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There are a number of myths around the idea of interstate highways serving as emergency runways in wartime, these all appear to be false. https://www.snopes.co

There are a number of myths around the idea of interstate highways serving as emergency runways in wartime, these all appear to be false. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/landing-of-hope-and-glory/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/landing-of-hope-and-glory/ The two biggest arguments against using highways as runways are: 1. Airports are not at all rare, even in rural areas. If an enemy could succeed in making all airports (even in just a single region) unusable, they could do the same to major cities, and have pretty much already won the war. 2. Sacrificing a lot of ground mobility for a little bit of air power is extremely unlikely to ever be a worthwhile trade-off.

ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
That sounds quite specific. It is talking about the "one in five" thing. It may, indeed, be false, but I'm not sure if that Snopes thing is really saying that. It's talking about a fairly specific example.
kube-system 4y ago
Like a lot of urban legends, there is a mix of truth. * No, interstate highways in the US are not required by regulation to be designed for military use. * Yes, the military is aware that highways are an option for landing if need be, and they have even trained to do this. * Regardless, the military doesn't really need highways to be required by law to be designed for landing for them to serve that practical purpose. A scenario in which US military bases and airports are blown up is a pretty extreme scenario to plan for anyway. There are almost 20,000 airports in the US. * Some other countries do impose design requirements by law for highways to be used as runways.
- NoZebra120vClip 4y ago
  > No, interstate highways in the US are not required by regulation to be designed for military use. I think you mean "military aircraft use", because it's a well-known fact that the U.S. Interstate Highway System was conceived and implemented to facilitate movement of troops and materiel in the event of a war on the home front.
  - kube-system 4y ago
    Yes, in the context of this discussion that is the meaning that is intended. That could be another reason for the above misconceptions around its purpose for military aircraft.
WalterBright 4y ago
Back in the 1960s, a 707 pilot landing at Heathrow got confused and landed at an abandoned WW2 airfield instead. Nobody knew how the pilot managed to get it stopped on its short runway. The problem, though, was getting it off the ground. Mechanics stripped it of everything they could. Then put just enough gas in to get it to Heathrow. The pilot was one brave mofu, and he got the job done.

ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago

That sounds quite specific. It is talking about the "one in five" thing. It may, indeed, be false, but I'm not sure if that Snopes thing is really saying that. It's talking about a fairly specific example.

kube-system 4y ago

Like a lot of urban legends, there is a mix of truth. * No, interstate highways in the US are not required by regulation to be designed for military use. * Yes, the military is aware that highways are an option for landing if need be, and they have even trained to do this. * Regardless, the military doesn't really need highways to be required by law to be designed for landing for them to serve that practical purpose. A scenario in which US military bases and airports are blown up is a pretty extreme scenario to plan for anyway. There are almost 20,000 airports in the US. * Some other countries do impose design requirements by law for highways to be used as runways.

NoZebra120vClip 4y ago
> No, interstate highways in the US are not required by regulation to be designed for military use. I think you mean "military aircraft use", because it's a well-known fact that the U.S. Interstate Highway System was conceived and implemented to facilitate movement of troops and materiel in the event of a war on the home front.
- kube-system 4y ago
  Yes, in the context of this discussion that is the meaning that is intended. That could be another reason for the above misconceptions around its purpose for military aircraft.

WalterBright 4y ago

Back in the 1960s, a 707 pilot landing at Heathrow got confused and landed at an abandoned WW2 airfield instead. Nobody knew how the pilot managed to get it stopped on its short runway. The problem, though, was getting it off the ground. Mechanics stripped it of everything they could. Then put just enough gas in to get it to Heathrow. The pilot was one brave mofu, and he got the job done.