OPERATIONAL ENGINEERING
ACN CHARTS
DESIGN and ACN, LCN
GENERAL INTEREST
LITERATURE
AVIATION EDUCATION COURSES
VIDEO OF MY ATPL CHECK FLIGHT
RESCUE AND FIREFIGHTING CATEGORIES
AIRCRAFT
CODES (IATA for bookings)
AIRCRAFT DESIGN GROUPS
(ICAO, FAA)
AIRCRAFT WEIGHTS AND SPEEDS
Disclaimer
Airport codes around the world
Aquaplaning (see friction below as well). Why do we worry about aquaplaning? check out
Liege runway 05R by clicking here.
For an introduction to the problem, Capt. Ranganathan has written an informative
article, and for more technical discussion on aquaplaning and (from PPrune)
a discussion on speed for
hydroplaning and discussion on Qantas QF1
overrun and discussion on
the effect of grooving on whether a runway is wet or "dry". Not trying to pinch PPRUNE's
thunder, just making sure that their words of wisdom don't get lost with the passage of
time. If you're serious about aviation, go there and sign up - http://www.pprune.org
Article from FLIGHT SAFETY AUSTRALIA on managing
slippery runways.
Birds Bird strikes
Design
Disclaimer
Good reason to check first
Small general aviation airstrips, RFDS airstrips and
bush airstrips are mentioned in various CASA
and RFDS guides or PPRUNE discussion;
there is even a wall poster of
them (caution: there are a lot of specific aviation rules to be met in
design, and only an airport engineer/inspector has the additional knowledge needed).
(Very) simple discussion on larger airport design See also the aircraft performance Rules below.
A simple discussion on rigid and flexible pavements, subgrades and the difference between LCN, ACN and the British LCG/LCN is here. The ICAO chart relating ESWL and LCN is here and the UK chart is here. The ICAO values seem to be a bit higher than the UK ones, and are the values that those good folks at Boeing publish.
And the excellent Boeing paper on PCN gives a method of converting between ACN and LCN. The new FAA runway length manual is useful for length estimates, the older one more so, but for goodness sake don't use this for operations. And finally, don't forget to read the Disclaimer
Friction. Introductory discussion on comparison between methods. There is not, at present, a common friction index for all ground friction measuring devices. I'm not sure if this USAF chart should be used to convert between measuring devices, since there is general concern that devices do not measure repeatably and reproducibly. Don't mix up wet pavement friction and snow friction - they are different in concept. Note that the decelerometers (Tapley or brakemeter) are for snow covered pavements, not specifically not for wet pavements or slush covered ones. Presentation by ERAA on friction and snow - one of the conclusions from this paper was: “There is no overall accepted certification to operational correlation between mu meters and airplanes”; it's been lost on their website but if you click here it might be found it again. Discussion on the effect of heavy rain (thunderstorms) on braking action and friction here.
Improvised runways Improvised (and bush) airstrips (more discussion from PPRUNE) and a close-up look at how they get used. Also a CRREL nomogram that can be used to relate very weak (earth, gravel, snow, ice) runways to aircraft weight, tyre pressure and number of passes (caution: only a senior airport pavement engineer has the additional knowledge needed to use this in practice).
Jet blast Take-off thrust discussion (more PPRUNE). Ready to line-up on the piano keys, stand on the brakes and wind 'er up? Or do you allow for the distance travelled while you turn and line-up, then stabilise at breakaway thrust and start the roll and only get full power after 6 seconds? Boeing seems to prefer the rolling take-off as it expedites take-off and reduces the risk of FOD. Check the blast clearance as you try this in your 737-800.
Maintenance Click for a discussion on Maintenance rolling of
sealed runways.
Of course, any runway maintenance work needs to be properly notified. There is a
well established system (at least in most countries) of taking facilities out of
service. Here's what happens when you don't properly "NOTAM" (notice
to airmen) a runway under construction. Late 2004, a C-23 Sherpa flew into a
U.S. operated airfield in Iraq during the day and saw there was construction
equipment on the runway. Yet there was no NOTAM. A trench was being dug in the
runway, and it was not marked. It's a long runway and they just landed beyond
the construction. They filed a safety hazard report. Well, it seems the
construction continued and still was not marked or NOTAM'ed. A C-130 landed on
the runway the night of 29/12/04 and didn't see the construction. It wound up
going through a section of runway which was opened up down to the subbase -
click here for a look at that. All the
bits fell off - click here for that
photo. There were several injuries to the crew and the few passengers that were
on board but luckily nobody was killed OR what about Centurion's N189AX, on a cargo flight from Miami, overran Bogota's runway 13L (12,460 ft)
after reportedly hitting a pothole on the runway, skidding, and here
it is.
Madeira What an airport, and what a triumph for Portuguese engineering ! 520 million Euros to build a 1km extension of the runway that looks like an overhead freeway (except it is a runway), standing on concrete piles/pillars 120 metres tall (60 m above and 60 m below sea level). Click here and here for some photos of this amazing feat.
