Aircraft Performance

Day 2
 Take-off field length

The runway required for takeoff must be based

upon the possible loss of an engine at V1.

By regulation, the aircraft’s takeoff weight has to

be the longest of the following three distances:

1. All-Engine Go Distance
2. Engine-Out Accelerate-Go Distance
3. Accelerate-Stop Distance
1) All-Engine Go Distance:

• 115% of the actual distance required to

accelerate, liftoff and reach the screen
height (35 feet) above the runway with all
engines operating
 2) Engine-Out Accelerate-Go Distance:

• The distance required to accelerate with

all engines operating, have one engine fail
at V1, continue the takeoff, liftoff and reach
a screen height of 35 feet above the
runway surface at V2 speed
 3) Accelerate-Stop Distance Required is
the greater of the following distances:

• Accelerate to V1 and then come to a full

stop with all engines running

• Acclerate to V1, have an engine failure at

V1 and then come to a full stop

• NOTE: Wheel brakes/spoliers/reverse

thrust/speed brakes may all be used to
determine the accelerate/stop distance
 Runway Requirements
The runway requirements for takeoff are
affected by:

• Pressure altitude
• Temperature
• Wind
• Runway gradient or slope
• Aircraft weight
 Pressure altitude and temperature

• Pressure altitude and temperature are used to

calculate density altitude

• low densities reduce engine thrust and

aerodynamic lift

• reduced air pressure or increased temperature

increases minimum take off speed
 Wind

• a headwind reduces takeoff distance while

a tailwind increases takeoff distances

• for safety, only 50% of the headwind

component is used and 150% of the
tailwind component is used

• Most charts account for this

• there is a ground speed limit for the tires, known
as tire speed limits

• if the tires go above a certain speed, they could

blow up

• this is especially true for heavy aircraft at a high

denisty altitude.

• a tailwind could also cause an aircraft to go over

the tire speed limit
 Runway Gradient

• the slope of the runway

• positive grades increase the ground run to reach

takeoff speeds and require greater distance to
reach the screen height, but improve stopping
distance

• the reverse is true for negative slopes

• WAT limits

• Weight-Altitude-Temperature

• WAT conditions limit an aircraft's maximum

takeoff weight (MTOW) and maximum landing
weight (MLW)

• these limits ensure that the aircraft can meet

required climb performance with one engine
inoperative
• Field length available
7000 feet
10 knot headwind
Aircraft weight = 12 000 pounds
Pressure altitude 4000 feet
Temperature 30 C

Can you take off in this distance?

no
• What do you do if the All Engines Go,
Accelerate-Go or Accelerate stop
distances you need are beyond the limits
of the distances available?

• Take out the weight

• Also take out weight if you go above

tire speed limits or above Vmbe
• Of course, it doesn't make any sense to
put in weight and then take weight out

• The better way to do things is figure out

the maximum weights for All Engines Go,
Accelerate-Go and Accelerate stop
distances

• The lower of these weights would be the

maximum you could take off with
• What is the maximum weight you could take for
the accelerate-go distance (0 flap) under the
following conditions?

• runway length 5000 feet

• temperature = 30 C
• 5 knot headwind
• Pressure altitude = 3000 feet

Answer:
• 10300 lbs

• What are you Vr, Vlof and V2?

• 95, 101, 115
• Once you figure out weight, you must
figure out V1, Vr, and V2.
• Temperature: 30 C
• PA = Sea level
• Weight = 19000 lbs
• Anti ice = off
• Wind = 0
• Runway slope = 1 % uphill
• What is V1, Vr and V2 under the following conditions?

• Temperature = 30 C
• PA = 4000 feet
• Anti ice = on
• Wind = 5 kts tailwind
• slope = 1 % uphill
• aircraft weight = 17 500 lbs

• answer
• V1=115 kts, Vr =117 kts, V2 = 129
 Factors affecting V1

Increases V1 Decreases V1

Increased weight Decreased weight

Headwind Tailwind
(increased performance) Downslope runway
Upslope runway Lower altitude
Higher altitude Lower temperature
Higher temperature Anti ice off
Anti Ice on
• Weight
• A heavier aircraft will means that TODR is
increased. V1 HAS to be increased to get
to V2 by 35’

• Wind
• An increased wind improves aircraft
performance. V1 CAN be increased
because ASDR and TODR are reduced
• Slope
• An upslope runway decreases ASDR (you
can increase V1) and increases TODR,
requiring a higher V1

• altitude/temperature/anti-ice
• Higher altitudes and temperatures reduce
airplane and engine performance,
requiring a greater TODR
• Anti-ice on reduces engine performance
and increases TODR
 Takeoff Flightpath Segments
Climb Requirements
• After the aircraft has reached the 35 foot
height with one engine inoperative, there
is a requirement that it be able to climb at
a specified climb gradient

• This is known as the takeoff flightpath

requirement.
• The aircraft’s performance must be
considered based upon a one-engine
inoperative climb up to 1,500 feet above
the ground.

