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Circular Airport

 Increase safety and efficiency
  (+4, -5)
(+4, -5) 		  [vote for,
against]

Imagine a huge turn-table rotating at 1 to 2 rpm. The terminal would be in the middle where all the passengers would board the planes. When the planes are ready to take off they would simply taxy to the edge of this giant turn-table where rotating at a speed of 180 knots (~340 km/h). Note that they would have to taxy sideways in order to face the wind.
Different planes would take off in diferent parts of the disc. Helicopters could take off from the center and Jumbo Jets would take off from the very edge.
Landings would also be made easier since contact with the ground could be made at 0 relative speed.
Crosswind problems would dissapear since the pilot could pick any heading for take off by waiting inside the rotation. Hundreds of planes could take off within a matter of seconds since their relative speed to each other would be 0. All they would need to do is keep their formation and slowly separate from each other after takeoff.
So ... now, how do I calculate how huge this turn-table would have to be?
—ixnaum, Apr 23 2006

Non Stop Subway Non-Stop_20Subway_2e
My inspiration [ixnaum, Apr 23 2006]

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       Methinks the planes would be flung off radially rather than gracefully lifting off due to tangential velocity. Given that aeroplanes don't fly very well sideways, I'm thinking fishbone.
—Texticle, Apr 24 2006
   

       they wouldn't take off sideways ... they would "slide" sideways to the edge and then take off in the direction of the rotation.
—ixnaum, Apr 24 2006
   

       I'm an inspiration!!! Yeah!!!
—Galbinus_Caeli, Apr 24 2006
   

       What I'm saying is that the centripetal force would overcome the tyres' grip on the tarmac, to say nothing of the passengers in the cabin, the drinks on the trolley etc.
—Texticle, Apr 24 2006
   

       would it, really? ... someone in the non stop subway idea said something about 0.45 Gs in that scenario... here I'm proposing a much larger rotating platform ... how large? I have no idea how to calculate that. But I'm guessing something in the order of 5-10km diameter. Ya I know: that's one huge turntable .. but we are on half bakery after all.
—ixnaum, Apr 24 2006
   

       This is quarter-baked at Tegel Berlin.
—PainOCommonSense, Apr 24 2006
   

       Make the disc parabolic, and you don't have any worries about side loading. Of course, the apparent weight of the plane goes up, and so does the stall speed, requiring faster takeoff speed.
—baconbrain, Apr 24 2006
   

       As a pilot, I just want to say that this is a horrible, horrible idea. However, it's so bad that it's like those dogs that are really ugly. They end up being vaguely appealing because of their very ugliness.   

       This idea is like that. It's so hopelessly imaginary and fictitious that I can't help but vote for it.   

       (As an aside, I've done a lot of circular takeoffs in floatplanes on small lakes, and there are few things as odd as feeling as though you are moving sideways in an airplane)
—zigness, Apr 25 2006
   


 

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