At about :29 the aircraft is taking a left turn onto the runway. It sounds as if the pilot starts to gun the throttle before the turn is fully completed. Isn’t that a little… I dunno, dangerous? Or at least, bad form? I’ve watched literally hundreds of jet takeoff and landing videos, and they all seem to stop, however briefly, once they’ve turned onto the runway.
Also, the ground speed of this aircraft seems to be extremely fast, compared to a larger passenger jet. Or is this just an optical illusion since it’s a smaller craft?
I’m glad you asked, I’ve experienced this while flying a couple times, recently. Still turning on to the runway, and the engines are (what seems like) cranked all the way up.
Please, Mr. Pilot, for my sake. Point the damn plane in the direction it needs to be before you apply the juice.
There’s a small delay as the engines spool up to speed and full power is developed, so this was probably not dangerous.
The absence of a pause on the runway suggests that the pilot may have been told “Cleared for takeoff - no delay”, meaning that the Tower would like the plane to depart ASAP. IOW, a pause might have contributed to a conflict with an aircraft soon to land - so the prompt takeoff enhanced overall safety.
Not at all dangerous. All modern passenger aircraft are tricycle geared (nosewheel, not tailwheel) and taxi with ease and precision. They are very stable on the wheels up to fairly high speed…high enough that the aerodynamic control surfaces can be used to keep the airplane balanced unless there is a fierce tailwind.
It uses less runway, which is in many ways safer. Jet aircraft are like a car that only has high gear. Getting the initial speed uses up a fair amount of runway, so carrying some speed from the taxiway shortens the takeoff by possibly hundreds of feet. If there is a problem late in the take-off run, the pilot will have more runway left to abort the takeoff and get the airplane stopped.
It also puts the airplane on the runway for less time, which is also safer. Most of the time, most bigger airports will be using just two parallel runways. On rare occasions a controller screws up, or an airplane lands without permission. Not good to be on the runway when that happens, so the less time you spend on runways, the better. It doesn’t happen often, but it accounts for a huge percentage (maybe even the majority…would need to research that) of cases of one airplane hitting another.
Think of a freeway on-ramp. There are people who are very bad drivers who will stop at the end of the ramp waiting to get on the freeway. Not good. The airplane is actually merging into the widely spaced traffic using the runway.
When the pilot does stop and wait a bit before going, it is often to allow spacing from the aircraft that previously took off. Both for traffic spacing, and to allow wake turbulence to dissipate.
From the video is looks like the turn is like 90% completed when he “guns” the throttle. You do this while driving a car all the time, why not in a plane? Doesn’t strike me as dangerous at all.
Perception, I think. Small plane, observer closer to ground, therefore ground seems to be going by faster than it does when you’re on a 747 taxiing at the same speed.
Also, in terms of the difference between a ‘full stop & run-up’ vs a ‘rolling start’ take off run, this is pretty much totally up to the pilot. Some prefer to stop, throttle up with the brakes on for a few seconds then release them, others just firewall them as soon as they’re on the runway center-line. As long as it’s a normal situation, i.e. the runway is the appropriate length for the type of aircraft, either way is acceptable.
I’ve experienced this several times. And sitting on the right side of the aircraft as it turns left onto the runway I had a clear view of an aircraft on the glide path coming in to land on the very same runway.
I’ve done this all the time in small aircraft. As Xema mentioned, sometimes the tower will tell you “no delay”, and in that case it’s a very good idea to keep your speed up as you taxi onto the runway. I’ve had to perform go-arounds because student pilots did not follow those instructions properly, and did not clear the runway in time for me to land safely.
Yeah. There are some situations (admittedly rare for commercial flights) where you really don’t want to slow down at all. For instance, if you have a grass/dirt runway and it is rutty/muddy/etc., slowing down may mean you get stuck.
I try to avoid doing this myself when I’m flying solo, but as part of a professional two-person crew where we are double checking each other I think it’s fine. I flew as first officer in a Lear jet for a while, and my captain would frequently perform rolling takeoffs.
I should also mention there’s a good reason (in my opinion) for not doing this in prop planes vs. jets. If a reciprocating engine is going to have a problem, it’s sometimes not apparent until the engine is developing something close to full power. With jet engines, once it’s lit - it’s lit. So in prop planes I prefer to stop, hold the brakes, apply takeoff power and then listen and check the instruments briefly before letting the roll start.
When getting lessons I was encouraged to always do an engine run-up test, so that becomes a bit redundant, but aside from that it’s a good idea. It’s a good brake check as well.
Some rockets use the same technique, and for the same reasons.
Not true. The performance data for that aeroplane at that weight, taking off from that runway on that day will dictate whether a rolling take off is permitted. In our company if we have a 200 kg margin between max takeoff weight and our actual weight then we can use a rolling technique. If we don’t have that margin then setting power on the brakes is required. If a rolling takeoff is permitted then a standing start is also permitted but a standing start is not preferred because its not as smooth for the passengers.
Increasing thrust once within 30 degrees of the runway heading is allowed and is desirable when ATC want you to expedite your takeoff. In short there is nothing wrong with the video.
I didn’t mean to do that in lieu of an engine run-up, which is not usually done at full takeoff power. Running it up briefly before brake release gives a quick last check, and it once revealed an engine problem to me that wasn’t apparent during the run-up / magneto check.