Airport Closure due to magnetic pole shifting

[jjjnettie]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110107/sc_yblog_thelookout/florida-temporarily-closes-runway-due-to-magnetic-pole-shifting

One knows it's happening, but it hits home when you see how it can affect every day life.

[Liz]

Geeze, is that true?? Sounds lile a April fools joke, but obviously must be.
Interesting, ta jjj. :question:

[rcheshire]

The drifting pole affects magnetic variation - basically, the difference between compass and true north.

Runways are numbered according to the magnetic bearing (in whole numbers) that is closest to the actual alignment. Evidently, the variation in that area has changed sufficiently over the years to warrant renaming it. Not unheard of.

[RobF]

I s'pose if it used to be say 273 and its drifted to 276, then runway 27 should now really be 28.....

May not have actually changed too much.
Still....interesting story.

[mithrandir]

Whole numbers being multiples of 10 degrees.

The busiest runway will be re-designated 19R/1L on aviation charts. It's been 18R/36L, indicating its alignment along the 180-degree approach from the north and the 360-degree approach from the south.
Later this month, the airport's east parallel runway and the seldom used east-west runway will be closed to change signage to their new designations. Tampa Tribune. (http://www2.tbo.com/content/2011/jan/05/060831/shift-of-earths-magnetic-north-pole-impacts-tampa-/news-money/)

Hence the other N/S runway will become 19L/1R. It didn't say what the E/W runway currently 9/27 would be, but I guess 10/26.

The 2007 FAA diagram has the N/S runways being at 6 deg magnetic and the E/W at 96 deg magnetic so by then they already needed renumbering.

I read elsewhere that Canadian Arctic runways are labeled with true rather than magnetic bearings because magnetic ones change so fast.

[Ric]

That's amazing, I knew the poles drift but not how fast.

Geologically speaking 40 miles a year is really setting a land speed record.