reported Pagan Airstip too short?

[Paradiesvogel]

Hi ED,

very nice to see the Marias WWII map finally! Waited so long for it.

However, I believe the Pagan Airstrip is a bit too short. See screenshots. 

If I assume historic map and ingame map are at the same scale (should be at least, although there is a slight offset it seems), the runway is at least 2300 ft rather than 1800 ft. If I use the roads as orientation, the airstip is even longer and slightly more shifted landward (I replicated the purple line).

Is it possible the current airstip length has been salvaged from the original current-day Marianas map? There the airstrip has been truncated due to the volcanic eruption and lava flow in 1981 to be just above 1700 ft, which would match to the current ingame version. Also the ground texture and mesh look like that there are still remains from the eruption which has yet to take place. I believe the runway in 1944 must be longer, I have troubles in landing there in one piece.

Edited June 19 by Paradiesvogel

[NineLine]

The real maps have, in most cases, not been able to match up with the map in-game. I will ask if this can be improved, but from what I can see, the current runway size is correct. 

 

That above was what I had typed out before I did a super deep dive on the area, and in 1981 there was a volcanic eruption that covered part of the runway. So it does indeed look like the runway is shorter than the 1944 version, I am talking to the team about it now, thanks!

[virgo47]

I don't know why I started my tests on Pagan in this map.  It really is extremely short, and I didn't understand why some sources mentioned a longer runway, but the one from game more or less matches today's satellite image. So a volcano is to be blamed! Great OP.

I'll welcome a few more meters/feet for this strip, it's really on the edge for any warbird.

[Raptorattacker]

On 6/22/2025 at 8:56 AM, virgo47 said:

I'll welcome a few more meters/feet for this strip, it's really on the edge for any warbird.

One the edge, yeah.
Doable, JUST(with the wind in the right direction)!!

[Paradiesvogel]

Am 22.6.2025 um 09:31 schrieb NineLine:

That above was what I had typed out before I did a super deep dive on the area, and in 1981 there was a volcanic eruption that covered part of the runway. So it does indeed look like the runway is shorter than the 1944 version, I am talking to the team about it now, thanks!

Thank you for diving deeper, NineLine, just don't forget to pull up eventually  

 

I looked at Google Maps, there the images have a high enough quality to make out the old runway pattern. Together with some triangulation, you can reconstruct the original length. See original and overlays - it's indeed more than 2400 ft from turn circle center to center:

 

[NineLine]

Awesome, thanks for this. 

[virgo47]

Today I wanted to push myself a bit with a high-performance plane I'm not that familiar with. Sure, there is 5 m/s wind from 270, but still, I'm quite satisfied with my first landing without running over the runway (barely): 

 

Edited June 28 by virgo47

[Ironhand]

On 6/28/2025 at 6:50 PM, virgo47 said:

Today I wanted to push myself a bit with a high-performance plane I'm not that familiar with. Sure, there is 5 m/s wind from 270, but still, I'm quite satisfied with my first landing without running over the runway (barely): 

 

The map’s a hoot in the MiG-29, too. 

[NineLine]

Sorry, forgot to update this, it is reported. Thanks!