Change in Direction Lands a Name Change for a Rochester Runway

May 4—ROCHESTER — Using a compass to head north is something travelers have done for more than 2,000 years, but magnetic north is actually a moving target for everyone, including pilots.

The north that your compass pointed to last year is a little different than the north it is pointing to today.

This bit of science trivia has real consequences for air travel as pilots and airports use magnetic north for navigation.

The fact that magnetic north is a moving target is the reason why crews were out on a Rochester International Airport runway this week blasting off its painted name of Runway 2/20 to replace it with a new designation. The south end now has "03" painted on it and "01" painted on the north end.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, a runway number is the whole number expressed to the nearest one‐tenth the magnetic azimuth of the centerline of the runway, measured clockwise from the magnetic north. So, numbers would run from 01 to 36 with 36 representing north, 09 representing east, 18 representing south, and 27 representing west.

Most people think of flying north as heading toward the geographic location of the North Pole, which is a fixed point. That is the famous "true north," which is popular in Minnesota.

Magnetic north, which is what a compass points toward, is something different. When a compass points north, it is pointing toward the location of the molten core of the Earth. That is always on the move, not a fixed point.

"Magnetic north is constantly migrating farther north and west by about 33 or 34 miles every year," explained John Reed, the executive director of the Rochester International Airport.

North was moving at 10 miles per year, when scientists first started tracking its movement.

Eventually, that shift of magnetic north means flight plans have to be altered along with the technical names of runways that pilots use while navigating takeoffs and landings.

This drift has spurred the Rochester airport to officially re-name one of its runways.

"It is a fairly significant change. I think this is a first for Rochester. I don't think a runway has ever been re-named," said Reed.

This change comes in the middle of the

Rochester International Airport's seven-year, $79.2 million runway renovation project

.

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