longest main runway. Many had been dug up, but the shadows were still visible. The // runway layout I suspect come from a social consideration; noise etc.
One thing about the layout design: At Schiphol they have 6 runways and are laid out principle on a square, 18 & 27 except for a primary takeoff runway of 24 and landing on 06. RW22 is primarily GA. They like to use 2 takeoff runways & 1 landing or vice versa depending on the schedule period; sometimes even 2 takeoff & 2 landing.
However, the worst winds come in the winter and are NW'lys, right between the runways, with challenging X-wind consequences. This often causes single runway operation each for takeoff & landing. Huge delays & cancellations. The question asked: is it better to build the // runways not on a common east/west axis but on NW/SE, or what ever the worst wind direction is, and accept a gentle crosswind in more benign conditions?
Circular runways? I get dizzy just thinking about them.
Last edited by RAT 5; 18th March 2017 at 16:02.