{"id":2287,"date":"2013-09-27T07:04:56","date_gmt":"2013-09-27T14:04:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.mechadigital.net\/?p=2287"},"modified":"2021-08-26T20:37:57","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T20:37:57","slug":"81-beginning-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/81-beginning-end\/","title":{"rendered":"#81 The Beginning of the End"},"content":{"rendered":"

I once helped drag an Astra Jet backwards from where it had come to a rest after running off the departure end of a runway.\u00a0 It rested in the mud a measly thirty feet off the end of the paved departure end of that runway.\u00a0 As we attached a couple of vehicles to its landing gear and slowly dragged it back, I thought about how an overshoot like that happens.\u00a0 Mostly I thought about how the last thirty feet or so of that plane\u2019s course was actually determined by the FIRST thirty feet.\u00a0 Don\u2019t you think that the same process occurs during every takeoff?\u00a0 Let\u2019s say that you lose an engine on takeoff and slam the plane back on the runway.\u00a0 You jump on the brakes and blue smoke curls up from those squealing tires as you desperately attempt to stop the plane before it runs off the departure end of the runway.\u00a0 Let\u2019s say you fail at that attempt and the plane comes to a halt mired in the mud and muck a measly thirty feet off the end of the pavement.\u00a0 Now let\u2019s go back to the beginning of that takeoff.\u00a0 Could you have started the actual takeoff roll thirty feet shorter?\u00a0 Most of the time you can.<\/p>\n

\"begin<\/a>
“Hmm, how much runway did I leave behind?”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I usually watch my students\u2019 takeoff performance by observing at what point they have an open throttle.\u00a0 My more apt students do a three-sixty and check the arc of sky immediately prior to takeoff.\u00a0 As they begin the second 180 degrees or so of that circle, they are opening the throttle.\u00a0 By the time they have reached runway heading, their tail is a mere few feet from the fence and their throttle is wide open.\u00a0 They have succeeded in using every bit of runway available to them.\u00a0 Not so the vast majority of pilots.\u00a0 They will fuss around checking this and that while the plane is slowly using up runway.\u00a0 By the time the throttle is wide open and the plane is starting its takeoff roll, they\u2019ve left\u00a0 untold feet of pavement unused behind them.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Similarly, many pilots will line the airplane up on the centerline well away from the approach end.\u00a0 They will stop there in order to hold the brakes and bring up the power.\u00a0 While that prop is thrashing the air, it\u2019s picking up any loose rocks or garbage and nicking itself.\u00a0 When the pilot releases the brakes, the plane must overcome inertia and begin its takeoff roll.\u00a0 It\u2019s a very accepted, but terribly inefficient method of taking off.\u00a0 I\u2019ll take the rolling three-sixty-close-to-the-fence technique every time. It also serves as the best way to begin both short and soft field takeoffs.<\/p>\n

Now back to the scene of the ignominious coming to rest:\u00a0 The guy who started his plane\u2019s takeoff roll using that rolling three-sixty managed to stop the ship before it rolled off the pavement (or hurtled into the boulders or killed the cows or whatever).\u00a0 The guy who wasted a bunch of runway with his brake-holding, runway-wasting technique has crawled out of the wreckage and is on the phone with his insurance carrier starting the claims process while the irate farmer is demanding to know who\u2019s gonna pay for that dead cow with the propeller lodged in its noodle.\u00a0 I guess I know which pilot I want to be!<\/p>\n

Happy Swooping!<\/p>\n

Brian<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I once helped drag an Astra Jet backwards from where it had come to a rest after running off the departure end of a runway.\u00a0 It rested in the mud a measly thirty feet off the end of the paved departure end of that runway.\u00a0 As we attached a couple of vehicles to its landing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[35,67,165,168,174],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2287"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}