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Circular Runway At ONZ, How Does It Work?  
User currently offlineFalstaff From United States of America, joined Jun 2006, 5703 posts, RR: 29
Posted (6 years 9 months 1 week 4 days 5 hours ago) and read 5098 times:		 Support Airliners.net - become a First Class Member!

I saw photo on the a.net data base of Grosse Ile, MI (ONZ) airport. The caption states that you can see the old circular runway. It is a paved circle between the regular runways. I guess that is from the days when ONZ was a naval air station. What is a a circular runway? Why would you have such a thing? and How does is work? I have seen something similar at an old air station in Newport, MI too.

The sign at ONZ says that it was a Naval Air Station until 1969. What kinds of planes was the Navy flying there in the 50s and 60s?


My mug slaketh over on Falstaff N503
3 replies: All unread, jump to last
 
User currently offlineType-Rated From United States of America, joined Sep 1999, 4397 posts, RR: 20
Reply 1, posted (6 years 9 months 1 week 4 days 4 hours ago) and read 4896 times:

And there used to be one in Northern Louisiana at Mansfield back in the 70's. This question was a favourite with examiners on the private check-ride oral back then.
On the sectional maps, the runway pattern did look like a round runway.
What these airports were was training bases during WW II and rather than having round runways, they usually consisted of regular straight runways laid out in a pattern where the end of one runway would connect with the next runway at about a 45 degree angle. They were great for training crosss wind landings or the reverse, you would not very likely have a crosswind landing due to the many selections of runway headings. By the time I eventually flew into the one at Mansfield, all but one runway was closed and the one that was open had a severely displaced threshold. From what I understand that airport is now a golf course and was replaced with a new airport in a different location.


Fly North Central Airlines..The route of the Northliners!
User currently offlineOPNLguy From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR:
Reply 2, posted (6 years 9 months 1 week 4 days 3 hours ago) and read 4751 times:

I'd never heard of this, let alone visualized it, so in case anyone else was wondering what it looked like here's a shot of ONZ:



User currently offlineAlexPorter From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR:
Reply 3, posted (6 years 9 months 1 week 4 days 2 hours ago) and read 4671 times:

I suppose that it was such that the navy planes could always take off into the wind. With a big military budget and with the STOL aircraft at the time, it was feasible since the diameter of the circle didn't need to be big. If a modern airport tried it today, it would be a fiscal nightmare and thus the round runways aren't seen much anymore.
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