altiport
Sign in to savethumb|Alpe d'Huez Airport with sloped runway An altiport is an aerodrome for small airplanes and helicopters, situated on or within mountainous terrain. Altiports are generally characterized by having a runway with an atypical slope to fit in the local topography. Ultimately, this slope helps aircraft decelerating when landing and assists acceleration during takeoff. High altitude results in less lift available to aircraft wings, which requires aircraft to achieve higher speed at takeoff and landing. Such airfields with unusual physical characteristics are frequent in regions such as the Frenc
Article
4 sectionsContents
- Definitions
- List of altiports
- Notes
- References
thumb|Alpe d'Huez Airport with sloped runway An altiport is an aerodrome for small airplanes and helicopters, situated on or within mountainous terrain. Altiports are generally characterized by having a runway with an atypical slope to fit in the local topography. Ultimately, this slope helps aircraft decelerating when landing and assists acceleration during takeoff. High altitude results in less lift available to aircraft wings, which requires aircraft to achieve higher speed at takeoff and landing. Such airfields with unusual physical characteristics are frequent in regions such as the French Alps, Himalayan regions, as well as Pacific islands.
==Definitions== According to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Document 9150: STOLport Manual: "An altiport may be defined as a small airport in a mountainous area with a steep gradient runway, used for landing up the slope and for take-off down the slope, thereby making use of only one approach/departure area."