Yes i see that now George .. oh nooo my pooleys book is out of date. bit of ink req
www.stanstedairport.comOn the morning of July 6th planes approaching Stansted Airport were seeing a new runway that had mysteriously changed its bearing overnight.
Compass bearings are used to name runways throughout the world. A recent shift in the position of the North Pole prompted airport officials to rename the runway. The runway didn’t shift but its compass bearing did.
The North Pole is continuously changing position and the change is great enough to require the renaming of runways approximately every 56 years.
The bearing of the runway at Stansted had shifted nearly a whole degree since its construction, prompting airport authorities to change its name. The change was made from the old name of 23/05 to the new name of 22/04 which corresponds to the new bearing.
Operations official, Trevor Waldock said:”Redesignating the runway at a busy international airport, such as Stansted, presents a number of complex challenges, so we’ve had a programme of works specially organised to minimise any disruption to normal operations.”
Actually, all that needed to be done to complete the name change was to replace all of the signage on the air field. Additionally, the huge numbers at the ends of the runway had to be removed and then repainted with the new bearing. Everything was done on the night of July 5th when the airport was closed.
