you'd be surprised.. but maybe not.. I see a lot of long landings with these
new kit builts.. Lancairs.. or RVs.. or even the GlassStar today used about
2000ft out of 4500 to just get it to touch pavement.. it's amazing what 5
knts of tailwind and a little extra speed on final will do you you...

I'm sure it's piloting technique.. and not the airplane that requires the
runway..
of course out here.. we have relatively hi Density Altitude..
BT

"Bob Chilcoat" wrote in message
...
Hell, 2,547' isn't a short runway. The main runway at SMQ where I'm based
is only 2,133' if you subtract the 600' displaced threshold on 30. It
does
"feel" longer from the 12 end, but we have King Airs and a Pilatus
operating
out of there on 30 all the time. Someone warned me the other day when I
was
planning a flight to visit him that the rw at his airport was "only"
3,500'.
Do people really have trouble landing single-engine a/c on 3,500' runways?

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)

I don't have to like Bush and Cheney (Or Kerry, for that matter) to love
America

"BTIZ" wrote in message
news:_tQyc.22469$fZ1.5865@fed1read03...
it's sad to hear of any runway closure.. but at 2547ft.. it is pretty
short
for most people.. and only a few light aircraft could use it..

If the county goes about this the right way.. and designates it a
"taxiway".. it may still be available for "emergency use"... when any
concrete available becomes a runway..

at our local airport.. we do not have a SW/NE runway.. for when the
winds
blow hard from the SW.. so taxiway H can be requested.. the tower will
so
state "land at own discretion" .. and keep others off that taxiway...
land
with no incident.. no problem.. not keep it on the pavement.. could be a
problem... but landing on 50ft wide taxiway.. pointing somewhat into the
wind.. is better than a 90 cross at 30knts..

when it was built it could not be designated a runway.. because there
are
no
clear zones on the SW end.. but that was only one of the issues..

BT

"John R" wrote in message
...
The crosswinds runway needs $5.5 million in repairs and
safety-related work, none of which is eligible for reimbursement
by the Federal Aviation Administration, said Brad Penrod,
authority chief operating officer. However, the authority can
obtain federal funding to convert the runway to a taxiway.

Penrod said that if the authority spent its own money to repair
the runway, there would be nothing left for other improvements at
the county airport.

The runway targeted for closing is the county airport's shortest.
It is used primarily by recreational pilots in small aircraft and
by students learning to fly. At 2,547 feet, it's too short for
larger corporate jets and accounts for only 4 percent of all
take-offs and landings.

It has a southwest-to-northeast orientation that helps small
planes when crosswinds make landings on the other two runways
more difficult.

With the closing, the authority plans to use a 3,825-foot runway
with a northwest-t o-southeast orientation for crosswind
landings. The third runway, the airport's longest at 6,501 feet,
has an east-west orientation.


http://www.pittsburgpost-gazette.com...164/330948.stm