AIRPORT ENGINEERING

Lecture 9

Runway Length
Runway Length Analysis
 Basic runway length assumptions
 No wind
 Aircraft fully loaded (MGTOW)
 Airport at sea level with standard temperature of 15oC
 Zero gradient along the runway
 Corrections to basic runway length

2
Runway Length Analysis – cont’d
 Factors upon which Runway Length Depends:
 Performance characteristics of an aircraft
• Power and propulsion system
• Gross weight of aircraft
• Aerodynamic and mechanical characteristics (landing system)
 Trip-length (fuel weight)
 Altitudes and temperatures at the airport
 Runway gradients
 Safety regulation made by responsible bodies
• During normal take-off and landing
• Stopping due to emergency condition

3
Nomenclature Used for Runway Length
 FS = Full strength pavement distance
 CL = clearway distance
 SW = stopway distance
 FL = field length (FS+SW+CL)
 LOD = lift off distance
 TOR = takeoff run
 TOD = takeoff distance
 LD = landing distance
 SD = stopping distance
 D35 = distance to clear an 11 m (35 ft.) obstacle
 DAS = distance to accelerate and stop (ASD)
4
Runway Design Concepts (I)
 Runway in future discussion refers to full strength
pavement (FS) - Support the full weight of the aircraft
 Runway Field Length (FL) have three basic
components
 Full strength pavement (FS)
 Clearways (CL)
 Stopways (SW)

5
Runway Design Concepts (II)
 Clearway (CL)
 Rectangular area beyond the runway not less than 500 ft.
wide and not longer than 1000 ft.
 Extends from end of runway with a slope not exceeding
1.25 percent

6
Runway Design Concepts (III)
 Stopways (SW)
 Area beyond runway, width not less than runway
 Paved surface that allows aircraft to stop in situation of
abandoned takeoff. (Requirements of full strength
pavement depends on engine type.)

7
Performance Based Runway Requirement
 Runway design length based upon:
1. To complete a takeoff to 35 feet altitude with all
engines operating (Normal take-off)
2. To complete a takeoff to 35 feet altitude with an engine
failure at critical point
3. To stop, after aborting a takeoff with an engine failure
at the same critical point
4. To stop after landing from a height of 50 feet.

8
1. Runway Length - Normal Takeoff Case

CL is min. 500 ft. wide with

a grade less than 1.25 deg.

9
2 & 3. Engine-out Takeoff Case
 Dictated by two scenarios:
 Continued takeoff case [Actual distance to clear an
imaginary 11 m (35 ft.) obstacle D35 (with an engine-
out)]
 Aborted or rejected takeoff case [Distance to accelerate
and stop (DAS or ASD)]
 Decision speed is the speed chosen by the aircraft
captain in relation to the respective limitations of the
aircraft, the airline operator rules and procedures,
runway characteristics and actual meteorological
conditions

10
2 & 3. Engine-out Analysis (Turbine Engine)

11
Runway Length - Landing Distance Case
 The landing distance should be 66.7% longer than
demonstrated distance to stop (SD) an aircraft
 Crosses the threshold (runway end) at 15 m in height.
 Full strength runway is provided for the entire length

FL = FS = LD

12
Required Field Length (FS, SW, CL)
 Lengths for the critical aircraft:
 Case 1: Normal take-off Case 2: Engine-failure take-off
 Case 3: Eng. -failure aborted take-off Case 4: Landing
 Final analysis
FL  max( TOD1 , TOD2 , DAS3 , LD4 )
FS  max( TOR1 , TOR2 , LD4 )
SW  DAS  max( TOR1 , TOR2 , LD4 ) SWmin  0
CL  min[( FL  DAS3 ), CL1,max , CL2,max ]
CLmin  0 CLmax  1000 ft .
 If both ends of runway need to be used, the field length components (FS,
SW and CL) must exist in each direction.

13
Example – Runway Length
 Determine the runway length requirements for
turbine powered aircraft. Following aircraft
performance characteristics are observed:
 Normal take off:
• Lift off distance = 2100 m
• Distance to 11 m height = 2400 m
 Engine failure:
• Lift of distance = 2460 m
• Distance to 11 m height = 2730 m
 Engine failure aborted take off:
• Accelerate stop distance = 2850 m
 Normal landing:
• Stop distance = 1500 m
14
Solution: Runway Length (I)
 For normal take off:
 TOD1 = 1.15 (D35(1)) = 1.15 X 2400 = 2760 m
 CL1 = 0.5[TOD1-1.15 (LOD1)] = 0.5[2760-1.15 X 2100]=172.5 m
 TOR1 = TOD1 – CL1 = 2760 – 172.5 = 2587.5 m
 For engine failure:
 TOD2 = D35(2) = 2730 m
 CL2 = 0.5[TOD2 – LOD2] = 0.5[2730 - 2460] = 135 m
 TOR2 = TOD2 – CL2 = 2730 – 135 = 2595 m
 For engine failure aborted take off:
 DAS = 2850 m
 For normal landing:
 LD = 1500*1.667 = 2500 m
 FL4 = FS4 = LD = 2500 m

