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This is really fascinating, but probably something that is needed. If nothing else it means airports will stop needing to re-paint their runways periodically. T

This is really fascinating, but probably something that is needed. If nothing else it means airports will stop needing to re-paint their runways periodically. Tampa had to repaint runways in 2011, Stansted had to do it in 2009 and thinks they’ll need to do it again in 2055 [0]. Of course, to get there we’ll have to repaint a lot of runways and replace a lot of signage for runways that currently correspond to magnetic north. [0]: https://phys.org/news/2011-01-tampa-airport-runways-renumbered-due.html https://phys.org/news/2011-01-tampa-airport-runways-renumber...

closewith 5y ago
> If nothing else it means airports will stop needing to re-paint their runways periodically. Airports have to repaint their runways far more frequently than the multi-decade timespan it takes to shift 10 degrees due to wear-and-tear, weather, resurfacing, etc.
- jgtrosh 5y ago
  I'd wager that maintenance repaint (in place) is less costly than repainting at a different location, which requires additional expertise
  - p_l 5y ago
    you do not repaint in different place, you change the numbers at most, because unless you rebuild the runway you're not going to change its axis to which paint marks locations are referenced.
    - d1str0 5y ago
      You can’t just arbitrarily change numbers though. Lots of documentation needs to be updated with a number change.
      - p_l 5y ago
        True. But I'd say not as much as people might think, assuming (oops) that people check NOTAMs
- UseStrict 5y ago
  It changes regularly, and by significant amounts. Magnetic north can drift 45km to 55km per year, and in the article it was talking about a major airport in Canada, the Calgary airport, where even slightly out of date maps were off by as much as 7°. Source: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/tracking-changes-earth-magnetic-poles https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/tracking-changes-earth-magnet... Will it require repainting? Probably not, but the further north you go, the more noticeable even minor drift or fluctuations will be.

closewith 5y ago

> If nothing else it means airports will stop needing to re-paint their runways periodically. Airports have to repaint their runways far more frequently than the multi-decade timespan it takes to shift 10 degrees due to wear-and-tear, weather, resurfacing, etc.

jgtrosh 5y ago
I'd wager that maintenance repaint (in place) is less costly than repainting at a different location, which requires additional expertise
- p_l 5y ago
  you do not repaint in different place, you change the numbers at most, because unless you rebuild the runway you're not going to change its axis to which paint marks locations are referenced.
  - d1str0 5y ago
    You can’t just arbitrarily change numbers though. Lots of documentation needs to be updated with a number change.
    - p_l 5y ago
      True. But I'd say not as much as people might think, assuming (oops) that people check NOTAMs
UseStrict 5y ago
It changes regularly, and by significant amounts. Magnetic north can drift 45km to 55km per year, and in the article it was talking about a major airport in Canada, the Calgary airport, where even slightly out of date maps were off by as much as 7°. Source: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/tracking-changes-earth-magnetic-poles https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/tracking-changes-earth-magnet... Will it require repainting? Probably not, but the further north you go, the more noticeable even minor drift or fluctuations will be.