Re: Why not a circular landing field?

On May 16, 7:45 am, George Orwell <nob...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Why not a circular landing field for the shuttle and any winged spacecraft
to follow? The idea of a circular field dates back to the very beginnings
of flight, the theory being that no matter what the direction of the wind,
the aircraft can always land directly into it, thus no crosswind component.

Cost? ~20 sq km vs. ~0.6.
http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/nasafact/landingfac.htm
"The paved runway is 15,000 feet (4,572 meters) long, with a 1,000-
foot (304.8-meter) overrun on each end. The width is about the length
of a football field, 300 feet (91.4 meters), with 50-foot (15.2-meter)
asphalt shoulders on each side. The KSC concrete runway is 16 inches
(40.6 centimeters) thick in center, and 15 inches (38.1 centimeters)
thick on the sides. The landing strip is not perfectly flat; it has a
slope of 24 inches (61 centimeters) from the center line to the edge
to facilitate drainage."

Wouldn't this greatly increase the envelope in which the Shuttle or its
successors operate? Landing in an 80 knot wind should be possible, even it
it shifts around or is gusty, given a good pilot who has had some
barnstorming experience.

64+ knots = hurricane (beauford sacale)
IIRC shuttle landind crosswind limit is 15 knots.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Landing with a tailwind?
    ... And autobrakes don't stop the airplane any ... A/c landing normally under optimal conditions with a "landing speed" of 150 ... knots "into the wind" with a windspeed of 10 knots has an actual ground ...
    (rec.travel.air)
  • Re: Q landingdata cessna 152
    ... To day i when i was landing the headwind was 25 knots and i have putted 30 ... the plane was staying longer in the air before toutchdown becaurce there ... When you have a 25 knot head wind and your airspeed indicator is indicating ...
    (rec.aviation.student)
  • Vans RV-10
    ... I would love to ask some other RV-10 pilots what practices they ... At 80 knots, ... When I land with full flaps, ... landing in such situations. ...
    (rec.aviation.homebuilt)
  • Re: Q landingdata cessna 152
    ... 60 knots in a CE 150/152 is too fast. ... |> the landing was not so good it was just like a was ... park the airplane), ... Because of the head wind, ...
    (rec.aviation.student)
  • Re: Waist-Height Ratio May Show Heart Disease Risk
    ... A waist circumference of more than 80 centimeters ... > heart attack risk because "it is a measure of abdominal fat, ... > BTW 85 centimeters is actually 33.465 inches. ...
    (sci.med.cardiology)