Chapter 7: Performance and Flight Planning

The ace technical pilot book has not been updated to use terminology that is current for
modern aviation authorities and syllabi.

It uses things such as APS weight instead of dry operating mass, and many other errors,
please pay attention to the following image instead of the book.

BEM - mass of the airplane, plus standard items such as unusable fuel and uids, engine oil,
re extinguishers, oxygen equipment etc.

DOM - mass of the airplane ready for the operation, excluding usable fuel and tra c load. This
includes things such as the crew and their baggage as well as catering.

Tra c load - is the total mass of passengers, baggage and cargo, including any non-revenue
load.

Takeo fuel is the fuel to be used from the beginning of the takeo run until parking at the
destination gate, it does not include start and taxi fuel.
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 TORA is the usable length of the runway available for takeo

TORR for all engines operating is the distance from the start of the takeo roll until halfway
between lifto and screen height, multiplied by 1.15.

TODA is the length of usable runway plus the length of the clearway available, at the end of
which the aircraft should be at V2 and screen height.

TODR is the required distance for the aircraft to attain screen height at V2, factored by 1.15x

The takeo distance of an aircraft starts at brake release and ends when the aircraft crosses
screen height. The landing distance is from screen height until the aircraft has slowed down
enough to exit the RWY.

Screen height varies by category, is 50’ for propeller-driven in dry conditions, 35’ for jet aircraft
in dry conditions. Screen height is reduced when considering wet and/or engine failure
conditions.

ASDA = TORA + stopway

Emergency distance required’ is a distance until which the pilot will be able to accelerate to V1,
have an engine failure and still reject the takeo on the ground, without reverse thrust. This
distance is then factored by 1.1x for safety.

A balanced eld exists if the take-o distance is equal to the accelerate-stop distance.

There is a callout between 40-100kt during the takeo roll to ensure that directional control has
been attained, that takeo EPR has been set, and to crosscheck airspeed readings.

V1 is the speed in the event of an engine failure in the takeo roll, at which its possible to attain
screen height within the normal TODA as well as where its possible to abort the takeo within
ASDA. Meaning:
Below V1 the takeo will be rejected
Above V1 the takeo will be continued

V1 is restricted at the low end by VMCG and at the high end by VMBE.
(minimum ctrl ground and maximum brake energy)

If eld length is limiting, a heavier aircraft will have a lower V1 to provide a greater stopping
distance. If eld length is not limiting, the heavier aircraft will have higher V1.

If V1 is greater than calculated VMBE, the aircraft weight has to be reduced until V1 is lower
than VMBE.

VA is the maneuvering speed, at which full elevator de ection rst causes a stall to occur at the
limit load factor. It is speci ed in the manual.

VMCG/A varies with center of gravity position, as the yawing moment of the tailplane (and arm
of the asymmetrical thrust producing engine) is dependent on this factor. Aft CG requires a
higher VMCG/A because of the reduced tailplane moment.

VMCG must be less or equal to V1

VMCA must be less or equal to V2
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 If VMCG is limiting for the weight of the aircraft, reducing takeo thrust causes a reduced
asymmetrical moment in an engine failure scenario, less thrust means less rudder input
required to maintain directional control.

V2, takeo safety speed, is achieved by/when crossing screen height so that directional control
and adequate climb performance is maintained in case of an engine failure.
V2 cannot be less than: 1.2 Vs or 1.1 VMCA

V3 is the all-engines-operating speed which will be achieved at screen height.

V4 is the all-engines-operating climb speed to be achieved by 400’, the lowest point at which
acceleration to ap retraction speed is initiated.

When calculating takeo or landing performance, it is not recommended to use more than 50%
of the reported headwind and not less than 150% reported tailwind.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: The runway length required for an aircraft to take off is calculated for each
ight. Depending on the aircraft weight, the air temperature and the wind speed, this length may
be shorter than the available runway length. The crew can then calculate a lower-power engine
setting where take-off will use a larger portion of the runway. Lower power settings reduce noise,
engine wear, and maintenance costs.

