The faster an airplane travels the more lift is generated. Inclining the wing to the wind also produces more deflection and more lift. The wings of an airplane have adjustable flaps that can be extended or retracted. When extended, the flaps increase the deflection of the air and provide greater lift for takeoff and landing. As it flies, a plane is in the center of four forces. Perhaps you briefly check that you have enough fuel, and maybe you take a cursory look at the tires.
But that is probably all that you do. However, there is much more to do before you depart in an airplane. Firstly, there will be a certain amount of paperwork to do. If the pilot is leaving from an airport, he or she will need to sign out, and may need to file a flight plan. If he has passengers, he will need to give them a safety briefing, which will probably be fairly short, but is actually a legal requirement.
After this the pilot will need to do his pre-flight checks. The external checks mean that he walks around the aircraft, following a checklist and taking careful note of the state of the whole machine, from wings to other moving surfaces to fuel state.
This is very important. After all, if anything is wrong, he cannot just stop in the air and get it sorted, in the same way as you stop in a car by the side of the road. So he needs to make sure of everything in advance. After that the pilot climbs aboard, helps the passengers do so, and ensures everyone is safely strapped in and that there are no loose articles around.
Then there are a large number of internal checks to be completed, some before switching on the engine, some done with the engine running, and some at full power. Again, the pilot needs to ensure that everything is working as it should before departure. Taxi-ing the aircraft involves moving it along the ground from where it has been parked, up to the start of the runway.
During taxi-ing, there are other checks which need to be done, mainly to ensure that the steering on the ground works as it should do. Small aircraft are steered by use of the rudders, with the pilot using his feet on the pedals. The pilot does not use the yoke or stick for this purpose — although it is not unusual to see new trainee pilots attempting to do so! Some aircraft are difficult to steer on the ground, particularly those with a tailwheel. However, there are not that many tailwheel aircraft being flown any more, and most modern aircraft are fairly easy to taxi.
Nevertheless, taxi-ing must be done slowly and with care. The wings of an aircraft stick out further than the pilot often expects them to, and accidents during taxi-ing are not that uncommon.
When the pilot reaches the start of the runway, or the line of aircraft waiting to take off, he will have a few final checks to do. He never, ever says he is ready for takeoff. This point is so important that we will have a look at how it came about…. Depending on the aircraft, it can take a couple of minutes to calculate the data.
The and tend to take a little longer than the , as there are more takeoff flap setting options. Once the calculations are complete, the OPT displays the figures for flap setting, engine power and takeoff speeds that will be used for takeoff.
One pilot then reads exactly what their OPT has calculated. The other pilot checks that they have exactly the same figures on their screen. If there are any errors, both pilots must work out why they have different figures. Once the discrepancy has been resolved, the whole process must be completed again. This ensures that no errors slip through.
Yet another chance to catch any errors. Once the data has been loaded and checked and the auto flight modes for takeoff have been selected, the procedure is complete. All that is left now is to complete a departure briefing and complete the checklists. Takeoff is one of the most safety-critical points of the flight.
As a result, meticulous care and attention is taken to ensure that every eventuality is prepared for. Aircraft are tested before even carrying passengers so that pilots know how they will perform in a variety of scenarios. Even if an engine was to fail at the most critical stage of takeoff, the aircraft can still climb safely away from the ground. Airline pilots are professionals who take immense pride in what they do. Featured photo courtesy American Airlines.
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Please view our advertising policy page for more information. Skip to content. Advertiser Disclosure. Charlie Page. This is the wonder of flight. Takeoff appears to just be an art form… Romance vs.
Reality As romantic as this all sounds, the few moments it takes for an aircraft to get airborne are actually based on pure science and maths. Airfield Performance In order to understand the part this 35 feet screen height plays in the takeoff, we first need to look at the various distances that affect the take off performance of an aircraft.
The important distances for takeoff In order to operate within the TODA, the takeoff speeds must be as slow as possible. The Engine Failure Scenario On a twin engine aircraft such as the Dreamliner, the loss of power from one engine during the takeoff run is one of the more serious events that could happen. Accurate Performance for Every Flight The figures mentioned above vary from flight to flight, day to day and are affected by a number of variables. Aircraft Weight The most obvious element in this equation is the weight of the aircraft.
Runway Slope Another fairly easy factor to understand is that if the runway is sloping upwards, it will naturally take longer for the aircraft to accelerate to the speeds required for flight. The runway slope affects takeoff performance. The greater the upslope, the greater the engine power needed.
Wind Aircraft like to takeoff into a head wind. Airfield Pressure Altitude The higher the pressure altitude, the lower the air density. One rampie can operate it, and make the pods dance on the loader's platform or in a plane's holds by activating powered wheels.
Stocking up with food. Catering trucks join the crowd outside the plane's fuselage. Rising on a scissor lift, the truck's box matches the height of the plane's galley doors. The catering crew replaces used galley carts with newly stocked ones, each cart coded for a specific location in the galleys. To service the double-deck Airbus A mega-jet, catering trucks reach way up, to the upper galley doors. Cleaning the toilets. Perhaps it's not the most desirable ramp job, but somebody's got to empty the plane's lavatory holding tanks, and refill the fresh water system.
Just like a recreational vehicle, this doesn't happen during every stop. Rampies position a truck- or cart-mounted tank and pump unit, and connect hoses to do the work. Like your car, a plane's fuel tanks aren't necessarily filled at every stop. An airline's operations team will have figured out how much fuel is needed for each leg of a plane's daily routing, and when to refuel.
Big tanker trucks connect to the plane's fuel system under the wing, or a pumper truck will hook up to a fuel hydrant in the ramp, then to the jet's tanks, and pump away.
Pushback is when an aircraft is pushed backwards away from the airport gate by vehicles called tugs or tractors. Closer to departure, an aircraft tug will park right in front of the nose wheel.
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