Which is the hardest airport to land at?
 

Where in the world is the hardest airport to land at?. .. .Maybe Gibraltar or Hong Kong!! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" />

Sorry to deviate from the thread about landings in the first reply. This one is about takeoff:. .Tajikistan´s Dushanbe airport runway is probably one of the roughest runways in the world to take off from. I have myself whitnessed the ground spoilers deploy on an L-1011 during takeoff run due to the g-forces on the handle itself. Not fun at all to get the takeoff warning to sound at high speed on a high weight takeoff. Can´t be nice to the airframe either... Airport is at about 2000 ft with MSA at about FL 200.

Haven't done it personally but I was curious about the same. The answer I got from majority of pilots - Hong Kong, Kai Tak - now closed. You can look up a lot of pictures of this approach and some video files on the internet. Have been trying to get an actual approach plate to the airport but no luck- if you find one let me know.. .. .Another interesting airport is the Bombay airport in India. Have to fly over hutments for approach and landing. Lot of potholes in the runway - very challenging taxi- check out this article -. .. .<a href="http://www.the-week.com/98dec20/events4.htm" target="_blank">http://www.the-week.com/98dec20/events4.htm</a>

Its a shame this seems to be resticted to "airports" and not all places in which we can land. I'm sure the guys in PNG and such places would have some different views. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="smile.gif" />

i have friends who fly out of bombay all the time.. .the hutments pose no danger to flt safety.. .yes in todays day and age they are a risk, from terrorists.. .but then the whole of india is in risk of that, from the friendly neghbour.

To be sure, circling a Heavy unto Rwy 17 at Quito, Ecuador, (Elevation 9228') will get your adrenaline moving. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" />

Landing at Gibraltar is challenging for military aircraft, because flying through Spanish airspace is not allowed. This makes for a very close-in base leg for RWY 09, and the subsequent tight turn to final. Prior bush experience helps. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

I would define the 800 m east-west runway at Honningsvag Airport close to North Cape as interesting. Especially during the winter season. I do not have an approach chart at hand, but if one of the pilots from Wideroe Flyveselskap (Dash-8 operator)would care to add to this, I`m thankful.. .. .Another interesting approach was the VOR/NDB approach to Kabul Airport. In 1989 with something like 9 years of war and bad maintenance on the nav aids, the VOR needle behaved like a windshield wiper. But with blue sky and unlimited visibility the approach must be one of the most scenic I can remember.. . . . <small>[ 16 March 2002, 16:34: Message edited by: LimaNovember ]</small>

C Harrison,

When I was flying for the airlines, Telluride Colorado was the hardest airport I ever flew into.

Specs:

http://www.tellurideairport.com/images/view.jpg

http://www.tellurideairport.com/images/cover.jpg


Telluride Regional Airport
Telluride, CO
N 37 deg. 57.2' W 107 deg. 54.5'
Elev: 9,078 ft

Caution: High Terrain exceeding 14,000 feet all quadrants. Exercise extreme caution when southerly winds exceed 15 kts. (rotor over runway, down draft in the middle of runway). Be cautious of down-drafts near abrupt terrain.

Notes: Safest approach is from the west (Placerville). Stay on right side of valley to avoid traffic conflicts.

Runways: 9/27 6,870 x 100ft., 64 ft. dip in middle (1.9% slope). MIRL, REIL.

The most fun is the instrument approach. From start to finish you drop 20 feet. You start the approach at 3,000 feet above airport elevation and at the missed approach point you are at 2,980 feet above the airport elevation.

Happy Flying,

Capt. Richard J. Gentil. Pres.
Naples Air Center, Inc.

<<Edited fix formatting from the convertion to current forum software>>

Another interesting airport is Helgoland in the North Sea. 3 runways and the longest one is 400m. I was there last summer and was lucky to arrive on a day when they had a beer festival... Nice island. Another (small) problem is the fact that the tower speaks only german...

Kathmandu in Nepal is probably the most interesting as you can only approach from the south and the VOR/DME is critical as you have several gate hight/ranges - bust them and you'll smack into the mountain. The SID and MAP is spiral climb in the overhead until you reach a gate height and then you can shoot off down a valley to continue the climb. Its over 4000 ft and often quite hot. . .. .First time I went in there it was VMC and when you realise how close the mountain sides are it ceratainly maked me concentrate on the plate when I later went in IMC! I've flown the old HK curved ILS and Kathmandu is just as exciting, if not more so.

I'm with Glueball..............Quito.

Skardu, Pakistan.. .Not the most difficult, (VMC only, MSA close to 30000´) but definitely one of the most fun and gorgeous approaches.

Having recently operated into both Gibraltar and Funchal, they are definitely not the norm. They can both be run of the mill days out if the wx is ok but once the wx turns a bit grotty both places are quite sporting !! Especially in an airbus !!!

All of them !

I've been on some with dog-legs in the rwy. That's right take off with a heap of right rudder. Of course in PNG that's probably standard. Maybe someone from there could fill us in???

Nelspruit, South Africa (FANS)in a J-41 was always fun. 1080m at 2800ft, mostly temps in the upper 20's & lower 30's with a 4% slope and only 9m of tar, rest classified as gravel. I had an ATC from JNB on the jump seat, he asked if the radio modellers minded us using their field.

Nelspruit - ah yes. The first time I went in there as Pax, it was in a Fairchild Metroliner. I could lean into the aisle and look out the front. The strip looked non existant and we landed whilst (essentially) going uphill! We stopped just short of the fence, the other side of which, unconcerned locals were waiting in the car park!. .. .I understand that the J41 is even tighter and Captains have to be certified to operate NLP, the FO is not allowed to land or depart. One of the main reasons is that there is a VERY limited amount of space between the main gear and the edge of the strip. They have to decellerate sharpish and pretty much open the flight deck window and chuck an anchor out for good measure.. .. .They are going to miss it when the new field opens!

Hi all,. .I'm surprised someone mentioned Rwy13 at Kai Tek, I thought that one was no more or less difficult than many others.. .But I do agree with the Katmandu approach, get this one wrong and you will not live a long and happy life! - great view though!

A quick edit job on a previous post
 

Druglord... since you ask, yeah we have one or two like that, but the kink in the strip isn't usually the biggest operational problem. It's more likely to be the ridge line just off the take-off end, or the turbulence that can really stuff up an already critical landing approach.

Here's a few others to maybe keep you a bit entertained...

Ononge Airstrip, elev 5700FT
500 metres long, clay surface, 5% slope.

Gonaili Airstrip, elev 10FT
1065 metres long, gravel surface, 2% up slope for take-off ... and then you have to clear the hill off the departure end of the strip.

Cape Gloucester Airstrip
I only threw this one in for a bit of dramatic effect. There's nothing difficult about this place, except maybe predicting when the volcano is going to blow!