Ameecher wrote:Pilot wrote:Pyoro wrote:I'm absolutely no airport design expert, but isn't having the 2nd runway like that a weirdly ineffective design? ^^;
It's completely awful, the idea was to stagger them so both can be used simultaneously (without having to seperate them too far, to avoid harming Styal Woods on the south side of the Airport) but they completely missed the taxiway alongside the second runway. There is a section of Taxiway at the western end (which SPolygon hasn't been able to squeeze in) for the Aircraft to turn around, or await take-off clearance, but you still have to Backtrack along the runway.
There are currently plans to finish the Taxiway off, however, I'm sure it will take a while before that actually happens. As for the current usage of the second Runway, it mostly only gets used for Westbound Takeoffs, and Eastbound landings, that way it reduces the amount of extra taxi time spent on the runway. Interestingly, it was also the first runway I ever watched an A380 take off from!
How it is currently used is how it was always intended, makes sense if not conventional or the most flexible.
I do feel the second runway at Manchester would be more convenient for Westbound Landings or Eastbound take-offs, if a taxiway was added alongside it. After all, it would result in Aircraft flying higher over the densely populated areas of Stockport, Cheadle and Heald Green. I know that it might not sound like it would make a difference (after all, the aircraft will only be a couple of hundred feet higher), however, from going to school in Knutsford, which is less than 4 miles from the Threshold of 6R, you could always tell when they were using 6R instead of 6L. Unfortunately though, 23L is in a similar situation to the second runway at Gatwick, with it not having any ILS or similar equipment.
I was aware that the second runway at Gatwick was mostly used as a taxiway, and then as a reserve whilst the other one is out of use. I just found it an interesting design that there are 2 runways so close together (that didn't cross). It's a shame that it wasn't built in such a way that it was usable at the same time as the main one, as London's Airport capacity issues wouldn't be as awful as they are today! Out of interest, does Gatwick need a reserve runway for when maintenance occurs on the main one? As far as I'm aware, Gatwick basically closes at night, and that most runway works can be done overnight (if staggered over a few of them). I guess it gives a bit of redundancy for if the work over runs at least, though the larger aircraft that use LGW probably aren't able to use the second runway, with it being 2-3000 feet shorter.
Anyway, I'm going slightly off topic I feel, so my apologies people.