"John Wright" wrote in message

On Wed, 8 Mar 2006 13:00:32 -0000, "Nigel Pendse"
wrote:

I don't think that runway is likely ever to be returned to use, as
the proposed extended Heathrow East terminal will be built right
over it, just as T3 covers one of the other original runways (in its
early days, Heathrow had the standard RAF six runway pattern).

I would not have said there was a standard, at least two ex-RAF
airfields that I know of have all three runways intersecting at one
point - Harwell in Oxfordshire and Dalcross near Inverness.

If there is a standard it would be three runways not six - the
original 1944 format of Heathrow was three runways later extended to
six in a star of David formation.

Sorry, I meant the standard RAF layout for six runway airfields (didn't
most three runway airfields intersect in a triangle, not one point?). Of
course, only two would ever be in use at one time, as piston-engined
propeller aircraft were presumably less able to cope with cross-winds
than modern jets. I can't remember the details, but didn't an off-track
airliner hit the terminal buildings in Heathrow's early years,
presumably when landing in a cross-wind?