Advice wanted on renting an airfield (commercial venture)

Jimmy.B;163305 wrote:

Someone told me that a runway strip needs to be about 1/4 of a mile wide so there is enough room for the plane to land safely.
Is this true or not?

Peter wrote:

The average wartime runway width was 50 yards for concrete or other hard surfaces. I really have no idea where someone got the idea they were 440yds wide! You can land some planes on that width. The Bottisham example had no hard runways, just a very temporary metal matting for single engine fighters that was removed in 1945/6. Most airfields in the south-east have been built on or dug up for hardcore so you are probably looking at a current civil airport or an ex-RAF airfield now in Army hands, both of which may not be willing to move out for you.

Have you though about an old industrial site that may have large areas of concrete and possibly decent access to a trunk road? It may be worth following your target location routes on Google Earth to see if anything shows up but with the updates on GE not being that regular and houses being built on brownfield sites this may also be a task and a half.

Jimmy.B wrote:

Hi there.

I have had the idea for some time now to rent an air field out and use it as a lorry park.

Jimmy B

Jimmy.B wrote:

Someone told me that a runway strip needs to be about 1/4 of a mile wide so there is enough room for the plane to land safely.
Is this true or not?

Peter wrote:

The average wartime runway width was 50 yards for concrete or other hard surfaces. I really have no idea where someone got the idea they were 440yds wide!