[cfgeeks] Things that make you go hmmmm.....

[Dave Hudson]

Was just tinkering around with Google Earth tonight.

First off... i think its pretty geeky-cool that you can type in "AREA 51"
and it jumps to it on the map.

Secondly, take a look at these two screen shots.

http://davehudson.net/share/images/hartsfield-jackson.JPG

http://davehudson.net/share/images/area51.JPG

The first one is a measurement of Hartsfield-Jackson's longest runway, which
is 2.25 miles long.

The second one is Area 51's longest runway, which is 4.52 miles long.

When you think of runways, there are two factors in length - weight of
aircraft and speed.

If you have heavier aircrafts - i.e. 777's that are loaded with passengers,
you need more runway for them to touchdown and decelerate based on weight.

If you have a lighter aircraft - i.e. a F-111 or SR-71 blackbird, you would
need more runway for them to touchdown and decelerate based on speed.

If you need 4.5 miles of runway, and we presume you have lighter aircraft...
then what the heck is taking off and landing from there??!!

Of course you could argue that if you are "really" working on Alien
Anti-Gravity technology, then why would you need long run ways?!

Finally - what are the strange looking "unfinished runways" on top of the
dry groom lake?