5 ms·
Looks like the minimum take-off runway length is just around a mile: https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/94671/what-is-the-minimum-runway-required-for-
by alex_young 3y ago
Looks like the minimum take-off runway length is just around a mile: https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/94671/what-is-the-minimum-runway-required-for-an-a320-under-72-000-kg https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/94671/what-is-t...
A mile of roadway costs ~ $1M to pave: https://www.roadbotics.com/2019/12/18/how-much-does-it-cost-to-pave-1-mile-of-road/ https://www.roadbotics.com/2019/12/18/how-much-does-it-cost-...
Unless they pave 1 mile of runway to accommodate this, I anticipate this going pretty poorly. A quick search prices A320s at around $100M, seems worth the effort.
- buildsjets 3y agoIt's Siberia. When December arrives, the mud will become self-paving.
- regnull 3y agoDecember? Ha! It's probably self-paving right about now.
- grecy 3y agoNot yet, there's barely snow on the ground in the Arctic Circle right now, not much below freezing overnight. Give it another month, then we're talking.
- gojomo 3y agoSeems to me that soon as there are consistent nighttime freezes, pumped water could create a level & sealed frozen surface.
- lxgr 3y agoInteresting question: Can a jet take off from a (very) low friction runway? Seems similar to the classical problem of whether a take-off from a conveyor belt is possible :)
- DocTomoe 3y agoYes [1] [1] https://www.aircontact.com/boeing-737-landed-in-antarctica.5200173-109016.html https://www.aircontact.com/boeing-737-landed-in-antarctica.5...
- lxgr 3y agoThat runway has been carefully prepared to have high friction: > The original construction of the runway was done over two years and accomplished using a laser cutter to level the blue ice near the station [...] Finally, two snow groomers with tillers grind a small layer of ice to create a top layer of crushed snow and ice that gives the runway the necessary friction for aircraft to operate. https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/troll-research-station-how-to-operate-an-airport-in-antarctica/ https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/troll-research-station-ho...
- dredmorbius 3y agoChanging your mind might be problematic however: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37773669 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37773669>
- culebron21 3y ago1) smooth ice is hard to get, and if you just pour water on snow/dirt, it won't be like ice rink or frozen lakes. 2) snow will also cover the surface, and it's not slippery.
- grecy 3y agoYou'd be surprised, even +5C during the day will turn that shallow frozen water back to liquid. But when it hits, it happens quickly. Every year people dogsled on a lake outside Whitehorse, Yukon in November. Often it's pure liquid on November 20th, and yet they will dogsled on it before the last day of the month.
- culebron21 3y agoIn that place, temperatures drop below 0 permanently in November (i.e. even in daytime) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novosibirsk#Climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novosibirsk#Climate My summary on flying the plane on Stackexchange: https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/101015/how-can-ural-airlines-fly-an-a320-from-an-unpaved-field-after-an-emergency-landi/ https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/101015/how-can-...
- culebron21 3y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novosibirsk#Climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novosibirsk#Climate
- WalterBright 3y agoMuch of the thickness of a road is to have it hold up under fatigue damage. A one-time use tarmac could be a lot thinner.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- pcurve 3y agoThis is a 17 year old aircraft, so I think it's only worth one fifth of that at best. They may be better off just buying a used one, rather than risk putting this into service.