Arlington Municipal Airport Development Plan Arlington Airport Development Plan | Page 118

AIRSIDE FACILITIES
Airside facilities include those facilities related to the arrival, departure, and ground movement of air-
craft. The adequacy of existing airfield facilities at Arlington Municipal Airport has been analyzed from
a number of perspectives, including:
•
•
Runways
Taxiways
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•
Navigational and Approach Aids
Airfield Lighting, Marking, and Signage
RUNWAYS
Runway conditions such as orientation, length, width, and pavement strength at Arlington Municipal
Airport were analyzed. From this information, requirements for runway improvements were deter-
mined for the Airport.
Runway Orientation
For the operational safety and efficiency of an airport, it is desirable for the primary runway to be ori-
ented as close as possible to the direction of the prevailing wind. This reduces the impact of wind
components perpendicular to the direction of travel of
an aircraft that is landing or taking off.
For the operational safety and effi-
ciency of an airport, it is desirable
FAA AC 150/5300-13A, Airport Design, recommends
for the primary runway to be ori-
that a crosswind runway be made available when the
ented as close as possible to the di-
primary runway orientation provides for less than 95
rection of the prevailing wind.
percent wind coverage for specific crosswind compo-
nents. The 95 percent wind coverage is computed on
the basis of the crosswind component not exceeding 10.5 knots (12 mph) for RDC A-I and B-I, 13 knots
(15 mph) for RDC A-II and B-II, and 16 knots (18 mph) for RDC A-III, B-III, C-I through C-III, and D-I
through D-III.
Weather data specific to the Airport was obtained from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administra-
tion (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center. This data was collected from the on-field Automated Sur-
face Observing System (ASOS) over a continuous time period from 2004 to 2014. A total of 86,151 ob-
servations of wind direction and other data points were made.
Runway 16-34 provides 97.63 percent wind coverage for 10.5 knot crosswinds, 98.98 percent coverage
at 13 knots, and 99.73 percent at 16 knots. Exhibit 3F presents the all-weather wind rose for the Air-
port. Based upon historical wind data, Runway 16-34 exceeds 95 percent for all crosswind compo-
nents. Therefore, the runway is properly orientated to meet predominant winds and a crosswind run-
way is not needed.
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