Feb 14, 2016 – The Dutch airport will be one hundred years old in September this year. It used to be a military airfield on a meadow surrounded by a few huts. It has become one of the major airports in the world. The video here below might have been used for an Air-English examination. Let us play with questions – number 1 – according to the video, when was Schipol airport completely destroyed? Number 2 – Could you quote two major improvements that happened in the 1980s? Watch the video:
Here are the answers:
Number 1: Schipol was completely destroyed during World War 2. (listen again at 00’19 »)
Number 2: As far as the 1980s are concerned, you have got the choice between (listen again at 00’47 »):
The airport apron was expanded;
The terminal became bigger;
The area was beautified;
In time, piers and railway connections were added.
Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport (IATA: SAB, ICAO: TNCS) on the island of Saba, in the Netherlands Antilles is located on a small plateau above the Caribbean Sea. Its runway is very short – 400 meters long.
Toncontin International Airport (IATA: TGU, ICAO: MHTG) or Teniente Coronel Hernan Acosta Mejia Airport – at one thousand metres altitude – is located in a hollow on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Its 2,021-meter long runway – even though it was extended in 2009 as it was 1,863 metres long only – is one of the shortest ones among the international airports. A very dangerous hillside at the end of the runway was removed in 2009 too. This airport was ranked second in this top 10 before.
Courchevel Airport or Altiport (IATA: CVF – ICAO: LFLJ) is an airfield that serves Courchevel, a ski resort in the French Alps. Its 525-metre long runway has a slope at an 18.5 percent incline. There is no ILS, and no go-around procedure. Courchevel is a difficult approach as ski runs are in the vicinity of its upslope runway. Moreover, the airport’s elevation is at 2,008 metres (6,588 ft).
Gibraltar International Airport or North Front Airport (IATA: GIB, ICAO: LXGB) is located in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, and belongs to the UK Ministry of Defence though it is a civilian airport too. There are around 3,000 aircraft movements per year. The main road intersects the airport runway, and the road traffic is stopped whenever an airplane takes off, or lands.
Los Roques Airport, or Aeropuerto Los Roques, in Spanish (IATA: LRV, ICAO: SVRS). It is a domestic airport with a one-kilometre long runway on the El Gran Roque island, Venezuela.
Saint Maarten International Airport (IATA: SXM, ICAO: TNCM) (also known as Princess Juliana International Airport) is located on the Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin. Viral videos, and pictures are regularly posted on the Web as the runway threshold is only a few meters from the beach, and tourists can feel the turbulence, and even the blast of heavy aircraft when they land, or take off.
Madeira Airport (IATA: FNC, ICAO: LPMA), or Funchal Airport (as Funchal is the name of the nearest cathedral), is an international airport in Santa Catarina, Santa Cruz, Madeira, Portugal. Its two runways are a bit short, and surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, and mountains.
CNN’s Rebecca Anderson explains how the safety measures are ensured at Amsterdam’s Schipol airport. You can see in this video how the air traffic controllers work and guide the pilots in, and how the bird management and control personnel copes with BASH – Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard:
July 6, 2011 – The legendary Hong Kong Kai Tak International Airport could have been inserted into this list but it closed down on July 6th, 1998 i.e. exactly 13 years ago, and this top ten gathers airfields still in service only. Gibraltar airport could have been part of it as a route (yes, you’ve well read) crosses its runway.
It must be very difficult to set up such ranking. This is what AirfareWatchdog has tried to do. Among them, a striking view of Courchevel airport at an altitude of 2,008 m featuring a steep slope in the middle of its runway.
As I have been told that this post about Rafales vs Eurofighter Typhoons, F-16s, and F-22s left some in disbelief, I believe it is fair to point out that some elements were written in bold typing as « rumours », and the publications quoted were not « filed » as rumours though it might have been some rumours as well – who knows, indeed? For instance, many times gossip spread about Mirage 2000s that would never shoot F-16s down. Never ever? Watch below…
Many (on a global basis – which means not everybody) people still believe that no Rafale could outperform any F-16. Let us watch hereafter (in French, sorry).
For those who cannot speak French, it is mentioned in this video that the Rafales defeated the F-16s in a US AFB, and the score would have been 6 – 2.
Well, let us go back to the previous Rafales’ performance post for I have not added further information I had read before from a remarkable Swiss aviation specialist’s website: AVIA NEWS. Pascal – AVIA NEWS webmaster – let me quote his analysis according to which the Rafale obtained the best score (95%) among the fighter aircraft evaluated for choosing which will replace the Swiss Air Force’s F-5 Tiger. The other two competitors were the SAAB JAS-39 Gripen, and the Eurofighter / Typhoon. I am going to update my previous article about this figure.
Last but not least: The Dutch did compare various fighter aircraft in 2002. Who remembers? The RNLAF – the Royal Netherlands Air Force – carried out this study and the balance sheet came out in the Dutch press:
Here is the rating reported:
F-35 = 6.97
RAFALE = 6.95
Eurofighter = 5.83
F-16 Block 60 = 5.80
Well, we must admit that the JSF / F-35 Lightning II is the best fighter among those that were assessed. However it was a close shave, wasn’t it?
Some might say « it was just an illusion ». Well, why not? Illusion would be everywhere – as for instance:
Do you really think that a serious R&D organisation is used to issuing so-called inaccurate reports?
Do you really think that a DGA/CHEAr research director would recognize that the Rafale can be on a par with the JSF / F-35 Lightning II? This is what happened during a symposium (colloque) in January 2006.
As a conclusion, many people still believe that F-16s can outperform Rafales, MiG-29s, Eurofighters, and even Su-27s. This is not an illusion.
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