• The takeoff flightpath is considered to

begin when the aircraft is above the
takeoff surface at the end of the takeoff
distance, and extends to a point in the
takeoff at which the aircraft is 1,500 feet
above the takeoff surface
• Climb performance expressed as percent
gradient of climb

• gradient is the vertical gain in height over

a horizontal distance

• for example, a 2.4 percent gradient means

that 24 feet of altitude would be gained for
each 1,000 feet of distance covered
horizontally across the ground
 First Segment

• This segment is included in the takeoff

runway required charts, and is measured
from the point at which the aircraft
becomes airborne until it reaches the 35-
foot height at the end of the runway
distance required.

• Speed initially is VLOF and must be V2 at

the 35 foot height.
 Second Segment

• This is the most critical segment of the profile.

The second segment is the climb from the 35
foot height to 400 feet above the ground.

• The climb is done at full takeoff power on the

operating engine(s), at V2 speed, and with the
flaps in the takeoff configuration.

• The required climb gradient in this segment is

2.4 percent for two-engine aircraft, 2.7 percent
for three-engine aircraft, and 3.0 percent for
four-engine aircraft.
• VFS—final segment climb speed, which is
based upon one-engine inoperative climb,
clean configuration, and maximum
continuous power setting.
• Third (Acceleration) Segment

• During this segment, the airplane is

considered to be maintaining the 400 feet
above the ground and accelerating from
the V2 speed to the VFS speed before the
climb profile is continued.

• The flaps are raised at the beginning of

the acceleration segment and power is
maintained at maximum takeoff thrust
 Fourth (Final) Segment

• This segment is from the 400 to 1,500 foot AGL

altitude with power set at maximum continuous.

• (Max continuous thrust = the maximum engine

thrust setting for continuous use)

• The required climb in this segment is a gradient

of 1.2 percent for two-engine airplanes, 1.55
for three-engine airplanes, and 1.7 percent for
four-engine airplanes.
• NOTE: Maximum Takeoff Thrust can be
used for a maximum of 5 minutes with
both engines operating OR for 10 minutes
with one engine inoperative
• For each segment:
• Height
• Flaps
• Speed
• Climb gradient (2 engines)
• Gear
 Second Segment Climb Limitations

• The second segment climb requirements,

from 35 to 400 feet, are the hardest to
meet of the climb segments.

• The pilot must determine that the second

segment climb is met for each takeoff.

• In order to achieve this performance at the

higher density altitude conditions, it may
be necessary to limit the takeoff weight of
the aircraft.
• So even if the actual available length of
the takeoff runway is ok, takeoff weight
must be adjusted so that the second
segment climb requirements can be met.

• The aircraft may well be capable of lifting

off with one engine inoperative, but it must
then be able to climb and clear obstacles.
• Although second segment climb may not be a
problem at the lower altitudes, at the higher
altitude airports and higher temperatures the
second segment climb might require a reduction
of weight
• Air Carrier Obstacle Clearance
Requirements

• In addition to the climb requirements, large

transport aircraft must be able to meet the
obstacle clearance requirements
 Gross takeoff flight path
• gross performance is the average performance
that an aircraft will do if the recommended
techniques of power, attitude and speed are
followed exactly

Net takeoff flight path

• this is gross performance reduced to a lesser
performance due to different pilot techniques or
temporary below-average performance of the
aircraft
• The net takeoff flightpath is the actual
takeoff flightpath reduced at each point by
0.8 percent for two engine aircraft, 0.9
percent for three-engine aircraft, and 1.0
percent for four-engine aircraft.
• taken off at a weight that allows a net
takeoff flightpath, with one engine
inoperative, that clears all obstacles
either by a height of at least 35 feet
vertically, or by at least 200 feet
horizontally within the airport boundaries
and by at least 300 feet horizontally after
passing the boundaries.
• Obstacles will be identified in departure
procedures

• When an increased climb gradient is

specified due to obstacle issues, it is
important to calculate aircraft
performance, particularly when flying out
of airports at higher altitudes on warm
days.
•

• Although this obstacle clearance

requirement is seldom a limitation at the
normally used airports, it is quite often an
important consideration under critical
conditions such as high takeoff weight
and/or high density altitude.
• If a climb gradient table is not available,
the rate of climb can be calculated
manually.
• This is done by
1) Take your ground speed in nautical miles
per hour,
2) divide by 60 minutes per hour
3) multiply by the climb gradient in feet per
nautical mile.

