DESIGNING A RUNWAY

By: Cole Hartke

            The location of the proposed thesis I have chosen (a self-sustainable island resort) brings up many difficult challenges. On challenge being how to get people to and from my island, by either boats or by plane.

            For boats the challenge is not as difficult with far less rules and regulations, but by plane the task becomes greater. The first step to take is where a runway can be placed on a small body of land. One must take into account the terrain and the ground material, if it be sand, dirt, rock, or what have you. The land needs to be rater flat because to move a long wide strip of dirt or sand would cost countless time and money.

            Once the general location is choosing on where a runway could be placed the next step is determining the minimum and maximum distance the runway can or should be to land plans. Researching what types of planes could land there is an easy way to get an idea on what will be going on with the runway. For my specific island, I have found the right area for a runway and I have determined the maximum distance that I can acquire. After researching the types of planes I want to land on my island I found out that I don’t need the maximum distance to land the majority of small planes.

            Now that the distance needed is found, width is the next obstacle. Most information won’t tell of an exact size for the width of a runway. Critical thinking which most people are good at can solve the problem. With the research of the places to find the minim landing distance someone can look at the wingspan of that particular aircraft. With that information to have a runway that is twice the size of the wingspan is a good rule of thumb when laying out the site.

            The final shape of the runway is now completed and can be used as a guide of undevelopable land. Always with these types of things there are added rules that may not be shown on plan views. With the runway placed there must be the required RSA (required safety area) which is located at each end of the runway for safety purposes.

 In my case my required safety areas are located over water because I don’t want to waste the land I can use. The FAA suggest that this shouldn’t be done because this area needs to be accessible to safety equipment, but with an island safety boats can be quicker to the scene that wheeled equipment.