Sadly safe for work.

I was disappointed, too, and I wasn't even expecting public hair. #4 is pretty cool.

Bob Down: #5 is pretty cool.

FTFM, dopey

They forgot Midway in Chicago. The end of the runway is a major intersection with only a chain link fence along the property line.
I will never fly there again.

National in DC ain't too bad.

A handlebar landing strip might freak me out.

Charleston, WV should be on there. They chopped the top of a mountain off for the runway.

Bob Down

I was disappointed, too, and I wasn't even expecting public hair.

Nobody ever expects public hair.

RIP Kai Tak Airport

Charmane Star is conspicuously missing from that list...

Sadly, not one Brazilian among the lot.

*sigh*

Charlotte Amelie Airport in St. Thomas.

Runway ends at the base of a cliff.

Pray the brakes work.

MmmCrime: Sadly safe for work.

I too misunderstood the headline.

Julieahni: Nobody ever expects public hair.

Distracting you with the #5 typo didn't work, I see

Something they failed to mention regarding the Gibraltar airport, the only road in or out of town bisects the runway, so when planes arrive auto traffic has to be stopped. Love Gibraltar.

I've flown into the Tegucigalpa airport 3 times. It's also one of those airports where the runway ends in a very busy highway. The scariest part is seeing mountains on the left and right rising higher than the passengers can see through the airplane windows.

styckx: RIP Kai Tak Airport


My dad used to tell me about that one. He said it was quite scary to hear the engines cut out in midair. When I told him they were shutting it down, he said it was about time.

Ngurah Rai airport in Bali is pretty scary.

Julieahni: Bob Down

I was disappointed, too, and I wasn't even expecting public hair.

Nobody ever expects public hair.

Or ... The Spanish Inquisition!

styckx: RIP Kai Tak Airport

That airport scared the shiat out of me. It was completely insane landing there. Here is one of the first links I found. Kai Tak (new window) And here is a picture from the site:
I learned that whatever you do don't look out the window when landing eventually.

discount sushi: They forgot Midway in Chicago. The end of the runway is a major intersection with only a chain link fence along the property line.

McGuire AFB has one like that, sans the major intersection (it's a small back road). We used to be able to park at the end of the runway and watch the C-130s, -140s, and even the occasional C-5 take off over our heads. That was pre-9/11, of course.

discount sushi: They forgot Midway in Chicago. The end of the runway is a major intersection with only a chain link fence along the property line.
I will never fly there again.

From 2005:

I prefer Midway over O'Hare because there are way fewer delays and cancellations. Midway now has some sort of concrete at the end of the runway designed to crumble and catch the plane before it plows into traffic.

Watching the landings in St. Maarten from the beach or the Sunset Beach Bar are awesome. Lots of boobies on the beach and at the bar.

damat01: Gibraltar airport, the only road in or out of town bisects the runway

"The Rock" is number four on the list. Here's a better shot from the road itself. (new window)

Imagine a five hour bus ride with no shocks (from Cadiz to Algecieras), arriving well past midnight: hungover, tired, hungry and schlepping entirely too much luggage. The little shiat working the border passport booth jerked his thumb in a vague direction off in the distance, never said a damned word about a damned runway.

If you squinted, you could see another shack underneath a dim street light. We took deep breaths, hauled our shiat and started trudging. Almost halfway there, a g'damn aircraft wing was OVER our heads and I can still see the f'ing tires up close and personal. The sound, the vibration and the wind blast were totally unexpected and it was all I could do not to shiat myself right then and there. The next afternoon, in the daylight, from the top of the rock - we only fully understood what had happened.

This shot is kind of a side view that includes the rock (new window)

and here is an aerial view. (new window)

It was an absolutely horrible introduction to a great little place.

/still freak out landing at LAX, always forget that the freeway isn't literally bisecting the runway. after the adrenaline rush, I remember that the freeway enters a tunnel. stupid.

Kai Tak Extreme Landings - Good compilation of Kai Tak landings.
Link (new window)

^ Er wrong link

New one

Link (new window)

Ngurah Rai airport in Bali is pretty scary.

I didn't think it was too bad.

Tribhuvan in Kathmandu was really interesting, coming over those mountains with the updrafts.

The original headline was:

The world's 10 funkiest landing strips (with pics) (safe for work)

I was thinking of:

The world's 10 funkiest landing strips (with pics) (no Lindsay?)

Manic_Repressive

McGuire AFB has one like that, sans the major intersection (it's a small back road). We used to be able to park at the end of the runway and watch the C-130s, -140s, and even the occasional C-5 take off over our heads. That was pre-9/11, of course.

I remember that. My aunt has a tree farm in Cream Ridge, and used to take us down that way for kicks. Watching the big SOBs coming down was pretty cool.

