SFO Rough Runway??

[JohnMcGhie]

SLF here: Is it time they re-surfaced the long runway at SFO? It was dark and I wasn't flying, so I am not sure which one, but if I had to guess, it would be 10 Left.

I was on UA863 last Saturday (10th Jan, 2009) and I thought it was going to shake the ship apart during the take-off roll! I am unused to a fully-loaded 744 fuelled for a 15-hour run to Sydney shaking and rattling like an elderly public bus on a country road!

You guys that have to operate from it, have you recently popped a word in the Airport Director's shell-pink ear about the potholes in his airstrip?

The roughness I experienced must surely be chewing up tyres and landing gear, not to mention shaking the avionics to bits...

Cheers

[Air1980]

No, the runways are not rough. However, all runways at SFO intersect another approx half way along. So, on a heavy laden 747, that takes a lot of pavement to get airborne, you feel the lights, camber, grooving etc of that intersecting runway. Rough - yes, but not through cracks or poor maintenance. Dangerous - absolutely not.


Hope this clarifies....

[JohnMcGhie]

Well, I guess hauling freight in 744's you never depart any other way but heavily-loaded, so you would know! :)

It felt a hell of a lot worse than just a few lights and grooves, I must say, and lasted from about a third of the way into the take-off roll until we lurched into the air with a bang!

Reminded me of a flying-boat take-off (yeah, I'm OLD...)

Cheers