Archinect
anchor

Airports!! Anyone know of any small airports that sit on a hillside and utilitze the vertical change?

genuwine

Anyone know of any small airports that sit on a hillside and utilitze the vertical change?

 
Jan 31, 06 6:36 pm
el jeffe

what do you mean by "utilize the vertical change"?
typically vertical change on or near an airport is a really bad thing.
the airport on catalina island sits on top of the mountain. this fact makes it somewhat treacherous since the runway has a peak to it that can induce some bad piloting if you're not really aware of it when landing and taking off.

Jan 31, 06 6:48 pm  · 
 · 
dia
Queenstown Airport

sits on a plateau in a valley surrounded by mountains, so that when you land, you glide over a lake and then come almost level with the escarpment that the airport is on.

Jan 31, 06 6:49 pm  · 
 · 
genuwine

well, by vertical change i mean that the site my small terminal is on is approximately 20 above the apron level, meaning that we need some clever way to get people and bags up and down this 20'. it is very small, so elaborate baggage conveyance systems seem silly.

Jan 31, 06 6:52 pm  · 
 · 
garpike

Catalina looks cool for a video game and scary for real life.

Jan 31, 06 6:55 pm  · 
 · 
dia

oh, only a small problem then... maybe ladders.

Jan 31, 06 6:55 pm  · 
 · 
garpike

Deceptive ramps, like at the Fox Hills Mall in Culver City. All those hefty Americans I saw there didn't even know they were making vertical progress.

Jan 31, 06 7:00 pm  · 
 · 
garpike
Jan 31, 06 7:02 pm  · 
 · 
el jeffe

if you have a bag belt of any type, then a 20 incline is no big deal. if you don't have a bag belt then a baggage tug can handle the 20 foot change. what about a shuttle bus from the gate to the apron?

as far a catlina - landing and taking off is really a puckering experience. you can't see the entire runway frm either end so when landing it seems as though the runway is real short so you have a tendancy to want to undershoot it and consequently smack the hillside. when taking off the same issue of not seeing the end of the runway causes some people to pull-up too quickly thinking they're nearing the end of the runway when in fact they still have plenty of time to gain speed. the result is a stall just about ehere the runway ends and the deep ravine begins.

Jan 31, 06 7:06 pm  · 
 · 
genuwine

i don't think the shuttle bus would work, the airport is only 20,000 s.f., 1 gate. it is a small airport with big aspirations. how bout any cool buildings that step up/down hillsides?

Jan 31, 06 7:11 pm  · 
 · 
el jeffe

well then go for it.
step yer building and get a bitchin' ramp or an elevator....i would expect that a "small airport with no big aspirations" would VE the stepped building out and replace it with a shuttle bus. cheaper and more flexible.

Jan 31, 06 7:19 pm  · 
 · 
garpike

How about a super-cool visible steep exisiting conveyer belt? It would have to have compartments or teeth.

Jan 31, 06 8:01 pm  · 
 · 
myriam

jeffe, are you a pilot?

Jan 31, 06 10:25 pm  · 
 · 
e909

garpike, and why not catapults or high speed ferris wheels? then (el jeffe) when they VE those out, they'll hire an unpaid intern sumo wrestler to stomp really hard on surplus teeter-totters. "next!"

Feb 1, 06 6:58 am  · 
 · 
el jeffe

yup - have a private license.

Feb 1, 06 10:16 am  · 
 · 
el jeffe

you could have the airport issue these to every passenger..


on his way to the plane doing the TSA chicken-dance...

Feb 1, 06 10:22 am  · 
 · 
lowryourstds

Helsinki has a awesome airport although flat...

Feb 1, 06 10:55 am  · 
 · 
MightyMouse

if i remember, the aspen airport deals with section in that it nestles itself into some ridges . . . its been a while though . . . so i could be imagining. I do remember that it is dangerous to land there after dark (for fear of slamming into a peak or missing the runway all together).

Feb 1, 06 3:13 pm  · 
 · 
snooker

Springville Arizona....There is a barb wire fence at the end of the runway...that can be difficult to navigate in a helicopter filled with
petro...but it is certainly an adventure. The grade drops away rather
rapidly once you clear the fence.

Feb 1, 06 5:24 pm  · 
 · 
el jeffe

and the grade rises abruptly if you don't clear the fence...

Feb 1, 06 6:21 pm  · 
 · 

Block this user


Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?

Archinect


This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.

  • ×Search in: