TakeOff and landings at Manchester International.

[b3zza]

Just a quick question.

To my knowledge, the active runway is decided upon the current weather. Mainly, which way the wind is blowing. However, on every visit to RINGWAY all take off and landings have been on Runway 24R (takeoff on 24L now there's 2 runways). I've never as yet seen any take offs in the other direction. Is it just coincidence that I've gone to the airport at these times, or does Manchester not adhere to the normal rules as such.

Cheers.

[positiveg]

Is it possible for an airport to have a runway just for departure and another one just for landings?

[BlueDevil]

No, very few airports have set runways just for landing or taking off. If they do it is usually because if obstructions on the other end.

Many airports are designed so the runways point into the wind for a good part of the year. The airport I fly out of uses the same two runways for takeoffs and landings about 90% of the time, because it was aligned with the general wind direction.

[pacallen]

>direction. Is it just coincidence that I've gone to the
>airport at these times, or does Manchester not adhere to the
>normal rules as such.

Wind is the main factor that determines active runways, but also noise abatement and proximity to the terminal for taxiing purposes. Most airliners can take a 5-7kt tailwind without any problem. However, if the wind was blowing strongly from the NE, they would probably use 6L/6R at Manchester.

>Is it possible for an airport to have a runway just for
>departure and another one just for landings?
Yes, but often aircraft taking off will request or be given an arrival runway and vica versa.

[lnuss]

Taking off and landing into the wind are more than just human-made rules. It's a physical reality that headwinds let an aircraft have a slower ground speed for takeoff or landing, thus using less runway and having less wear and tear on the aircraft. So you'll rarely find takeoffs and landings with much over 5-7 knots of tailwind component, as safety is affected. Tailwind takeoffs not only use more runway, but they tend to make the aircraft somewhat less controllable and make for shallower climb angles, none of which are conducive to safety. A similar problem exists for landing with tailwinds.

Most airports, when possible, are laid out such that at least one runway is more or less aligned with the prevailing winds, so that it may appear that the same runway is in use most of the time. That's likely what you are encountering.

That being said, there are a few places, especially in more remote mountain areas, where due to sloping terrain, obstacles (mountains, etc.) and so on, takeoffs are always one way and landings the other, regardless of wind, but this also implies that there are times when the airport is unusable if the winds are too strong in the wrong direction.

[b3zza]

Thanks.

The reason I originally asked is that when I play FS2004 it nearly always gives me 6L for takeoffs which is something I've never seen at the real airport. The thing is, I always use the real weather setting which should mean that FS sets 24R surely? If the weather is matching that of the real airport and they're using 24R (Which I know they were at the time because I had my scanner on) then surely FS should've set 24R too. But it never.

Weird. :^|

Oh, one more thing while I'm here. Is it possible to get the current airport map for free on the internet? My old Jeppesen files are out of date and only have the one runway at Ringway. If it poss, where should I look.

Cheers.

[Vike]

I don't know why FS in Manchester should assign runway 6L, but if you look at the airports in the UK you'll notice that the vast majority are roughly east / west and most flights land and take off on the westerly.

It does seam strange that FS should decide on runway 6 - what are the prevailing winds when it does that?

Cheers,
Vike

[FatTulip]

Sometimes FS won't change the active runway for me unless I really crank up the wind speed. It's possible that if the wind is only a couple of kts then 06L will remain the one of choice in FS.

In reality, as you quite rightly state, 24R/06L is used the majority of the time. By law they have to use only one runway between 22.00 and 06.00hrs then 12.00 to 15.00hrs anyway.

[link:www.manairport.co.uk/Web.nsf/alldocs/E3B5FF6A32F47A0080256E2300369364/$File/Single+Runway+Operations.pdf|It's mainly about noise, but here's a summary.]

[flyinggriffin]

For the heck of it, next time check and see that the weather reported on flight sim matches what the real airport is calling for.

[jboweruk]

The time thing is very much true of a number of UK airports, I know it's true of Heathrow, but it's not true interestingly of London City, which doesn't seem to go so much by time at all. In the morning most planes do seem to come in from the East yes, but later in the day it does seem to depend on the wind direction, as I've seen aircraft taking off from different directions on different days. Sometimes over London, sometimes away.