Roads as runways.
Tengah in Singapore has a nice highway strip just to the west. Taxiways lead straight out from the HAS sites, and looking on street view, it must be used as there a few tyre maks at the touch down point.
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Road as runways
I remember articles in "Flight" about this being very seriously taken in Sweden, where large chunks of major road were kept clear of obstruction for this purpose
A section of the M5 just South of Gloucester uses the runway of Moreton Vallence as foundation. I frequently recall seeing Gloster Javelins using that runway whenever I am travelling between Bristol and Gloucester.
Cyprus has a motorway runway on the A5 between Limassol and Larnaca. The threshold markings are clearly visible.
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=34.841728,33.427544&hl=en&ll=34.841578,33.42722&spn=0 .001506,0.00327&sll=34.841717,33.427521&sspn=0.001506,0.0032 7&t=k&z=19
The police have a nasty habit of hiding in the bushes and catching people speeding on this long, straight stretch of road
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=34.841728,33.427544&hl=en&ll=34.841578,33.42722&spn=0 .001506,0.00327&sll=34.841717,33.427521&sspn=0.001506,0.0032 7&t=k&z=19
The police have a nasty habit of hiding in the bushes and catching people speeding on this long, straight stretch of road
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SRENNAPS
Whilst you are correct about "nearby" autobahns we did have plans in place to utilise, if required, many of the strips that had been previously surveyed; their details were contained in some very "restricted" NATO planning documents. I know, 'cause I was the planner.
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Footage of a Singaporean Exercise here:
RSAF Exercise Torrent 2008 - HD - YouTube
RSAF Exercise Torrent 2008 - HD
RSAF Exercise Torrent 2008 - HD - YouTube
RSAF Exercise Torrent 2008 - HD
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Ramstein
In the late 70's, on Jaguars, we used an Autobahn near Ramstein for training, along with other conventional jets.
In an interesting twist, Ramstein's main is built on a pre-war autobahn, (previously used by the Luftwaffe it says here)
Hence the massive entrance strip to the west gate and the kink in today's autobahn.
In an interesting twist, Ramstein's main is built on a pre-war autobahn, (previously used by the Luftwaffe it says here)
Hence the massive entrance strip to the west gate and the kink in today's autobahn.
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There are several stretches of road which are for use as a runway in Finland.
A few (maybe 4 or 5) years ago they were often used and notices would appear in the papers advising of the road closures.
I haven't heard of them being used recently but that may be down to me not reading the newspaper or perhaps the practice has gone out of fashion.
Two, which immediately come to mind, are on the no. 5 road a few kilometres north of Heinola and on the no. 4 road between Rovaniemi and Sodankylä.
There is another on the no.4 road between Lahti and Jväskylä but I can't remember where exactly.
I have driven over others but again I can't remember where.
A few (maybe 4 or 5) years ago they were often used and notices would appear in the papers advising of the road closures.
I haven't heard of them being used recently but that may be down to me not reading the newspaper or perhaps the practice has gone out of fashion.
Two, which immediately come to mind, are on the no. 5 road a few kilometres north of Heinola and on the no. 4 road between Rovaniemi and Sodankylä.
There is another on the no.4 road between Lahti and Jväskylä but I can't remember where exactly.
I have driven over others but again I can't remember where.
Last edited by finncapt; 13th Apr 2013 at 14:26.
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There was a section of autobahn near Alhorn on the North German Plain that was used by several NATO types for landings, turnrounds & take-offs for a week in 1983/4 just before the Autobahn opened. Some of the senior blokes on my Sqn went and had a go.
Tlam999.
What did they do with the street lights. On street vue, there is very tall street lighting on both sides of the highway strip, but i can't see any hinges or other means of lowering them. Do the retract into the ground?
What did they do with the street lights. On street vue, there is very tall street lighting on both sides of the highway strip, but i can't see any hinges or other means of lowering them. Do the retract into the ground?
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there are a couple of stretches of the Kirkenes - Murmansk road that are dead straight straight eg 69 deg 18min 40sec N & 32 deg 12 min 13 sec E and 69 - 26-13N 31-01-59E - clearly diversion strips for Pechenga etc
One of them was bloody wide - but there was a large concrete Bus Shelter half way down right in the middle - one hopes they intended to remove it before starting operations.................................
One of them was bloody wide - but there was a large concrete Bus Shelter half way down right in the middle - one hopes they intended to remove it before starting operations.................................
