Fly Lah!

Here are some notes I have scanned and uploaded for the pleasure of all readers.

http://www.filedropper.com/performancea-quickrecallnotes
Great for last minute revision!

http://www.filedropper.com/performancea-theoryquestions
Theory questions, but don't depend too much on them!

http://www.filedropper.com/performancea-worksheet1
The first set of worksheets.

http://www.filedropper.com/performancea-worksheet2
The second set.

Enjoy~!

wao ... thanks a lot man

Turbopropper, are those worksheets 1 and 2 similiar to MFA worksheets?

could u kindly apprise me the content of MFA worksheets for better appreciation of the subject.Do work sheets help in understanding the subject or are primarily meant for mug up

I would say that they are primarily meant for mug-up. To understand and appreciate the subject, one would prefer the books and graphs.

By the way, Are you by any chance an Instructor kind sir?

Performance is a subject which every aspiring student must give his attention in entirity since one would deal with it all the time during thier entire carreer in flying.It presents itself every time one goes for flying be it in terms of landing on a wet or contaminated runway or executing a short field take off.these are just two examples to progress the discussion but thier are many more variables to be considered,which in turn makes it a very interesting and in the same breath very important for a pilot to become rated as a top of the line pilot

Picking the que from my previous post here is a thought as to how important the performance becomes to a pilot .

WET VERSUS CONTAMINATED R/W
“More stopping power is needed when the R/W is contaminated”


On 1 Jun 2008, A-320 of Guatemala went off the R/W and broke into 3 pieces. 6 dead 31 injured. On 2 Aug 2005, an Air France A-340 over-ran the R/W at Toronto. The a/c was destroyed in a post accident fire. Exactly a month earlier a Bangla Desh a/c Biman DC-10 over-ran the R/W at Chittagong. The a/c suffered extensive damage. An Air India Boeing 747 which went off the R/W. on Mumbai, on 30 July 2005 and was lucky to escape with no damage except reputation. Even before the enquiry started several arm chair pundits blamed the pilots. Question that emerged was “Were they aware of what is involved in a wet runway landing?

All the accidents mentioned took place while landing in heavy rain. All the aero planes involved experienced x-wind component and tail wind component. This combination is very dangerous. During a heavy down pour the water depths can vary along the R/W depending upon the condition and slope. The a/c wheels can hydroplane (here comes what is hydroplaning and its type) if the depth is sufficient to prevent making proper contact with the R/W.This makes it very difficult to stop the a/c within the confines of the R/W.

Why do accidents happen on wet R/W?

Main reasons are that the pilots do not get the correct information on the Actual R/W condition. The only information the pilot gets is that the R/W is “WET”.

Obviously, what is a wet R/W? For a pilot a R/W is considered “WET” when the depth of water on it is less than 3mm. that is what the Flight Manuals state. If the depth is more than 3mm, the R/W comes into the category of “SLIPPERY” or “CONTAMINATED”. These differences in water depths will change the actual landing distance by a very large amount.

The a/c requires 40% more R/W to stop on a wet R/W, on a contaminated R/W the figure increases to 300%. Thus if an a/c requires 6000’ feet of R/W for landing on dry R/W, it will require 8400 ft on wet R/W and more than 18000ft if the R/W is contaminated!

Thus when a pilot receives a report that says that R/W is wet, he assumes that the depth of the water is less than 3mm and after a 40% addition to the landing distance, will make for a safe landing. In reality the actual depth of the water on the R/W can be as much as 3 inches during a heavy monsoon downpour. This would bring it into CONTAMINATED CATEGORY. In 33 years of my flying I have never heard the R/W condition report other than WET (An issue for contemplation).

Accidents on wet Runway’s are on the increase. Experience levels of the pilots in the airline are dropping due to rapid expansion in Aviation Sector. Unfortunately Training and regulations are not in pace with time. Adequate back up training on simulators is found wanting. Furthermore many accidents in recent past have involved a/c with old technology, without modern safety features that are inbuilt into new generation aircrafts.

The answer to it,

Building Grooved Runway’s, investing in Modern Runway’s friction system and proactive R/W conditions are essential for making landings safe.

Therefore it is important to understand the various aspects on a/c PERFORMANCE when it comes to land on wet/contaminated R/W.
This one is to put one of the thoughts i have experienced in my 33 yrs of flying

Hi Sunilwings,
May I know where are you come from?
Are you an instructor in MFA?

hello honey bear
ty for the query.its rightly said curiosity killed the cat.This forum is for all of us to share knowledge and experience for the benefit of one and all.My being an instructor or not becomes irrelevant but in the same breath i am willing to share the skill on this subject all the time so go ahead and ask what u feel like.If i know i will try to answer.Happy flying!!!!!!!!!!

-- Thu Jul 16, 2009 6:34 pm --

A thought which generates a lot of discussion.Say u have an engine failure at exactly V1 wheather will u like to continue or abort.do kindly cater for the lag in terms of identifying the failed engine ur immediate drill and most importantly are u ready for the failure.Do ponder Happy flying!!!!!!!!!!!

sunilwings wrote:A thought which generates a lot of discussion.Say u have an engine failure at exactly V1 wheather will u like to continue or abort.do kindly cater for the lag in terms of identifying the failed engine ur immediate drill and most importantly are u ready for the failure.Do ponder Happy flying!!!!!!!!!!!

As far as Airbus Operating Techniques is concerned,

The decision to reject the take-off and the stop action is made by the captain. Therefore, the captain should keep his hand on the thrust levers until V1 is reached whether he is PF(Pilot Flying)or PNF(Pilot Non-Flying).

Rejected take-offs have sometimes been hazardous even though the performance was correctly calculated, based on flight tests.
This may be due to the following :
- Delay in initiating the stopping procedure
- Tires damaged
- Brakes worn or not working correctly, initial temperature higher than normal
- Brakes not fully applied
- Runway friction coefficient lower than expected
- Error in gross weight determination
- Runway line-up not considered

Above 100 knots, the decision to reject the take-off may be taken at the captain's discretion, depending on the circumstances.

At speeds above 100 knots and below V1, rejecting the take-off becomes a serious action that may lead to a hazardous situation, particularly on slippery runways.

If the speed is approaching V1, very few situations should lead to the decision to reject the take-off.

Therefore, as speed approaches V1, the pilot should be "Go-minded" if none of the main failures cited below has occured;

The main ones are:
- Fire warning or severe damage
- Sudden loss of engine thrust
- Malfunctions or conditions that give unambiguous indications that the aircraft will not fly safely
- ECAM warnings such as:
- ENG or APU FIRE
- ENG FAIL
- CONFIG. (MAIN WARNINGS ONLY)
- ENG OIL LO PR
- ENG REV UNLOCKED
- L+R ELEV FAULT

Above V1, the take-off must be continued, because it may not be possible to stop the aircraft on the remaining runway.