
Boeing 737 Unpaved Strip Kit - yread
http://www.b737.org.uk/unpavedstripkit.htm
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recurrie
Great video by Sam Chui about this posted a few days ago:
[https://youtu.be/csnaMnpU_BU?t=57](https://youtu.be/csnaMnpU_BU?t=57)

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djmips
wow that _is_ great!

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sam36
Didn't know this existed. Even with planes that were built for dirt runways
(c-130, c-17) there can still be issues.

I worked briefly as a mechanic for Boeing on C-17's. One incident (I did not
witness but was told) was a C-17 somewhere in the middle east landed on a
clear patch of dirt/sand, except right when they touched down they noticed a
small concrete barrier in the middle of the field...

The nose gear went right into it. It was narrow enough to miss the rear tires.
But the impact of the nose gear ripped it complete off the plane and left a
gaping hole where once the fuselage touched, blasted a ton of sand straight
into the interior of the plane. I think a specialty crew eventually made it
out there and rigged a nose gear together good enough for a take off and
landing where it then flew back to a Boeing facility near Lackland Air Force
Base (I believe).

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droithomme
The vortex dissipators are interesting! Hard to imagine that gravel or dirt
wouldn't get tossed into the jet intake and cause massive damage. Their
solution is three air jets blowing air down and _aft_ from the front of each
intake at 55psi, which apparently worked. I wonder though if despite this
gravel sometimes still went through and damaged turbine fan blades.

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jseutter
Yeah, I also find it hard to believe that gravel doesn't get sucked into the
jet intake. The Sam Chui video mentioned above is fascinating and shows the
system in regular use in northern Canada.

The aviation stack exchange has an article with pictures of the vortices
created by jet engines:
[https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/21219/how-
does-...](https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/21219/how-does-this-
vortex-form-inside-a-jet-engine) . Basically jet engines create low pressure
air near the ground and the dissipators cancel it out by supplying air. I
imagine the dissipators point aftwards because the engine passing over the
ground acts like a venturi and so the low pressure region is directly under
the engine. I originally thought the intake would be creating low pressure..

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mothsonasloth
Really cool.

The Lockheed LC-130 Ski-bird is a cool aircraft conversion too

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_LC-130](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_LC-130)

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JoeDaDude
Decades ago, I used to skydive out of a small airport in Florida [1] with a
dirt/grass runway, albeit a very long one, over 6000 feet. Nothing flew out of
there except for the jump plane and crop dusters. One day, the jumpers were
surprised to see a fully equipped 737 on the dirt runway. We found out it was
running trials for unpaved runway landings as an unnamed African customer had
requested.

[1] [https://www.airnav.com/airport/X58](https://www.airnav.com/airport/X58)

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JasonFruit
That's awesome. I want to see a 737 land at our local grass strip (yes, I read
the limitations, and know it's impossible).

