Security Fences

[Ross]

A story I heard a couple of days before Cristmas from a construction worker who works in the New England area of NSW for a civil engineering contractor.

 

A controlled aerodrome has recently had a security fence built around it without consulting the pilots. The pilots using the strip subsequently inspected the fence and decided it was a risk they could not tolerate as it was too close to the end of the airstrip and was higher and more substantial than the ordinary boundary fence. It was not stated whether it replaced the original boundary fence or was well inside it like some others around the country.

 

The innovative solution!

 

Remove the offending section of security fence; on the same line dig a v-ditch as deep as the security fence was high and erect a new security fence in the bottom of the ditch.

 

It reminds me of a jet plane photo I have seen that failed to stop on a runway and ended up with its nose in a drainage ditch.

 

I was unable to verify this story as I drove past the aerodrome as I was distracted by the sight of a large grey coloured twin engine jet plane on late final and landing!

 

Besides I had not heard the story at that time!

 

 

[PaulN]

Hi Ross,

 

This very same solution has been applied for our new security (?) fence across the approach threshhold for rwy 18 at YCOM. But then, anyone overshooting a 2km rwy perhaps shouldn't be landing there.

 

Paul

 

 

[Ross]

Once you apply the temperature (say 40.5 C like yesterday in Canberra or 45 C possible in Leeton) and a high pressure system corrections how high can that airfield get?

 

What would that do to the landing and takeoff rolls of a MTOW passenger plane or for that matter a typical RAA plane fully loaded?

 

So far the highest point I have landed on has been Ballarat.

 

Regards

 

 

[Yenn]

How can an airport erect a fence within the manouvering area. Surely the criteria for the runway must preclude anything which encroaches within the approach or tale off area. Without looking it up I can't quote the figures but I remember that trees have to be kept lopped if within the area, or the threshold has to be moved.

 

Ian Borg

 

 

[Ben Longden]

Its very easily done, and usually by those who have never flown in anything smaller than a 737.

 

Its called bureacracy.

 

Ben

 

 

[PaulN]

Ian,

 

Maybe my wording wasn't all that clear. When I say "across the threshhold" the fence is in fact about 50m shy of the threshhold.

 

Paul

 

 

[Student Pilot]

Once you apply the temperature (say 40.5 C like yesterday in Canberra or 45 C possible in Leeton) and a high pressure system corrections how high can that airfield get? What would that do to the landing and takeoff rolls of a MTOW passenger plane or for that matter a typical RAA plane fully loaded?

 

So far the highest point I have landed on has been Ballarat.

 

Regards

Armidale is around 3500 ASL so in the summer with high temps we can get 8,000 or more density altitude. Makes an Aircraft perorm a bit different.

 

 

[Student Pilot]

The fence you describe is at Armidale. The problem was with the degees of clearance either side of the runway, the side should have 3 degrees or something like that and it was 1/2 a degree short.

 

It is at the side of the runway towards one end, the fence only continues another K or so, those lazy terrorist must be too slack to walk that far, or they have got the gate code out or ERSA, or they have a shovel, or a pair of sidecutters or.......................................