Sorry, in a silly mood this morning.

Okay, I'll nominate Ramenskoye (UUBW), which is about thirty miles south of Moscow.It's 377 feet above sea level and with fairly cool temperatures a lot of the time, but actually not that much snow or poor weather. This means that there's a good chance your engines will develop full rated power, and since it has a runway which is nearly 18,000 feet long, or about three and a half miles, (i.e. the second longest public runway in the world) if you can't land or take off on that, then you could call anywhere an extreme airport. It's also the home of MiG-29 pleasure flights, if you have the money to spare, comrade.Al

Kingsford smith of course!! 13000 ft runway (longest), easy approach for 34L/R, 30 feet above sea level, easy tempratures. The only bad thing is sydney is in a basin, so we get clouds rolling down from the mountains in every direction, wich can cause some rough landings.

"This means that there's a good chance your engines will develop full rated power"lol

Okay, I'll nominate Ramenskoye (UUBW), which is about thirty miles south of Moscow.It's 377 feet above sea level and with fairly cool temperatures a lot of the time, but actually not that much snow or poor weather. This means that there's a good chance your engines will develop full rated power, and since it has a runway which is nearly 18,000 feet long, or about three and a half miles, (i.e. the second longest public runway in the world) if you can't land or take off on that, then you could call anywhere an extreme airport. It's also the home of MiG-29 pleasure flights, if you have the money to spare, comrade.Al

Google Earth it! That runway sticks out like a sore thumb from 200 miles up! There's even a Tu-144 SST there.

FAUP (Upington, South Africa)16000ft runwayGood weather almost always. Flat terrain. I believe one of the alternates for the space shuttle.

Yup, Ramenskoye was a shuttle orbiter runway too, although that was for Buran, the Russian space shuttle.Al

Kingsford smith of course!! 13000 ft runway (longest), easy approach for 34L/R, 30 feet above sea level, easy tempratures. The only bad thing is sydney is in a basin, so we get clouds rolling down from the mountains in every direction, wich can cause some rough landings.

Rough landings? How about no landing at all. My wife and I flew from Narita to Sydney on an ANA 747. We came in from over the water, and we were gear down, flaps down and not more than 500 feet off the water, when we were denied landing because the minimums had been met. Airport was closed due to lack of visibility. Full power, gear up, flaps up and away we went. We circled Sydney for a while (a very short while) and then diverted to Brisbane. An hour or two there and some fuel, and then back to Sydney where things had cleared. I had been through "go arounds" before, so I wasn't too surprised, but my wife could not wait to get off that plane. I have probably flown into Kingsford Smith two dozen times over the last 30 years or so, and that is the only time that the plane I was on was diverted.

Rough landings? How about no landing at all. My wife and I flew from Narita to Sydney on an ANA 747. We came in from over the water, and we were gear down, flaps down and not more than 500 feet off the water, when we were denied landing because the minimums had been met. Airport was closed due to lack of visibility. Full power, gear up, flaps up and away we went. We circled Sydney for a while (a very short while) and then diverted to Brisbane. An hour or two there and some fuel, and then back to Sydney where things had cleared. I had been through "go arounds" before, so I wasn't too surprised, but my wife could not wait to get off that plane. I have probably flown into Kingsford Smith two dozen times over the last 30 years or so, and that is the only time that the plane I was on was diverted.

Rough landings!! Go up with me in my C150L and I can show you rough landings!!!....LOL (Student pilot) Lou .. N1472Q

How about MIA? BOS? FLL? MCO? Piece of cake, me thinks.Pretty much any big airport in Florida :(

Sorry, in a silly mood this morning.

Hey, might be an unusual question but I now think it rendered some pretty interesting replies!

Okay, I'll nominate Ramenskoye (UUBW), which is about thirty miles south of Moscow.It's 377 feet above sea level and with fairly cool temperatures a lot of the time, but actually not that much snow or poor weather. This means that there's a good chance your engines will develop full rated power, and since it has a runway which is nearly 18,000 feet long, or about three and a half miles, (i.e. the second longest public runway in the world) if you can't land or take off on that, then you could call anywhere an extreme airport. It's also the home of MiG-29 pleasure flights, if you have the money to spare, comrade.Al

Does anyone know the correlation between runway width and number of stripes on the threshold? I know there is some but not all countries adhere to it. Anyways, I just counted 30 (that is: thirty) stripes on the threshold of runway 30 (that must be the reason lol). Never seen anything like that. Insane. :( Using Google Maps I just estimated the runway with to be around 80m or so (including shoulders though), does anyone have a number ready...?

Runway identification numbers are almost always 35 feet tall and 10 feet wide, and in most cases are accompanied by eight white stripes. Then 500 feet past that there are six white stripes to indicate the toughchdown zone. 500 feet beyond those are two big thick white stripes, which are the visual aim point, then there are four white stripes at the 1,000 foot mark, beyond the touchdown zone.Some runways have a white V painted at each end, which points to the centre and is intended to assist with judging crabbing, and some runways also feature additional markings every 500 feet to assist with judging take off roll or landing roll out, since if you know the overall runway length, you can count these and judge if you are going to make it or not when taking off or landing, so it can help with deciding whether to abort or go around since it is difficult to judge where you are on the runway when at ground level sometimes. Grass runways usually also have the actual corners of them marked with a white right angles painted in the corners.Not all runways follow that exact marking layout, but the above is a fairly standard (ish) thing that a lot of runways feature.Al

Visual runways aren't so feature-filled. :( To answer the above question on number of stripes on the threshold:The FAA specifies4 - 60ft6- 75ft8- 100ft12-150ft16-200ftMy source didn't say beyond 200 ft, and I'm sure this is an ICAO standard that's being followed.

Great, that was what I was looking for. Not sure about the ICAO thing, just checked EDDF runways as an example and still got confused. Their 45m (150ft) runway got ten stripes, the 60m (200ft) has twelve. Not sure why. Also JFK uses ten stripes on its runways, that config doesn't even appear in the list. Not sure why. lol :( :(Yeah Al, there are definately differences between countries how they paint their runways. The (fully equipped) US ones seem to like the threshold - 3 stripes (TDZ) - 1 block (aim point) - 2 - 2 - 1 - 1 config. In Europe they seem to prefer single stripes for the fixed distance markers and also the TDZ, for whatever reason.Doesn't seem to be of great importance, obviously. :(BTW, never heard of that painted V that you mentioned. Got a quick example airport for me to check out on Google Maps? Would be interested.Thanks,Etienne

BTW, never heard of that painted V that you mentioned. Got a quick example airport for me to check out on Google Maps? Would be interested.Thanks,Etienne

Link to aerial views of pretty much every UK airport: http://www.content-delivery.co.uk/aviation/airfields/If you look at Sligo airport on the above link, you can see a stylized runway threshold displacement arrow with the white V at its head, which in addition to marking the displaced threshold, is intended to assist in lining up for the centre. Although here is a pic that gives a closer look at that kind of dual purpose marking: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bahn_24.JPGAnother weird variation on that theme, with yellow rather than white runway markings: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Osl...moen_runway.jpgSome links to other runway/airport stuff...Simple guide to runway threshold markings: http://www.pilotfriend.com/training/flight...n/rnwy_mark.htmComprehensive guide to runway markings (a big PDF, but worth a look): http://128.173.204.63/courses/cee4674/cee4...irports_rev.pdfTutorial video for taxiway signage: http://www.m0a.com/runway-signs-markings/A (long) tutorial video on taxiway signage complete with an intro by Harrison Ford:

Taxiway markings PDF guide (FAA): http://www.faa.gov/airports/runway_safety/...GuideProof8.pdfAl