The result will be the required rate of climb

in feet per minute.
• If a climb gradient of 255 ft per nautical
mile is required and our ground speed in
the climb is 75 knots, what is our required
climb rate?

• 75/60*255 = 318.75 feet

• Air carrier pilots therefore must be sure

1) there is enough runway available for an

engine inoperative takeoff
2) they can meet the required climb
gradients if an engine fails
3) the aircraft will safely be able to clear any
obstacles that may be in the takeoff
flightpath
 Summary of Takeoff Requirements

• In order to establish the allowable takeoff

weight for a transport category aircraft, at
any airfield, the following must be
considered:

• Airfield pressure altitude

• Temperature
• Headwind component
• Runway length
• Runway gradient or slope
• Obstacles in the flightpath
• Once the above details are known and
applied to the appropriate performance
charts, it is possible to determine the
maximum allowable takeoff weight. This
weight would be the lower of the maximum
weights as allowed by:

• Field length required

• Engine inoperative climb ability (second
segment limited)
• Obstacle clearance requirement
• restrictions to takeoff weight at low altitude
airports are usually due to runway length
limitations; engine inoperative climb
limitations are most common at the higher
altitude airports.

• All limitations to weight must be observed

• Pilots also have to figure out thrust
settings

• Thrust is set with torque, compressor

speed (N1) or Engine pressure ratio (EPR)

• Just about every takeoff you do will be

with the auto-throttles

• This will be done with the TOGA switch

(Take Off/Go around)
 Maximum takeoff thrust

• The maximum allowed thrust for takeoff

• Places a high operating load on the

engines and can only be used for a short
time

• As a protection for the engine, maximum

take off thrust is limited to 5 minutes for all
working engines and 10 minutes with an
engine failure
• Max continuous thrust

• the maximum engine thrust setting for

continuous use

• Therefore, there is no time limit

 Reduced thrust takeoff

• A reduced thrust takeoff uses the aircraft’s

actual weight to figure out thrust instead of
the maximum weight

• the full takeoff thrust is calculated based

on the maximum weight of an aircraft

• The reduced thrust takeoff is the correct

thrust setting for the aircraft’s actual
weight
• The aircraft is now operating just above a
performance limiting condition

• This means using a reduced thrust takeoff

with an aircraft at a lower weight will have
the same performance as an aircraft at
maximum weight and maximum thrust
 Why do airlines do this?
• Saves on fuel
• Extends engine life
• Reduces noise

Is this safe?
• Yes, this is the correct thrust setting for the
aircraft’s weight. Full thrust is available if
necessary
• This is done with a higher assumed
temperature (also called flex temperature)

• How does temperature affect density?

• Higher temperature = lower air density

• To keep the same thrust, what happens to

fuel flow if air density is lower?
• Fuel flow must be decreased to keep the
same air-fuel mixture
• What happens to thrust when you reduce
fuel flow?
• Thrust is reduced

• However, in the event of an emergency, it

is usually recommended that full takeoff
power be restored in the event of an
emergency
• Must make sure reduced thrust still works
for field lengths, climb gradients, and the
net takeoff flight path
• If the temperature is 12 C at Castlegar
Airport, what is the minimum torque setting
you could use if the aircraft’s gross weight
is determined to be 30,550lbs?
A)100%
B) 83.3% if departing runway 15
C) 92% if departing runway 15 or 33
D) 77.2% if departing runway 33

Answer:
D
• For takeoff from Runway 33 at Castlegar,
the temperature is -4 C. If the aircraft’s
weight is 33,150 lbs, what is the minimum
torque setting?

A)83.3%
B)84.1%
C)92.0%
D)100 %

Answer:
B
• Look at the climb limit. Climb limit weight
cannot be less than the actual weight

• this is the maximum weight that the aircraft

can be for that torque setting. Aircraft will
not be able to meet takeoff climb
requirements if aircraft weight is above this
(83.3% can only be used for a maximum
weight of 33,040 lbs)