For my home base LESB, this is what the AIP says regarding the taxiways and apron:
Surface: Asphalt.
Strength: 3675 kg / 0.60 MPa.
How to interpret this number? One would think that ‘strength’ would have to be expressed in a force divided by a surface. Or is this meant as a limit of the weight of an aircraft? Or one wheel of an aircraft?
I cannot find any information about what kind of aircraft are permitted at LESB other than an implicit one that the largest parking spots are for aircraft with a span of 15 meters and the above ‘strength’ number. But Jets with a MTOM of 5-7 tons and a larger span than 15 meters land here regularly. And Air Tractor firefighters are based here, with a MTOM of around 7 tons. And so are Sokol helicopters of around 6,5 tons.
So what to make of this?
When you plan to go somewhere, do you (heavier plane operators) check this number? Or is there somewhere else to look for whether your class of aircraft is permitted to go there?
There is no data on the runway itself, and there is obviously where the largest forces would occur, larger than the above figure. Hard landing with the forces on 2 wheels rather than 3. But probably the thickness of the runway asphalt takes that into account. Maybe by applying a factor of 3-4G or so? They just redid the runway here and I was impressed by the thickness and the number of layers they put on top of an already existing old runway..
