55
votes
Accepted
Why are taxiway and runway centerline lights off center?
The painted line and the lights do not align for a very practical reason: it would be a major pain in the behind to paint over the lights, as each one of them would need to be masked for the painting, ...
- 27.2k
35
votes
Do any airports have runways or taxiways that cross active rail lines at grade?
There is at least one:
In Gisborne, New Zealand, there is a freight rail line which crosses the south end of runway 14/32 at Gisborne Airport (GIS). It appears to still be an active line for freight (...
- 1,457
34
votes
Accepted
How can pilots differentiate runways and taxiways during landing?
During daytime and good visibility, it should be pretty obvious that runway markings are white and taxiway markings are yellow. Runways have the runway designator in big white numbers at the end and a ...
- 36.2k
19
votes
Has there been any attempt to use an underground cable system, a la a cable car, to tow aircraft along taxiways?
Way to go on thinking outside of the box. Actually, it might work. Although the logistics of it are above my pay-grade. Maybe, some smart group out there could make it work.
But, your question doesn’t ...
- 16.5k
17
votes
Accepted
What does the sign "Caution your blast" mean?
I'm fairly sure that sign is beside taxiway C*, and as you can see from the aerodrome chart it is right next to the main apron. Aircraft holding in this position have the main apron directly behind ...
- 31.8k
16
votes
Accepted
Are there any ICAO restrictions on naming a taxiway?
Per the Runway Safety HANDBOOK, First Edition 2014:
2.4 Taxiway Naming Convention
A simple and logical method for designating the taxiways should be developed. The following general guidelines should ...
- 11.1k
15
votes
Accepted
Do any airports have runways or taxiways that cross active rail lines at grade?
There is another place too, Manakara East Madagascar. Both train and airport are still active.
14
votes
Accepted
How common is it to take off from a taxiway?
At an uncontrolled airport, where you take off is up to you, the airport owner and your insurance company. There's nothing stopping you from taking off from any surface, as long as you respect ...
- 126k
12
votes
Do any airports have runways or taxiways that cross active rail lines at grade?
There’s at least another one (not an active crossing anymore though):
Wynyard Airport, on Tasmania's north-western coast, was quite unusual in that it was one of the few airports in the world to ...
- 4,777
11
votes
Has there been any attempt to use an underground cable system, a la a cable car, to tow aircraft along taxiways?
Practically this would not work due to the sheer size of the cable you would need. A fully loaded A380 is 1.25 million pounds. A B787 is .5 million pounds and a B737 is about 150,000 pounds. On a busy ...
- 52.9k
11
votes
Accepted
How does ATC direct aircraft on ground from the parking to the runway?
Yes, it's the same. An airport consists of one or several runways, one or several parking areas (aprons) and a number of taxiways connecting them. All runways and taxiways are uniquely named.
When ...
- 36.2k
10
votes
Do any airports have runways or taxiways that cross active rail lines at grade?
Their is a lightly used freight line crossing the runway at Filton airport, Bristol, UK. Not sure if Filton is still in use as Airbus industries no longer fly their Beluga Airbus from there. As a ...
- 501
7
votes
What is the area between the taxiway and runway shown in the picture below?
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 ...
- 3,922
6
votes
What is the area between the taxiway and runway shown in the picture below?
I suppose it is a turning area for making a U-turn after a backtrack. You can see traces from such turns on ground
- 183
6
votes
Has there been any attempt to use an underground cable system, a la a cable car, to tow aircraft along taxiways?
Cable cars, trains, and ski lifts essentially live their lives on the track or line. The repositioning and shuffling that must happen on an airport, especially pulling into and out of arrival/...
- 4,837
5
votes
How does ATC direct aircraft on ground from the parking to the runway?
What happens in the flight deck at an airport with a complex taxiway system (like NY JFK, which has many multiple parallel taxiways and numerous wrong-turn traps) is the pilot taking the clearance ...
- 126k
5
votes
Accepted
Why are tugs the least priority when talking to ground?
1) The video you are specifically referencing is JFK (as you probably know). JFK has a very complex airport layout and generally is very busy. There are a variety of reasons "tugs are last priority."
...
- 188
5
votes
Is it allowed to exit the runway by opposites High Speed Taxiway?
It's not really a regulation question, at least not in the way you think. There's 2 possibilities:
A controlled airfield: in an airfield which has air traffic control all movements require a ...
- 52.9k
4
votes
Are there any ICAO restrictions on naming a taxiway?
For reference since your question was specifically ICAO, the FAA has released supplemental guidance in Engineering Brief 89A (superseding EB 89) that is being used throughout the US for planning ...
- 41
4
votes
Accepted
What is the best way to move a touring motor glider over a wet grass surface?
I'm guessing that as a motorglider the Falke has very small tires, 5.00 x 5 or even smaller. The "on-board" fix would be to install much larger tires to increase the contact patch area, but ...
- 126k
4
votes
Accepted
Why were taxiways marked with numbers (as opposed to letters) back in the day?
This memorandum on taxi way nomenclature states
Numbers by themselves, and the letters "I" and "O" must not be used
because they could be mistaken for a runway number.
The letter ...
- 100k
3
votes
Accepted
What does "1%" mean in ICAO Annex 14 § 3.9.9 (longitudinal slope changes)?
You are referring to ICAO Annex 14 Volume I, Aerodrome Design and Operations. Section 3.9.9 says:
Recommendation.— Where slope changes on a taxiway cannot be avoided, the transition from one slope ...
- 27.2k
3
votes
What is the area between the taxiway and runway shown in the picture below?
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 ...
- 24.9k
3
votes
How does ATC direct aircraft on ground from the parking to the runway?
Taxi schemes vary with the airport, and also with the prevailing conditions. Some airports may issue a taxi clearance to a runway with intervening taxiways, while others may issue a taxi clearance to ...
- 1,097
2
votes
How can pilots differentiate runways and taxiways during landing?
ExpediteDescent has done an excellent job of describing how pilots distinguish runways and taxiways. In addition to what he has posted, I would like to add that it boils down to situational awareness ...
- 16.5k
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