This technique is based on air temperature, rather than percentage of engine power, because it is
easy for the crew to look up or calculate the highest air temperature at which any particular take-
off can be performed. That temperature is the highest ex temp that can be used.

Jet engines produce reduced thrust as the ambient air temperature increases. The ex temp is the
highest air temperature at which the engines would produce the required thrust. The crew nds
that temperature and enters it into the ight management system (FMS) — effectively telling the
computer to assume the speci ed air temperature instead of the actual temperature. When ex
(FLX) thrust is selected during take off, the engine controller produces maximum thrust for the
assumed ( ex) temperature. If necessary, the crew can push the throttles into the Take Off/Go
Around (TOGA) detent and request full power.

Reduced thrust takeo s are not permitted if:

contaminated RWY
anti-skid INOP
reverse thrust INOP
increased V2 procedure
PMC o

Gross performance - achieved if aircraft is maintained and own according to FCM

Net performance - gross performance diminished to account for variations in technique and
reduced performance, so that gross performance will be achieved 50% of the time.
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 Departure pro le segments:
1. From screen height until landing gear is retracted at a constant V2 speed.
2. From the end of segment (1.) until acceleration height is achieved at V2.
3. Segment of Level ight acceleration during which aps are retracted.
4. From end of segment (3.) until a height of 1500’ or more with aps up and max cont. thrust.

An increased V2 (aka improved climb) pro le is used if an aircraft needs to clear an object
within the second segment, this procedure requires a greater takeo distance or a reduced
TOM. Increased V2 procedures cannot be used when takeo mass is eld-limited because in
this procedure, more runway is used to increase takeo speed.

A reduced thrust takeo will use more trip fuel, the reduced thrust means the aircraft will spend
more time below its optimum fuel consumption altitude.

Maximum endurance speed is that own at the lowest point of the total drag curve,
corresponding to the lowest speci c fuel consumption.

Maximum range speed is slightly greater than maximum endurance (1.32x VMD) . Because the
drag curve is at at the bottom, airspeed can be signi cantly improved (32%) while only
resulting in a very small drag penalty, this increases range.

Max range cruise: Maximum fuel mileage.

Long range cruise: A signi cantly higher speed which only results in 1% mileage loss.
LRC speed should increase throughout the ight as fuel is burned o .

Cost index is provided by OPS and is input to the FMC by the ight crew - it is a number that
manages performance to ensure lowest possible operating costs considering a multitude of
factors such as fuel price at destination. CI 0 = minimum consumption (maximum range), CI
999 = minimum time en-route.

A jet ight carried out below optimum altitude will burn more fuel, but will take less time to
complete when ying at constant mach, because LSS is lower at higher altitudes, a set MN will
correspond to a higher airspeed at lower altitudes.
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 A step climb during cruise is performed because as fuel burns, the aircraft can y at a higher,
more fuel e cient altitude.

Critical point, or equal time point, is the point in which it would take the same amount of time
to return home as it would to proceed to the destination.

total trip distance × groundspeed home

Distance to CP =
groundspeed out + groundspeed home

A headwind moves the CP closer to the destination aerodrome, as it means GS home would
increase due to tailwind.

PNR (point of no return) are procedures generally used where you are committed to landing at
your destination (ie. A remote island).

Landing distance available is that from fence height (50ft above threshold) until the end of the
landing runway. LDR is the required distance from crossing fence until coming to a full stop.

VMCL is minimum air control speed in landing con guration.

VAT is velocity at threshold, it is more often referred to as Vref, and often corresponds to 1.3Vs.
A pilot must ensure he crosses threshold at this speed to guarantee calculated landing
performance for that eld, especially if the runway is tight in length.

As a guideline, a 10% increase in weight means a 10% increase in landing distance.

High humidity (and likewise, low density) means an increased landing distance.

Restricted landing weight is restricted due to runway length and conditions. It also considers
engine-out overshoot performance, weight, altitude, temperature.
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