Noise Noise (including ANEF, ANEC, N70 and dBA) mainly from some interesting DoTRS environmental work
Performance Take-off distance calculation discussion and takeoff overspeed V2 (more PPRUNE). Failed to read the discussion? Just got the beast stopped by the piano keys at the far end, accompanied by smoking tyres and screaming pax? Flex triceps, cheated death again, smooth the moustache, adjust oversized genuine gold plated pilot wings and give casual glance at brake temperature gauge. Cold shivers down the spine. Of course if you had carbon brakes, it might be different. For what might be the first time in a public forum, read how carbon brakes work.
Probability Simple discussion on how to calculate the rate of accidents/engine failures etc
Rules The JAA (Joint Aviation Authorities) (of
Europe) have a published set of rules covering aircraft performance (JAR-OPS),
and have got them online (find them by Google search). The Australian
airport rules are their Part 139, and the the UK airport rules are CAP 168. Hopefully one
of the rules will suit you. The aircraft design group for the various Boeing
aircraft is found here.
Note that the European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) will ultimately become inactive and the European Aviation Safety Agency
(EASA) will replace them.
Textbooks I'm occasionally asked about books and textbooks covering airports and runways, so here is the list: Textbooks: Airport (and runway)
Towing aircraft. If you need to move a large aircraft in an emergency, I thought it was just a case of hooking up the biggest fire engine and letting rip, but I might have underestimated the science involved. Although, for this driver with 320hp on tap, towing science can take a backseat to ARFF brute force. Anyway it beats pushing the thing.
Ageing 747 aircraft commentary by Arcniz
ACN CHARTS
FLEXIBLE PAVEMENTS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED
READ THE SECTION ABOVE ON DESIGN FOR LCN INFORMATION
Disclaimer
Good reason to check first
Airbus A310
Airbus A319
Airbus A320 standard undercarriage
Airbus A320_doublebogie with the very rare optional bogie
undercarriage (which makes a big difference)
Airbus A321 and the chart extends to cover
the new A321-200 with the 93,000 kg MTOW option that Jetstar have bought (warning
to pavement engineers - this might be your new critical aircraft)
Airbus A330-300
Airbus A340-300 (baby)
Airbus A340-600 (daddy)
Airbus A380 (big daddy). Here is the gear layout
and here is what the professional tug driver can do turning
the A380.
Antonov AN-12 (Shaanxi Y-8)
Antonov AN-22 - see the Boeing 777-300 graphs below which has a similar loading
Antonov AN-124-100
Antonov AN225
BAe 146-200
BAe RJ100
Boeing 707-320C (grand-daddy)
Boeing 717-200
Boeing 727-200 (warning to pavement engineers - this is still often
the critical aircraft)
Boeing 737-300
Boeing 737-400 including both normal and low pressure
tyres
Boeing 737-800 and now a graph for checking
jet blast velocities and blast
clearance
Boeing 757-300
Boeing 767-300
Boeing 777-300 flexible pavement Boeing
777-300 rigid pavement
Boeing 747-400
Dash 8-300
Dash8-400 (warning - its 10 tonnes
heavier than the -300)
Embraer ERJ135LR
Embraer 190 LR
Fokker F27-500
Fokker F50
Ilyushin 76-TD
Lockheed C130 Hercules
Lockheed L1101-500
McDonnell Douglas C-17 (updated with
2006 alpha factors)
McDonnell Douglas MD-83
RJ100
Shorts Belfast flexible rigid
CRREL nomogram
that can be used to relate very weak (earth, gravel, snow, ice) runways to
aircraft weight, tyre pressure and number of passes. Good for obscure Russian
and military cargo aircraft with low pressure tyres (caution: only a senior
airport pavement engineer has the additional knowledge needed to use this in
practice).
Home
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GENERAL INTEREST
Airliner prices (new)
Flight attendant requirements for different size aircraft
Guide to discounting of airfares
Great circle distances from Broome
Photographs
Remote areas designated for aviation in Australia
LITERATURE
Ferry pilot - oceanic
ferrying takes courage
Coming in full circle - Malcolm White -
writing somewhere between Ernest Gann and Neville Shute
AVIATION EDUCATION COURSES
Singapore Aviation Academy http://www.saa.com.sg/
University of Texas
Airport Planning http://lifelong.engr.utexas.edu/shortcourse.cfm?course_num=1092
Airport Engineering and Management http://lifelong.engr.utexas.edu/shortcourse.cfm?course_num=1002
Airport Pavements http://lifelong.engr.utexas.edu/shortcourse.cfm?course_num=1082
University of NSW
Airport planning http://www.aviation.unsw.edu.au/current/postgraduate/avia5006.html
Airport Management http://www.aviation.unsw.edu.au/current/postgraduate/avia5007.html
Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), Postgraduate Diploma in
Airport Engineering - 1 Year http://www.ntu.edu.sg/cee/cis/grad_dip.htm#airport
Video VIDEO OF (SURELY NOT MY) ATPL CHECK FLIGHT
Airport Firefighting RESCUE AND FIRE-FIGHTING CATEGORIES
