interstate runnways?

On Mon, 13 Jun 2005 20:51:34 GMT, zaphod wrote:

OK, This sounded a little strange to me, but during lunch today with some
co-workers, someone asked if I knew of some rules regarding interstate
construction. They had heard a bit of trivia that claimed that an
interstate highway must have sections that are straight, level, and long
enough for a plane to land(at least 1 mile they thought.) I had never
heard of such and was wondering if anyone here knows what they were talking
about?

I have heard something similar. Recall that the interstates were sold
to Congress in the 1950s as the National Defense Highway system. I
believe it was argued that they could be used to disperse the SAC
fleet in time of war. I have no reference to this; it's just something
I recall.


-- all the best, Dan Ford

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"Chris" wrote:

"John Galban" wrote in message
ups.com...

In some european countries, major highways were designed to
accomodate military aircraft for use in war time.

Switzerland is one country in particular.

The same is true for Germany. European highways tend to have the lanes for
both directions very close to each other, unlike the US ones with a wide
grass area in the middle. In Germany, you often have small bushes (to block
oncoming lights) between two guard rails. But on some straight stretches of
Autobahn, the middle ground between both directions has been filled in with
concrete, and the guard rails there can be disassembled. If you know what
you are looking for, it is quite easy to pick out these "ad-hoc runways" as
you drive along. Another giveaway: there is never a brigde or cables
running across the highway, for obvious reasons.

Greetings,
Markus

zaphod wrote:

OK, This sounded a little strange to me, but during lunch today with some
co-workers, someone asked if I knew of some rules regarding interstate
construction. They had heard a bit of trivia that claimed that an
interstate highway must have sections that are straight, level, and long
enough for a plane to land(at least 1 mile they thought.) I had never
heard of such and was wondering if anyone here knows what they were talking
about?

c
Go to Australia and drive from Adelaide to Perth, and you will find 3
emergency runnways marked on highway 1 for the Royal Flying Doctor to
use. They are a few hundred miles apart between Ceduna and Norseman.

"Ash Wyllie" wrote in message

Ike sold the Interstate Highways as a national defence thing.

As was right. One thing learned VERY quickly during the mobilization for
WWII was the inefficiency of the logistical/distribution system in the US on
a national scale. Railroads alone, while they did a marvelous job, just
couldn't keep up. The country up to then was a huge group of local/regional
units. The Interstate system was conceived and built for
commercial/military trucking and transport. Any other benefit, like
personal travel, was ancillary.

In article , zaphod writes:
OK, This sounded a little strange to me, but during lunch today with some
co-workers, someone asked if I knew of some rules regarding interstate
construction. They had heard a bit of trivia that claimed that an
interstate highway must have sections that are straight, level, and long
enough for a plane to land(at least 1 mile they thought.) I had never
heard of such and was wondering if anyone here knows what they were talking
about?


This gets debated fairly often, concensus is that it is an urban legend,
atleast in the States.

A repeating vector for this UL is provided by a guy from Harvard named
John Stilgoe, a "professor of ordinary things around us". He has several
times stated that not only are they designed for landings, but that SAC
often practices B-52 landings on Interstates - a notion richly poo-pooed
by folks who are in the know regarding all things SAC and B-52
.. He has stated this in an article in the "Smithsonian" a few years back,
and also on an interview done by National Publice Radio.

The date of the NPR show was July 2 1998. It was available in Real Audio format
at www.npr.org, the segment titled "Outside Magic", don't know if it's
still there.

Ronald Gardner opined

In the cold war days and the start of the interstate system, the plan was to
use these areas as a remote deployment site for the military aircraft in the
event of an attack.

And built into every under/overpass was to be a fallout shelter. As far as I
know, only a demo shelter was evre built.

Ike sold the Interstate Highways as a national defence thing.

zaphod wrote:

OK, This sounded a little strange to me, but during lunch today with some
co-workers, someone asked if I knew of some rules regarding interstate
construction. They had heard a bit of trivia that claimed that an
interstate highway must have sections that are straight, level, and long
enough for a plane to land(at least 1 mile they thought.) I had never
heard of such and was wondering if anyone here knows what they were talking
about?

c



-ash
Cthulhu in 2005!
Why wait for nature?

wrote:
A repeating vector for this UL is provided by a guy from Harvard named
John Stilgoe, a "professor of ordinary things around us". He has several
times stated that not only are they designed for landings, but that SAC
often practices B-52 landings on Interstates - a notion richly poo-pooed
by folks who are in the know regarding all things SAC and B-52

I have yet to see a segment of an interstate highway that is wide enough
for the outriggers of a B-52.

zaphod wrote:
OK, This sounded a little strange to me, but during lunch today with some
co-workers, someone asked if I knew of some rules regarding interstate
construction. They had heard a bit of trivia that claimed that an
interstate highway must have sections that are straight, level, and long
enough for a plane to land(at least 1 mile they thought.) I had never
heard of such and was wondering if anyone here knows what they were talking
about?

It's an urban legend, probably started because Eisenhower liked the idea. It can
be easily disproved simply by looking at a large scale map of I-40 or I-81 in
mountainous terrain. Check Snopes at
http://www.snopes.com/autos/law/airstrip.asp

George Patterson
Why do men's hearts beat faster, knees get weak, throats become dry,
and they think irrationally when a woman wears leather clothing?
Because she smells like a new truck.

("George Patterson" wrote)
It's an urban legend, probably started because Eisenhower liked the idea.
It can be easily disproved simply by looking at a large scale map of I-40
or I-81 in mountainous terrain. Check Snopes at
http://www.snopes.com/autos/law/airstrip.asp


http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=21093
(Scroll down for some interesting pics :-)

http://makeashorterlink.com/?N2E06234B
(One pic from the link)

http://makeashorterlink.com/?T5012334B
(Oops, there's a tank in our way...)


Montblack

"Montblack" wrote in message
...
("George Patterson" wrote)
It's an urban legend, probably started because Eisenhower liked the idea.
It can be easily disproved simply by looking at a large scale map of I-40
or I-81 in mountainous terrain. Check Snopes at
http://www.snopes.com/autos/law/airstrip.asp


http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=21093
(Scroll down for some interesting pics :-)

http://makeashorterlink.com/?N2E06234B
(One pic from the link)

http://makeashorterlink.com/?T5012334B
(Oops, there's a tank in our way...)


Montblack


If you are trying to counter what George wrote I have to ask. What do planes
in Kosovo have to do with the US interstate highway system?