BigDumbGuy: styckx: RIP Kai Tak Airport

That airport scared the shiat out of me. It was completely insane landing there. Here is one of the first links I found. Kai Tak (new window) And here is a picture from the site:
I learned that whatever you do don't look out the window when landing eventually.

Looks like an Ace Combat landing

--> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah *crash*

Continue?
Yes No

JustinCase: damat01: Gibraltar airport, the only road in or out of town bisects the runway

"The Rock" is number four on the list. Here's a better shot from the road itself. (new window)


Wow. I'd heard of that runway and road before but never seen it.

badgerb: Watching the landings in St. Maarten from the beach or the Sunset Beach Bar are awesome. Lots of boobies on the beach and at the bar.

Standing on the beach and trying to remain standing from the blast during a takeoff is pretty cool too. At the very least, you're in your own personal sandstorm for a few seconds.

Jesus Christ, is the Gibraltar one under water at high tide?

No San Diego Lindburgh Field?

RoyBatty: The original headline was:

The world's 10 funkiest landing strips (with pics) (safe for work)

No it wasn't. You, unlike subby, used the apostrophe properly.

No Paris, Lindsay nor Britney crotch shots to be found. Bad Subby, mislabeling the link!

PatGund: No San Diego Lindburgh Field?

I was mildly surprised it wasn't there. Steep approach, single runway.

And who decided that a tall concrete parking structure right in the approach path was a good idea?

BigDumbGuy: I prefer Midway over O'Hare because there are way fewer delays and cancellations. Midway now has some sort of concrete at the end of the runway designed to crumble and catch the plane before it plows into traffic.

I feel so much better now. Oddly I haven't hit any delays going through O'Hare in a long time.

/jinxed myself

Montego Bay Jamica.

There are light poles in the ocean that help guide the pilots in (in the dark). It is pretty cool because the planes get pretty low over the ocean while landing.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=montego+bay+jamaica&rls=com.microsoft:*&ie=UTF-8&o e=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1&um=1&sa=N&tab=wl&oi=property_suggestions&resnum= 0&ct=property-revision&cd=2

Majuro International Airport in the Marshall Islands

borg: Ngurah Rai airport in Bali is pretty scary.

Ditto "Majuro" in the Marshall Islands. It's like an Aircraft Carrier on steriods.

K/H D

Styckx - Jeebus, those landings were terrifying, great clip. Glad it's closed, flying there would scare the bejasus out of me.

Locals, who are avid cockle pickers

WTF?

Manic_Repressive: discount sushi: They forgot Midway in Chicago. The end of the runway is a major intersection with only a chain link fence along the property line.

McGuire AFB has one like that, sans the major intersection (it's a small back road). We used to be able to park at the end of the runway and watch the C-130s, -140s, and even the occasional C-5 take off over our heads. That was pre-9/11, of course.

The reception station for basic training at Ft Dix was adjacent to the end of one of the runways for McGuire. The couple of nights I spent there were sleepless as the constant parade of 141's to and from Europe were more than I could handle.

The Grinch: Manic_Repressive

McGuire AFB has one like that, sans the major intersection (it's a small back road). We used to be able to park at the end of the runway and watch the C-130s, -140s, and even the occasional C-5 take off over our heads. That was pre-9/11, of course.

I remember that. My aunt has a tree farm in Cream Ridge, and used to take us down that way for kicks. Watching the big SOBs coming down was pretty cool.

Yeah, it was a picnic lunch afternoon. Seriously. I'm just mad I never brought my camera.

/good times

personally, I think the one where I got my pilot's license was pretty farking scary. Only 37 feet wide and 2400 feet long! Thats narrower than most taxiways. If you can land there, you can land just about anywhere.


www.flyskypark.com

//obligatory

Lindburgh field is pretty fun.. most of the time you approach over (or I should say, through) downtown.. you can look out your window and see skyscrapers to each side of the plane.

And it gets foggy pretty often. One time our pilot had to take off and go around three times, and for some reason gets on the PA and says "I don't know how these other pilots are landing in this." Really boosted the confidence of the passengers, that. :)

Sheesh. Makes Juneau, Alaska look like the salt flats.

I'm so glad I got the chance to land at Kai Tak, back in '88.

You're at the end of a long-ass flight (coming from L.A., anyways) and you see these beautiful islands appear. You go lower and lower, and the islands begin to solidify in peninsulas and start sprouting 20-story apartment buildings EVERYWHERE. Soon, you are cruising very low over water, and the apartment buildings and the hills are much higher than you are. You think you're landing in the water and then the runway appears under you right at the last second. It was awesome!

Kai Tak was also the only place I've ever had a machine gun pointed at me. :-)