The power of words

Give me max runway in front and minimum behind.

An instructor expression that refers to using the entire available runway. Some pilots like to taxi out and curve around onto the runway and in doing so lose some measure of the available runway. Other pilots will accept an intersection takeoff, for convenience. At one airport known to this writer it is not uncommon for pilots to leave the run-up bay and enter the runway at the closest entry point.

Convenient but in so doing it leaves a substantial length of runway behind the aircraft at the throttle-up point. A good pilot, single or twin, knows that in the event of a takeoff issue then an aborted takeoff is required. By cutting out that first couple of hundred metres of the strip an aborted takeoff could mean the difference between stopping on the runway or wearing the fence.

And, yes, aborted takeoffs do occur. Engine issues, the airspeed not coming alive, wildlife on the runway, a door opening, the realisation of not being on the correct fuel tank. A curving type takeoff has resulted in fuel supply issues to the engine in the past with aircraft having less than full tanks.

There are days when one should be drinking coffee on the ground and talk-ing about flying instead of being in the air and wishing that you were on the ground drinking coffee.

Some pilots may not have heard the expression but will be aware of the background to the expression. Perhaps they or pilots that they know have been flying in weather when common sense and the forecast indicated that being on the ground would or should have been the best course of action. Sometimes the weather tells us that as pilots we have to say no to making a flight at that time. Hard to do but a must.

The only time that you can have too much fuel is when your aircraft is burning.

This relates to having enough fuel on board for the planned mission. Enough for the start, taxi, climb, cruise and descent plus a reserve and if required holding or alternate fuel. Even then having additional fuel gives peace of mind that there is additional endurance available.

In a commercial sense having extra fuel may not be practicable or feasible. Fuel is weight, weight that could mean more payload that pays for the flight. New-start commercial pilots often get a jolt when they are given just the exact amount of required fuel for the mission and no more. “But back at the flight school they always had us fly with full tanks,” they say. The real world of commercial flying is different to that of the flight school.

We are just a bit overweight.

How much overweight is a bit overweight? Be it overweight for the strip length or above the max design weight. Weight is weight and an aircraft will not perform as designed when overweight. Overweight is often associated with an aft CG. The classic example is to note a typical six-seat single taxi out with the tail so low that it could do with a tailwheel. Yes, it does and has happened.

Have a Plan B.

In the flying game an aircraft cannot just be pulled over to the side of the road to allow the pilot to think about what to do. A pilot needs to have a Plan B and maybe even Plan C prepared even before the engine is started. It could be that there are possible weather issues, diversion or passenger issues, engine considerations, fuel issues, last light considerations, the destination etc. The list goes on.

Actually flying an aircraft can sometimes be more fatiguing mentally than physically. Good planning, including having a Plan B, will assist in reducing the pressures that can occur in flight. Remember that expression: ‘Plan the flight and fly the plan’.

I will try it again.

This is referring to pushing a popped circuit breaker (CB) back in for a second or more times. The trouble with doing that is that if there is a short circuit or defective electrical device trying to repeatedly push the CB into place it is likely to end up with a major electrical issue or even an electrical short circuit fire. Better to troubleshoot the issue and then, after a fix, to maybe try that CB again.

Contact Dave by email: [email protected]

And, yes, aborted takeoffs do occur.