Why do airplanes need runways to land?

Question

Gah... I need a nice, clean answer, I can't seem to find one anywhere.

Answer 1

so they don't crash and burn

Answer 2

What goes up, must come down at some point. Runways are the more conventional places for aircraft to land on, but  depending on the size and intended purpose, planes can land on all sorts of adequate surfaces, adequate being the key word. A light aircraft like your basic Cessna trainer can land all day long on a patch of grass using special techniques. Put some floats on it and go for a body of water. Military flights to the South pole have no problems landing in snow or ice. They are equipped with skis. The choice is yours. Even the heavy airliners can land on water but only in emergency situations using a procedure called "ditching". I prefer long asphalt or concrete runways. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

It seems pretty obvious to me, idk 7 thousand pounds of metal goin 500 mph? That's not goin to stop or start suddenly. U could be askin why don't they stop on short landings like aircraft carriers. Well on aircraft carriers they have some sort of wire that the piolet has to snag on a special part of his plane. Not only is this increadably hard but it is also very dangerous. The wire could snap and kill someone on the ground or he could miss and not relise it and kill himself. Both of these are good enough reasons not to put this on commercial airliners.

Answer 4

With the landing speeds of modern aircraft, they need a smooth surface to land on comfortably and safely. And with the weight of many of them, the concrete is necessary to prevent them sinking into the ground.

Answer 5

Not all do.  A good example is Bush flying. Bush pilots hardly ever land on a  runway

Answer 6

I want tu tell one thing that they need it for take off also....

Answer 7

There is a minimum speed below which an aircraft cannot remain in the air.  A runway gives an aircraft space to touch down on the ground at this speed or somewhat above, and then slow to a stop. Small aircraft may only be going 60 mph when they touch down, but they still have to slow down from 60 mph to a complete stop.  Large airliners might still be moving at 180 mph when they touch down, and it takes quite a bit of space to slow 400 tons from 180 mph to a complete stop.

Runways are used for take-off for the same reason.

Answer 8

this way they have more time to come a complete stop before they hit something.

Answer 9

Some Russian planes like the Mig-29 can land on dirt fields but they have special filters and trap-doors that keep out the rocks and dirt.  Without the extra gear, planes need clean hard surfaces to land on so the engines don't get plugged up with lawn turf.

Answer 10

Airplanes must be moving forward for the wings to develop lift.  The forward speed required for take-off and landing varies from 30-40 MPH for small, short-takeoff airplanes up to as much as 200 MPH for some heavy advanced airplanes.

The runway simply provides the area for the airplane to accelerate to take-off speed and come to a stop from landing speed.

Answer 11

They need them to take off, so might was well use them to land. Helps preserve the re-usability of the aircraft. Keeps the passengers, the owner, the FAA, and the insurance company happy. Those off-runway houses, buildings, and utility poles tend to get in the way...

Answer 12

well there are grass runways but things like rocks and elevation changes can affect the landing

Answer 13

its better than grass for new planes. but if you flying the Piper J-3 you land in a field in the mountains if you need to.

Answer 14

Because people got tired of parachuting to their destination.

Answer 15

because big jets wings are loaded with 100000 liters of fuel, and a bumpy road can make the wings scratch with the ground and the result you can see in " world most amazing videos" show

in some cases, highways can serve the fighter jets for emergency landings

Answer 16

Because large towers dont work well. . .

Too Soon?

And what james Enriquez said couldnt be more wrong. The plane is tons (literally tons) lighter because of all the fuel burnt off. I dont even know where he came up with his response. At least mine is a joke in bad taste, his is just dumb.

Answer 17

They don't.  Not all planes.

Answer 18

Roads are too crowded and will not handle the weight. Besides, the parking places are all built close to the runways, so why not use them?

Answer 19

dude!,.....when a plane takes-off,....it has a certain weight,.....when it lands,the weight increases a bit,...just dont know how much,.....plus the plane needs time to slow down,..

Answer 20

Its the Bernoulli effect. There needs to be a low pressure on top of the wing to create lift.

Answer 21

Airplanes develop tremendous kinetic energy while flying.

This needs to be given out gradually. Thus a runway is needed.

However VTOL aircrafts do not require a runway.

Answer 22

nice, clean answer:

If an airborn airplane stops moving forward, it will drop like a rock.  So it has to be on the ground before it stops moving forward.