Is this the Arresting area? I'm not too sure what you call this area
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1$\begingroup$ I feel like I've seen a similar (potentially duplicate) question in the last year or so... $\endgroup$– dalearnSep 9, 2019 at 1:55
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$\begingroup$ Is this an Air Force base? $\endgroup$– Michael HallSep 9, 2019 at 5:31
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4$\begingroup$ Which airport is this? $\endgroup$– 60levelchangeSep 9, 2019 at 11:27
3 Answers
Additional information on the airport would have been nice, but from the markings it looks like it simply is a pad where two aircraft can be positioned at once.
This can be useful where you have a case of eg. one aircraft needing additional time to be ready for take-off while the aircraft behind is all set, or a larger aircraft in front being held back to allow a smaller aircraft to pass it and take off first.
Copenhagen Airport (CPH) has a similar layout at the end of one of the runways, as shown below, although this is using two taxiway stubs rather than one solid pad.
I suppose it is a turning area for making a U-turn after a backtrack. You can see traces from such turns on ground
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1$\begingroup$ I thought so too, but why would they backtrack when there's a taxiway? $\endgroup$– PerlDuckSep 9, 2019 at 12:16
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2$\begingroup$ @PerlDuck sometimes taxiways are unusable for one reason or another. $\endgroup$– Jamiec ♦Sep 9, 2019 at 12:33
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1$\begingroup$ I bet the runway was extended and a turnaround pad was added before the taxiway was built or extended. $\endgroup$ Sep 9, 2019 at 12:49
If this is a military airfield it is the arming area where ground crews do final arming of ordnance on the aircraft before it takes off. The extra space also allows more room for marshalling multiple mission aircraft to compress takeoff intervals.
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