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
The RAF seems to have a thing about not using normal runways. You would have thought with the Harrier and RAFG that they would have got over that phobia.
Back in the mid-80s I think Jules Flood, SlOps at Honington, proposed that the many disused airfields around east Anglia and east midlands be considered as bare base emergency runways. In the 60s there were a number of such emergency airfields such as Spilsby and East Kirkby but Jules's idea was to be a near zero cost option.
A party was sent from Coningsby to Swinderby and rejected the airfield out of hand saying the runway would need resurfacing, missile storage areas would need to be built, and a crew room etc etc. The BoB mentality was well and truly ignored.
If your main base is covered with persistent nerve agent and the runway has a socking great hole in the middle, a bit of rough tarmac and a landrover with a few sidewinders and a bowser would have been luxury.
Have you looked at Russian air force aircraft tractors from the cold war? Rugged ATV with capacity to carry spares and troops and tow a Flogger.
Back in the mid-80s I think Jules Flood, SlOps at Honington, proposed that the many disused airfields around east Anglia and east midlands be considered as bare base emergency runways. In the 60s there were a number of such emergency airfields such as Spilsby and East Kirkby but Jules's idea was to be a near zero cost option.
A party was sent from Coningsby to Swinderby and rejected the airfield out of hand saying the runway would need resurfacing, missile storage areas would need to be built, and a crew room etc etc. The BoB mentality was well and truly ignored.
If your main base is covered with persistent nerve agent and the runway has a socking great hole in the middle, a bit of rough tarmac and a landrover with a few sidewinders and a bowser would have been luxury.
Have you looked at Russian air force aircraft tractors from the cold war? Rugged ATV with capacity to carry spares and troops and tow a Flogger.
I was a GE on a Herk flight from Akrotiri to Leeming (bringing some Tornado Ground Equipment and ground crew back home), the approach into Leeming was through quite dense cloud and the Captain let the Co do the approach. ISTR that their ILS was somewhat lacking that day, but, hey ho, the Co was nearly as old as me, must know what he's doing. So, as it seems to me standing behind the Captain for the approach, we get to about 300 feet, just coming out of the cloud into mist. Captain with head up says "runway lights 2 o clock", Co immediately gives Albert a good handful,of right hand down, lines up, and proceeds with his approach. I think at around 100 agl, he realised the runway lights were moving, they were white lights on the right, red on the left. The confirmation of the Range Rover was enough to open the taps and try another approach. As I remember, we did two more then diverted to Coningsby. Very close to,meeting the requirement of using a road as a runway.
does that count ?
does that count ?
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There is a rather nice story from the 50s or 60s of a Beverley coming into land at night and in poor weather at RAF Dishforth, the main runway of which parallels the A1. Just before breaking cloud, Dishforth suffered a total power failure and was left without radio or lights.
As the aircraft broke cloud, the captain noted he was slightly to the right of Runway 34. A slight jink was all that was required and a perfect landing followed....on the A1 northbound.
There was little the captain could then do except brake to a halt stopping just before the roundabout which then existed. Soon afterwards a civilian police car arrived at the front of the aircraft. The captain opened a cockpit window to talk to the concerned police constable who, when he found out the that aircraft had just landed, asked:
"So what are you going to do now?"
"The after-landing checks," said the Beverley captain.
As the aircraft broke cloud, the captain noted he was slightly to the right of Runway 34. A slight jink was all that was required and a perfect landing followed....on the A1 northbound.
There was little the captain could then do except brake to a halt stopping just before the roundabout which then existed. Soon afterwards a civilian police car arrived at the front of the aircraft. The captain opened a cockpit window to talk to the concerned police constable who, when he found out the that aircraft had just landed, asked:
"So what are you going to do now?"
"The after-landing checks," said the Beverley captain.
We got dropped into a LRRP exercise into Germany in the mid 90s in which we spent the first week in a MEXE hide overlooking a long straight stretch of autobahn - can't remember where now. The pre-exercise FER training consisted of lots of looking at lots of pics of SOVBLOC aircraft, particularly Floggers, which made a change from the usual tanks and APCs that we were trained to spot.
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Not quite, but I did once do a low level circuit at night in yellow, trying to get into Pisa en route back from Cyprus, as all I'd found at the end of my home made Tac to Tac approach was an empty road so finished up landing on it. Turned out it was the runway after a lightning (meteorological version) strike induced power failure and the omnis looked suspiciously like street lights. I was in the EE/BAe version at the time.