Taking Off

Here is a quick guide to taking off and the most important things to remember if you’re at all worried about it

When Taking off

1. The engines are not straining
2. There is always enough room to stop
3. There is always enough room to take off

Before taking off

1. The weights of baggage and passengers is checked
2. The runway is checked as suitable
3. The weather conditions are appropriate

During Take Off

1. Air Traffic Control maintain a safe departure routing
2. The Crew follow Standard Operating Procedures
3. The engines are not straining

For anyone with a fear of  flying taking off usually figures high on their list of worries. But despite everything you may feel taking off is a very straightforward procedure. From the mathematical or scientific point of view there are only a few things to be considered. As long as the aircraft has enough power to accelerate to the right speed then an aircraft will get airborne. The right speed depends upon the weight of the aircraft and the shape and type of wings that it has. Obviously a heavy aeroplane has to go faster to get airborne than a light aeroplane but bearing in mind runways don’t go on for ever there is a limit to how fast we can get an aeroplane to go on the ground. This of course is overcome by the use of wing flaps. These are the parts of the wings that extend outwards at the back of the wing and forwards at the front of the wing and are designed to make the wing bigger and rounder and the fact is that the bigger and rounder or wing is the more weight it can lift for a given speed.
To prepare for takeoff the pilots will enter the weight of the aircraft into their flight management computer which will then indicate the speeds to use for take off. And the flight management computer takes into account the runway that is going to be used for the takeoff, and the temperature, the pressure, even the slope of the runway.

When the aircraft is positioned at the end of the takeoff runway the pilots will accelerate the engines by hand to check that all the temperatures and pressures are within normal limits and then select the power switch and the engines will accelerate to the power required for the takeoff.

Many anxious flyers believe that the engines are straining at takeoff this of course is not true the engines are probably operating at 90% of the available power. To maintain engine reliability the engines are set to a power which will give a sufficient level of performance required by the regulations.

As the aircraft accelerates down the runway the pilots keep the aircraft aligned along the runway first by use of the nosewheel which can be turned by a wheel in the cockpit and then by the rudder as the aircraft gathers more speed. When the speed is reached for the aircraft to become airborne the call of rotate is announced by one of the pilots and the other will then move to control wheel backwards and raise the nose approximately 15° above the level position. In setting the wings to this angle at the correct speed means that the wings will have enough lift to take the aeroplane safely into the air.

Engine Malfunctions

Despite the fact that whatever reassurance one can give about the reliability of modern jet engines many nervous passengers still want to know what would happen if an engine were to have a problem.
Let’s look at it from two points of view… firstly an engine malfunction doesn’t mean that it is going to stop or that it needs to be stopped . It might be a temporary problem. Or more likely it’ll be something to do with a pump or generator that’s attached to it.

And secondly even if an engine has to be stopped the aircraft is perfectly capable of continuing to fly on its remaining engines. And if an aircraft has only two engines it is still capable of continuing to fly on the one remaining engine. Indeed on a two engined aircraft the plane is able to takeoff and climb cruise and land on one engine and this is part of the certification of the aircraft.