[Jahn]

St. Maarten is where I honeymooned - that's one small island, I don't blame those folks for sucking up as much beach as they can (and then getting sucked up by those turbines!)

 

[D-EJ915]

My parents vacationed there one time. They said it was awesome but those are some freaking crazy shots dude. Utter insanity.

 

[kramer5150]

holy moly!! yeah wayne and Garth would have loved that.

Isn't there a "code restriction"... FAA or otherwise... to pave a runway on sand / sediment layers? Doesnt it have to be on hard pack earth of some sort?

 

[thefinder]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbriant That reminds me of Hong Kong's old airport ( I think they built a new one ) where you would fly incredibly close to and between office towers when landing.

And you got incredible views if you're on the plane when landing. But yes they have a new airport now, far away from the city center.

[edit]Forgot to say, nice shots.

 

[fr4c]

it would suck for the beach-goers if another "Dave Matthews Band Bus Accident" happened to one of those 747's.

 

[spookz]

to me actually.. those jets dont look as big as their suppose to

 

[D-EJ915]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spookz to me actually.. those jets dont look as big as their suppose to

It's easiest to see the scale in this one:

THe people kinda isolated are right under it.

 

[SunByrne]

hmm, i suspect Photoshop. 747s move a lot of air and the water and sand seem completely unaffected. How is there no sand being kicked up by that?

 

[warubozu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbriant That reminds me of Hong Kong's old airport ( I think they built a new one ) where you would fly incredibly close to and between office towers when landing.

That old airport was Hong Kong's Kai Tak airport which was put out of comission on July 6, 1998 after they had opened Hong Kong's current airport, Chek Lap Kok. Runway 13 at Kai Tak was ridiculously short (originally it was only 8700 feet in length, an additional 500' was added to it eventually which was still too short) that pilots had to get on the brakes to try and get the jet to stop before they over shot the runway and end up in the water. Planes over shooting the runway from not being able to stop because of the short runway was a common occurance at Kai Tak.

Planes on their approach to Kai Tak flew really low over buildings in Kowloon and the approach lights were ontop of residential and commercial buildings. Pilots put their fully loaded jets into an insane 40 degree approach angle towards the runway and once they touched down they got on the brakes trying to slow down the plane with only 2/3 of the runway left.

 

[warubozu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SunByrne hmm, i suspect Photoshop. 747s move a lot of air and the water and sand seem completely unaffected. How is there no sand being kicked up by that?

No, those photos are pretty authentic. The reason you don't see the sand or water being kicked up by the approaching jet is that the engines are probably at half trust or less. At that height with engines at half power or less it probably wouldn't produce enough thrust up whip up the sand or water into a frenzy. It would be a whole different story if the plane was taking off at that height with engines at full thrust.

 

[soundboy]

Nowadays, if you take off from the new Hong Kong Int'l Airport at night, you will be treated to one of the most spectacular night scenes flying above Victoria Harbor. One of the "1,000 Things To See Before You Die", according to the book of the same name.

Here's one photo of a Korean Air Cargo 747 banking hard to make the landing at the old Hong Kong Airport....

 

[soundboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by warubozu It would be a whole different story if the plane was taking off at that height with engines at full thrust.

That's where this sign comes into play....

 

[warubozu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soundboy Here's one photo of a Korean Air Cargo 747 banking hard to make the landing at the old Hong Kong Airport....

Kai Tak's runway appears soon after jets has cleared the mountain tops in the background of that pic giving pilots no chance for a smooth and shallow decent. They approach the runway at a steep angle and at the same time banking to align themselves with the short runway.

 

[Oink1]

I would so love to be on that stretch of beach - thats insane!

 

[GoRedwings19]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbriant That reminds me of Hong Kong's old airport ( I think they built a new one ) where you would fly incredibly close to and between office towers when landing.

Yes the old kowloon airport. This is my favourtite airport of all time. When you come in too land it's really close to high rise buildings in hong kong. But the real juice is when you take off. There's no rush like it.

Because of the exceptionally short runway the pilots hit full throttle. It's scary, exciting all at the same time.

They use to say if you can land or takeoff at the old kowloon airport then you can land/takeoff at any airport in the world.

It is currently a go kart track.