15
Solution: Runway Length (II)
 The actual runway components are:
 FL = max (TOD1,TOD2, DAS, LD)
= max (2760, 2730, 2850, 2500)
= 2850 m
 FS = max (TOR1, TOR2, LD)
= max (2587.5, 2595, 2500)
= 2595 m
 SW = DAS – max (TOR1, TOR2, LD)
= 2850 - max (2587.5, 2595, 2500)
= 2850 – 2595
= 255 m
 CL = min [(FL – DAS), CL1, CL2]
= min [(2850 – 2850), 172.5, 135]
= min [0, 172.5, 135] = 0
16
Runway Length Correction Factors
 Temperature
 Surface wind
 Runway gradient
 Altitude of the airport
 Runway surface condition

17
Temperature
 Higher temperature requires longer runway
 Higher temperatures results in lower air density,
resulting in lower output of thrust
 Increase is not linear with temperature, rate of
increase higher at higher temperatures
 Standard temperature is 59oF (15oC) at sea level
(MSL)
 Increase in length is 0.42% to 0.65% per degree
Fahrenheit

18
Surface Wind
 Greater the head wind, shorter is the
runway
 The direction of the wind also effects
the allowable take-off weight for the
airplane
 A 5-kn headwind approximately
reduces the take-off length by 3
percent
 A 5-kn tailwind approximately
increases the take-off length by 7
percent.
 For planning, no wind is considered if
light wind occurs at the airport site
19
Runway Gradient
 Uphill gradient requires more runway length than a
down-ward gradient
 Increase and decrease in runway length is linear with
change in gradient
 Length increases by 7-10% for each 1 percent increase
in gradient (max gradient is 1.5%)
 Average uniform gradient: straight line joining the
ends of the runway (no point 5 ft. above the average)
 Effective gradient: difference in elevation between the
highest and lowest points divided by length of runway

20
Altitude (Elevation)
 Higher altitude requires longer runway length
 Increase not linear but varies with temperature
 Rate of increase higher at higher altitudes and vice
versa
 Increase of 7-10% per 1000 ft. of altitude for most
airports

21
Condition of Runway Surface
 Presence of water (reduce braking resistance)
 Jet operations are limited to 0.5 inch of water
 From 0.25 to 0.5 inch, take-off weight must be
substantially reduced to overcome the retarding force
of water

22
Summary of Correction Factors (I)
 Increase the required runway length at a rate of 7% for
each 300m (1000ft.) airport elevation above MSL
 Elevation factor, Fe = 0.07*E + 1
 Where, E is airport elevation above MSL in units of
300m (1000ft.)

 Correction for Temperature

 This length further corrected for temperature at 1% for
every 10C. The temperature of standard atmosphere is
taken as 150C at sea level and decreases at 1.9810C for
each 1000 ft increase in elevation.

23
Summary of Correction Factors (II)

 T2  T1 
T  T1   
 3 
T1 = Mean of mean daily temperature for hottest month of the
year
T2 = Mean of maximum daily temperature for the same
month
 Correction for slope-
Length corrected at 1 & 2 is further corrected at 10%
for each 1% of effective runway gradient (difference in
elevation between highest and lowest points on actual
runway length).

24
Example and Solution
Find the required field length of runway if length under standard and
atmospheric conditions is 1600m, elevations of site is 2000m above MSL. T =
180C, G = 1.5%
Solution:
Correction factor for elevation: 0.07 * (2000/300) + 1= 1.47
Corrected length for elevation = 1600 * 1.47 = 2352 m

Rise in temperature above mean sea level = 18 – 15 = 30C

Correction factor for temperature = 3 * (1/100) + 1 = 1.03
Corrected length for temperature = 2352 * 1.03 = 2422.6 m

Correction factor for gradient = 1.5 *(10/100) + 1= 1.15

Corrected length for gradient = 2422.6 * 1.15 = 2786.0 m

Final field length of runway = 2786.0 m

25
QUESTIONS ???