Today’s airports operate runways with fixed directions, so There are a limited number of directions available for takeoff and landing. During a storm, high winds or snowfall, the runway capacity is limited due to this. This direction also means that some areas near the airport experience more noise than others. The solution? A circular track.
The project has been called The Endless Runway and is led by a team of Dutch scientists from the Netherlands Aerospace Center (NLR). On the endless runway, the planes They have the possibility of landing anywhere in the circle. This allows you to always find at least one point where there is no crosswind, but only a headwind. This means that the airport can operate at a sustainable capacity.
The project was partly funded by the European Commission’s Framework 7 programme. The European Commission recognizes thatMobility will come under pressure in the coming decades and that new cutting-edge technology will be necessary.
This runway is a circle that has no limitations on where to take off or land, allowing you to fly from or to any direction. The circle has a diameter of 3.5 kilometers and the total length of the runway is 10 km. This means that passengers during takeoff or landing will not have the feeling of being on a roller coaster, but will experience a maximum force of 1.2 g, similar to that of a train on a curved track. At the same time, a typical landing only requires a portion of the runway with a limited curve.
The plane will take off at the point where there is no crosswind. In limited wind conditions, the aircraft can take off and land anywhere on the circle. This allows you to choose an optimal point, depending on the origin of the landing plane or the destination when taking off.
To this we must add that the track is inclined or banked. Starting from the inside of the circle on a flat surface, the angle of inclination will gradually increase outwards. Due to centrifugal forces, a plane that takes off in the middle of the circle will move toward the outside until it takes off, while a plane that arrives at the airport will land on the part of the slope that depends on its speed and will gradually move downward. when reducing speed.
If the plane lands too high, the angle of the runway will force it to descend quickly until it finds the correct trajectory. Conversely, the plane will be forced to descend outwards if it lands too low. “We estimate that the track must be extended to a width of 140 meters to allow this operation to be safe – those responsible explain on the website -. In the 1960s, flight tests were carried out with military aircraft, where pilots reported that the runway was easy to use and that the angle of inclination made them move quickly towards the correct trajectory.
The capacity of an airport with an endless runway is, at a minimum, similar to that of a conventional airport with four runwayswhile the length of the circular track is comparable to one with three tracks. This makes it possible to use the runway with several aircraft simultaneously.
The Flight times in the area around the airport will be reducedsince planes can now enter and leave simultaneously. It also allows you to avoid areas where most people live.
Another advantage of the concept is that airport buildings can be built in the middle of the circle, reducing the total area: a large airport like Paris would fit inside the circle, reducing everything to a third of the size of the current airport.
All advantages? Not so much. The construction costs of the airport will be higher because the amount of concrete required will be greater and the construction will be more complex due to the angle of inclination. The engineers point out that the price would be 50% higher than that of a conventional airportl.
“We have run simulations, using a PC-based flight simulator and an air traffic control simulator, to figure out where we need to adapt current operations and procedures and what new developments will be necessary. We verify takeoff and landing in the most restricted situations with a B747 simulation,” those responsible conclude.
When will it be ready? The idea is that Next decade the first “infinite airport” will be inaugurated and taking into account that Spain is one of the European partners, it would not be strange for it to be built here.