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The aiming point, also known as the thousand- foot marker, is not always located precisely at the 1000ft mark. Its position depends on factors such as runway length and whether the airport follows ICAO or FAA rules, leading to variations in its placement.
Whenever I land on Runway 34R at RJAA Narita International Airport, even though the runway is 2500m long (8202ft), it always feels shorter than expected compared to my experiences landing on runways of similar or even shorter lengths. This sensation may vary depending on the aircraft's weight and other factors, but personally, it feels like the runway is shorter than its stated length of 8202ft (2500m).
FAA Aiming point Marker
As you may already know, the position of the FAA aiming point marker differs from that of the ICAO aiming point marker. The FAA consistently places the marker at the literal 1000ft mark, irrespective of the runway length.
For instance, at KJFK New York International Airport, despite Runway 31R being 10000ft long (3048m), it still employs the 1000ft aiming point marker.
ICAO Aiming point Marker position
Do you remember the number of the touchdown zone markings?
According to ICAO Annex 14, Chapter 5, the number of touchdown zone markings differs based on the length of the runway.
If the runway length is more than 2400m, there will be 6 touchdown zone markings.
The ICAO aiming point and touchdown markings are usually positioned at 400m (1312ft), but this placement depends on the length of the runway.
(In the Jeppesen general manual, it mentions this standard, although it does not explicitly specify that the positioning of the aiming point marker depends on the length of the runway.)
Furthermore, the position of the aiming point marker is not always at 400m. According to ICAO annex regulations, if the landing distance available is less than 2400m, the aiming point marker is located at 300m."
In my case, I believe what happened was that I was accustomed to landing on shorter runways, which were less than the 2500m ICAO standard. These runways had the aiming point marker positioned at 300m.
Then, I flew to RJAA, which I rarely visit, and noticed that the aiming point marker was at 400m. This difference is likely why the runway felt shorter to me.
Since Runway 34R at RJAA was right at the boundary that determines whether the aiming point is at 300m or 400m, and it was positioned at the limit, even though the runway length was relatively short (2500m), it still met the condition for the aiming point marker to be at 400m.
