Is BHX runway as bad as it looks?

[Crush]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7P9OAng32F0

Watching this video I noticed how 'hilly' the runway appears. Is it designed to be like this as I though the best runway would be flatter?

[Dr Jekyll]

It looks worse than it is because the video is taken from a long way off with a long lens or high magnification. You've got the full 2 mile length of runway in some of those shots.

Runways aren't completely flat though, you often can't see one end of the runway while waiting at the other. Luton used to have a 6 foot hump but that was regarded as a bit much and was removed.

Edited by Dr Jekyll on Saturday 16th August 13:25

[adsvx220]

I think it was from the bomber days in the war. I heard somewhere that they used to put the humps in the runway as bit of a ramp to give the bombers a little help.

[Lotus Notes]

It looks like foreshortening from the cameraman..

I flew into BHX from GVA on one of these flights just before Christmas, the last two minutes were like a fairground ride - deathly silence followed by odd scream! and I thought Schipol was choppy.

[Crush]

Cheers, I thought it looked a bit bumpy on the video

[markmullen]

kapiteinlangzaam said:

BHX and LBA in the UK give some fantastic / down right scary x-wind approaches.

Fair play to the pilots, its one of the few moments in modern flying where proper hands-on fight skills are still needed.

LBA can have some exciting landings, it often feels like you're in some kind of WW2 bomber as they bang them in hard.

[AlexIT]

I witnessed a rather exciting in BHX performed by a KLM Fokker while we were holding short of the runway before takeoff.
Not sure if passengers onboard felt it as hard as it looked from outside.

[jonnyb]

Glad none of mine were on there!

[percymk4]

I work in the tower at EGBB and often they will touch down and bounce briefly before coming back down again, more so than at other airports I've seen. On windy days (due to our slightly unorthodox runway configuration) it is pretty cool to see some of the landings they do!