Future downtown airport design

[mikea]

http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/01/06/skyscraper-airport-for-city-of-tomorrow/

Ah, the days when airplanes were loved as the sure sign of the future instead of being detested.

He thought there would be so many airport operations that you'd need 12 runway "lanes" in use simultaneously. Note that there are no taxiways to get to the ends of the "lanes." Oh, I guess you back taxi on the adjacent "lane."

"Parking space for 250,000 private planes" I wonder if they would be amazed to know that that's close to how many there are in the whole country in 2006.
"Lanes marked out in direction of prevailing wind" I just hope they can get the wind to follow the lanes.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Wow... That's an interesting concept. HUGE building (200 stories, 8x3 city blocks). Airship port, 50 floors of airplane parking garage...

The only problem is, they've got the airfield on top split into "takeoff lanes" and "landing lanes" which are each slightly less than half the length of the building, meaning under 4 blocks to take off or land. That's around 1,000 feet! And if you try to abort... Though I suppose you could just go off the edge and then glide to a real airport from that high up!

 

[gprellwitz]

He thought there would be so many airport operations that you'd need 12 runway "lanes" in use simultaneously. Note that there are no taxiways to get to the ends of the "lanes." Oh, I guess you back taxi on the adjacent "lane."

Nope, no need to back-taxi. Note that there's a "landing field" and a "take-off field" with the terminal and parking for private planes between them. Since it's eight city blocks long, obviously there's enough space for both!

 

[gprellwitz]

The only problem is, they've got the airfield on top split into "takeoff lanes" and "landing lanes" which are each slightly less than half the length of the building, meaning under 4 blocks to take off or land. That's around 1,000 feet!

Huh? Where do you find a city block only 250'? I recall Chicago blocks as 8 to the mile, but I'm sure Mike or Leslie will correct me if I'm wrong. Still, you're talking about 2500' then for takeoff or landing of a transport plane! Better than 1000', but still...

 

[Skip Miller]

Huh? Where do you find a city block only 250'? I recall Chicago blocks as 8 to the mile, but I'm sure Mike or Leslie will correct me if I'm wrong. Still, you're talking about 2500' then for takeoff or landing of a transport plane! Better than 1000', but still...

Manhattan blocks are about 264 feet (20 streets to the mile) in the short dimension, and 1020 feet (5.2 to the mile) from avenue to avenue. APPROXIMATELY! Lots of exceptions.

-Skip

 

[gprellwitz]

Manhattan blocks are about 264 feet (20 streets to the mile) in the short dimension, and 1020 feet (5.2 to the mile) from avenue to avenue. APPROXIMATELY! Lots of exceptions.

-Skip

This is what I get for spending so much time in Chicago! Thanks for the specifics! And, of course, they did show the Empire State Building as a reference, so it seems reasonable that they were talking about New York streets rather than Chicago streets.

 

[ScottM]

You are both right

NY=20blocks/mile (north south)
Chicago=8blocks/mile

[SIZE=-1] Chicago was built on a grid system with a "major" street every half mile - equal to four blocks.

http://www.transitchicago.com/maps/systemmaps.html

[/SIZE]

As a convenient guide to distance, there are 20 blocks per mile along the avenues (walking North/South). The average person can walk roughly 1 block per minute. Walking East/West on the streets, the blocks are generally much longer.

So maybe the runways in NY will be east west cause the blocks are longer in that direction.

 

[ScottM]

Mike where did you did that up from?

 

[Richard]

Listen to yourselves! Who gives a rip on the length of a city block? The future is at stake!

The '20s and '30s were the hey days for the futurist dreamer.

Instead of pining for the olden days we should be looking to the future and tuning into how we can influence it.

 

[nddons]

How would you like to work in the top floor of those buildings with transport-catagory aircraft taking off and landing over your head every 30 seconds? I love airplanes, but I think I'd take a pass.

Wouldn't it be safer to, oh, I don't know, put an airport on a peninsula out into a big body of water, such as, say, Lake Michigan? Oh wait, Duh Mayor said it's too dangerous to fly aircraft a few miles away from tall buildings.

Maybe we should put parks on top of buildings, and airports on the ground where they belong!

 

[Richard]

Stan, that's a downside of being a pragmatist. Ya' gotta' think outside of the box; those planes are supposed to alight with the soft, gentle touch of an Osprey. The office worker wouldn't even know it. I wonder if they would have LSOs on the top deck. For that matter, I wonder if guys like Teller would know how to call the ball.

 

[stingray]

Talk about a landing fee! Not to mention the parking fee! Of course you save on the taxi ride. It would be kind of cool when the top stuck up out of the clouds.

Dan

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Manhattan blocks are about 264 feet (20 streets to the mile) in the short dimension, and 1020 feet (5.2 to the mile) from avenue to avenue. APPROXIMATELY! Lots of exceptions.

I googled "length of a city block in feet" which came up with http://www.onlineconversion.com/length_all.htm and used the "City block - Eastern US" because of...

This is what I get for spending so much time in Chicago! Thanks for the specifics! And, of course, they did show the Empire State Building as a reference, so it seems reasonable that they were talking about New York streets rather than Chicago streets.

...The Empire State Building being on the pic.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

How would you like to work in the top floor of those buildings with transport-catagory aircraft taking off and landing over your head every 30 seconds? I love airplanes, but I think I'd take a pass.

Read again: The top FIFTY FLOORS are for aircraft parking! In an office, you'd be quite a ways away from the planes taking off and landing.

 

[gprellwitz]

Read again: The top FIFTY FLOORS are for aircraft parking! In an office, you'd be quite a ways away from the planes taking off and landing.

Yeah, 500 - 600 feet away?

 

[mikea]

Huh? Where do you find a city block only 250'? I recall Chicago blocks as 8 to the mile, but I'm sure Mike or Leslie will correct me if I'm wrong. Still, you're talking about 2500' then for takeoff or landing of a transport plane! Better than 1000', but still...

Manhattan blocks are about 264 feet (20 streets to the mile) in the short dimension, and 1020 feet (5.2 to the mile) from avenue to avenue. APPROXIMATELY! Lots of exceptions.

-Skip

This is what I get for spending so much time in Chicago! Thanks for the specifics! And, of course, they did show the Empire State Building as a reference, so it seems reasonable that they were talking about New York streets rather than Chicago streets.

You are both right

NY=20blocks/mile (north south)
Chicago=8blocks/mile

Chicago divided square miles into quarters - a major street each mile and a secondary street each half mile - with a church and business district on the opposite outside corners on each quarter and each quarter divided in half for blocks and then half of each block again with alleys. Thus 8 blocks per mile, and the major streets are numbered 800 (Chicago), 1600 (North), 2400 (Fullerton), 3200 (Belmont) etc. with the secondaries at 1200 (Division), 1800 (Armitage), 2600 (Diversey), 3600 (Addison).

That's why us guys have so much trouble finding our way in terrain that doesn't go east/west and nort/sout.

 

[JohnR]

Pretty cool how airplanes of the future all look like 1930s designs.

What year will pink and white become fashionable colors for skyscrapers?