AREA 51 I have just looked at Area 51 on Google Earth and I am now wondering how long is the runway.?

Question

Compaing the runway to normal commercial air ports the Main Runway and over shoot area seems to be a terrific length. Why?
Take a look for yourself.

Answer 1

Cherokee is correct about the length.
Safety is the main reason it is that long. When testing out new aircraft, You have to be very careful, because you dont know what its low speed handling is going to be like. It is more important to be pay attention to the aircraft than whether or not you are going to make the runway.
The predecessor to the stealth fighter, "Have Blue", was very unpredictable, and most prototypes were lost while landing.

Answer 2

Approximately 12 - 14,000 ft. The runway at Edwards is also about the same length. BTW 8500' is not very long for a military runway....

Answer 3

The last time it was extended was when the sr-71 Blackbird program required it be 8500 feet. It actually has 6 runways, 2 are sand the other are cement

Answer 4

I believe I read somewhere that it is estimated at around 3 to 4 miles in length...whatever it is, it has to be very long, since they test all sorts of exotic aircraft out there, and need the length for additional safety...

Answer 5

If you have looked on Google Earth, then why didn't you measure it? There is a fairly precise tool on the program that should give you the answers to an accuracy of a few yards.

Answer 6

Actually it is really the longest in the world, Groom lake has a runway that is 67,400' (12.77 miles)

Answer 7

You're not a trained pilot, OK?

Believe me: you'll use it!

(By the way: air ports are what computers use to connect to their routers)