This is very important. After all, if anything is wrong, he cannot just stop in the air and get it sorted, in the same way as you stop in a car by the side of the road. So he needs to make sure of everything in advance. After that the pilot climbs aboard, helps the passengers do so, and ensures everyone is safely strapped in and that there are no loose articles around.
Then there are a large number of internal checks to be completed, some before switching on the engine, some done with the engine running, and some at full power.
Again, the pilot needs to ensure that everything is working as it should before departure. Taxi-ing the aircraft involves moving it along the ground from where it has been parked, up to the start of the runway. During taxi-ing, there are other checks which need to be done, mainly to ensure that the steering on the ground works as it should do. Small aircraft are steered by use of the rudders, with the pilot using his feet on the pedals.
The pilot does not use the yoke or stick for this purpose — although it is not unusual to see new trainee pilots attempting to do so! Some aircraft are difficult to steer on the ground, particularly those with a tailwheel.
However, there are not that many tailwheel aircraft being flown any more, and most modern aircraft are fairly easy to taxi. Nevertheless, taxi-ing must be done slowly and with care. The wings of an aircraft stick out further than the pilot often expects them to, and accidents during taxi-ing are not that uncommon. When the pilot reaches the start of the runway, or the line of aircraft waiting to take off, he will have a few final checks to do.
He never, ever says he is ready for takeoff. This point is so important that we will have a look at how it came about…. He may be asked to hold his position, especially if other aircraft are waiting to take off.
The reason for this is very important, and back to a serious aviation accident which took place at Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, in …. On 27 th March , two Boeing jets collided on the runway at Tenerife North Airport, resulting in fatalities. This accident is still considered to be the deadliest in aviation history. The airport was crowded at the time due to an earlier terrorist incident at Gran Canaria Airport, and therefore airliners were using the runway for taxi-ing.
There were also patches of thick fog on the runway. The accident occurred when one plane initiated its takeoff run before the other plane had taxied clear of the runway. The two aircraft could not see each other due to the fog, and the impact and resulting fire killed almost everyone in both aircraft. The disaster had a lasting influence on the industry, highlighting in particular the vital importance of using standardized phraseology in radio communications.
The takeoff roll or ground roll is the portion of the takeoff procedure during which the airplane is accelerated from a standstill to an airspeed that provides sufficient lift for it to become airborne.
After he has lined up the aircraft with the runway in use, the pilot generally accelerates to full power. The aircraft will try to leave the ground as its speed increases, but the pilot holds it on the ground until it reaches the optimum speed for takeoff. He must not allow it to leave the ground at a slower speed, or there is a danger of a stall.
As it goes faster, there is more air flowing over the aircraft wings. This creates the lift that powers the plane upward, and is how the takeoff is actually able to take place.
Lift-off is when the wings are lifting the weight of the airplane off the surface. The faster an airplane travels the more lift is generated. Inclining the wing to the wind also produces more deflection and more lift. The wings of an airplane have adjustable flaps that can be extended or retracted. When extended, the flaps increase the deflection of the air and provide greater lift for takeoff and landing. As it flies, a plane is in the center of four forces.
Lift upward force and thrust forward push, provided by a propeller get a plane into the air. Gravity and drag air resistance, which is friction caused by air rubbing against the plane try to pull the plane down and slow its speed.
Unloading the luggage and cargo. Pods filled with passengers' bags are handled by a purpose-built machine. On the right side of the plane, the ramp team has swung into action. After opening the doors to the baggage and cargo holds, a belt-loader or a pod-loader is positioned, depending on the aircraft.
The rampie inside the belly of a single-aisle plane places each piece of luggage onto the belt, and their partner takes it off the belt and puts it into a baggage cart. The carts head to the baggage room, and the luggage is dropped onto a conveyor, hopefully showing up on a carousel soon after you've arrived.
Wide-body planes carrying hundreds of passengers needed an efficient way of handling luggage and cargo, so baggage and cargo pods were developed back when jumbo jets first appeared. Pods are filled with passengers' bags, and handled by a purpose-built machine. One rampie can operate it, and make the pods dance on the loader's platform or in a plane's holds by activating powered wheels.
Stocking up with food. Catering trucks join the crowd outside the plane's fuselage. Rising on a scissor lift, the truck's box matches the height of the plane's galley doors.
The catering crew replaces used galley carts with newly stocked ones, each cart coded for a specific location in the galleys. To service the double-deck Airbus A mega-jet, catering trucks reach way up, to the upper galley doors. Cleaning the toilets. Perhaps it's not the most desirable ramp job, but somebody's got to empty the plane's lavatory holding tanks, and refill the fresh water system. Just like a recreational vehicle, this doesn't happen during every stop.
Rampies position a truck- or cart-mounted tank and pump unit, and connect hoses to do the work. Like your car, a plane's fuel tanks aren't necessarily filled at every stop. An airline's operations team will have figured out how much fuel is needed for each leg of a plane's daily routing, and when to refuel.
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