Cyprus-Forum.com

[Paphitis]

one of my good friends is moving there for a year!!

Kirsty if you are reading this its a sign that you should be back amongst your friends in lovely Cyprus at least there isnt floods

Where?

Are they moving to Rockhampton or somewhere else?

[Kikapu]

I have been watching the floods in Australia for the last 2 weeks or so and I want to tell all our friends down under that they have our sympathy with their difficult task to deal with the floods and to get their lives back to normal again as soon as possible.

One picture that really stood out for me was this one, not surprising really, because of my interest in aviation of every kind. It was flood waters covering much of the runway at the airport in the north Australian city of Rockhampton. I wonder if our friend Paphitis ever flew in and out of this airport.? This picture gives a whole new meaning to the word,"Aquaplaning" !

Paphitis, what do you think of the above picture as a pilot.??

Kikapu,

I have seen a picture where the entire runway was under water, except for a 200m section.

Rocky was closed for 27 days as a result of flooding.

Check this link out!

http://www.rockhamptonairport.com.au/co ... epage.aspx

To answer your question, I have gone to Rocky a few times. Probably go there half a dozen times every year. Also go to Townsville, and Mackay.

But mainly, I work around places like Cairns, Darwin, Broome, and occasionally get to Horn Island, Gove, Christmas Island and Kunnunnura. rarely, I will get further South to places like Learmonth, Carnarvon, Geraldton, Perth, or along the East Coast down to Brisbane, Sydney and even more rarely down to Melbourne, Hobart, and even Ceduna.

Thanks for the info.

[Get Real!]

Goes to show how uneven this runway is... you basically land on a downhill!

[Kikapu]

Goes to show how uneven this runway is... you basically land on a downhill!

I think that may be deliberate designed, specially if the runway is relatively short, so to help the plane slow down at the other end of the runway with it's slight uphill. It may even help the plane take off easier on the uphill part of the runway after the aircraft gains faster acceleration on the downhill part of the runway at the start !

[denizaksulu]

Goes to show how uneven this runway is... you basically land on a downhill!

I think that may be deliberate designed, specially if the runway is relatively short, so to help the plane slow down at the other end of the runway with it's slight uphill. It may even help the plane take off easier on the uphill part of the runway after the aircraft gains faster acceleration on the downhill part of the runway at the start !

Like aircraft carriers I suppose. They are not exactly level/horizontal

[Kikapu]

Goes to show how uneven this runway is... you basically land on a downhill!

I think that may be deliberate designed, specially if the runway is relatively short, so to help the plane slow down at the other end of the runway with it's slight uphill. It may even help the plane take off easier on the uphill part of the runway after the aircraft gains faster acceleration on the downhill part of the runway at the start !

Like aircraft carriers I suppose. They are not exactly level/horizontal

Not for the catapult system carriers what the US has, but most certainly the British carriers which carry the Harrier Jets (Jump Jets), do have a "ski jump" ramp towards the end of the "runway" on the deck.!

[Paphitis]

Goes to show how uneven this runway is... you basically land on a downhill!

All airports around the world have a slight slope. It is actually measured or surveyed and published in degrees within the Runway Supplement of a Published Enroute Supplement and the slope is taken into consideration when calculating a Max Take-Off Weight and Take Off Speed and it also effects the Take Off V-Speeds such as V1 (point of no return with engine failure).

If you look at the Runway Supplement for Larnaca and Paphos, you will see that there is a slope there as well.

[supporttheunderdog]

If you want a really dodgy airport with a steep runway, try Lukla in Nepal, situated at about 2900m altitude.!



and



The runway is 500 m long, noticeably steep (not so obvious in the videos)with a big drop off at the bottom, and a mountain at the top, with a hotel on it. No chance in going round again if the pilot blows the approach. Closed more often than not due to cloud: I spent an extra day in town as the planes could not get in or out.

The only reason the planes can get in and out is because of the slope.

Reckoned to be one of the most dangerous commercial airports in the world.

[supporttheunderdog]

A few pictures of the Floods

[Paphitis]

Goes to show how uneven this runway is... you basically land on a downhill!

I think that may be deliberate designed, specially if the runway is relatively short, so to help the plane slow down at the other end of the runway with it's slight uphill. It may even help the plane take off easier on the uphill part of the runway after the aircraft gains faster acceleration on the downhill part of the runway at the start !

Aircraft will always land into wind as it is far safer to do so, and will pull up much quicker as opposed to landing downwind, which means a greater Groundspeed and momentum. So landing direction is determined by the prevailing winds.

At controlled Aerodromes such as Rockhampton, Air Traffic Control will determine the duty runway for landing and take-off based on the prevailing winds. They could also be a secondary runway.

This is the Runway Distance Supplement I talked about earlier"

http://airservicesaustralia.com/publica ... v-2010.pdf

You will notice that the slope is published. O.1% down to the South East.

The Elevation at Rwy33 end is 36FT. At Rwy15 end it is 28FT which gives this 0.1% slope down over 2,568m of Take of Run Available (TORA). At some aerodromes, the slope can be quite pronounced. At Rockhampton, the slope has little effect < 1 Knot in V1.

http://airservicesaustralia.com/publica ... 01-126.pdf

This is only minor. However the slope is a very important variable when determining critical V-Speeds. The most critical being V1 - also known as Decision Speed. This is the point on the runway where the aircraft is totally committed to Take-off no matter what emergency occurs at this speed or after, because there is not enough runway left to come to a complete stop by the end of the Stopway. The Stopway is that bit of bitumen at the end of the TORA past the piano keys illustrated perfectly in your photograph of the flooded Rocky runway.

I've tried to keep this as simple as possible....