Landing Circles

What are they?

How did they work?

What size are they?

When were they brought in to use and phased out?

Ref if you don't know what a landing circle is where it you get the term from, LOL

what is a landing circle anyway, LOL

A landign circle does exactly what it says, its a circle on a grass aerodrome that aircraft landed in. I think they went away when runways came in, its very rare to see a grass airfield that doesnt have marked runways.

There is another circle on military airfields and thats the one around the main windsock.

PNK wrote:

Rochester has one with the name.
As regards size, I have no idea but I am sure I have seen a pic with a larger old circle overlaid with a newer one. I am thinking Hawkinge and possible after it closed and was ploughed up. If I can get hold of my copy of BOBTAN I can confirm.

The circle at Rochester is 31m (100ft) with a windsock in the centre.

Hugo.

Thanks for the replies folks.

would the 31m be the same as when they were used for landing in? or am I getting confused here?

The 1927 site plan of Hucknall shows an existing 4 ft wide concrete ring "Landing Circle" of 25 yd diameter centred on a new ring of 150 yd dia also 4 ft thick but made of chalk. Both circles survived the war, but the outer ring had portions of it missing or grassed over by 46/8. The inner circle survived the construction of the concrete runway PW and I think would have done so to the present had it not been for the construction of a sound deflection berm when the engine test facility was built post 1971.
I did look for traces of it during a very wet PFA meeting last June but couldn't find a thing. How sad is that?
Milan