Best Of The Web: Why Not Circular Runways? - AVweb

A lot of that (old) concept is contradictory. If you really want to use it with 3 A/C at once, that will not mix with the promise to “take-off and land in any direction” as that will require every airplane to use a specific position (unless you match departures going in three different directions which is pretty unlikely to work out even at a large airport). While the banked runway would eliminate skidding, a banked airplane will have less lift at a time it is needed most. The incline/tilt required is dependent on speed, car speedways often have increasing tilt towards the outside. That won’t work for aircraft due to wingtip clearance requirements. Another unsolved problem would be that where you exit that circle on departure depends a lot on your weight, so would you start your take-off roll to leave at a pre-determined exit point or rather have a larger possible exit area? You’d need a lot of obstacle clearance all around to ensure that engine-out departures have a uniform obstacle clear surface from which to proceed (where?).