AIRCRAFT CHARACTERISTICS &

ITS INFLUENCES
 Significance?
• different design aspects of the runways,
terminals or taxiways, aprons or the
maintenance units are influenced by the
aircraft characteritics
 Aircraft Characteristics
1. engine type and propulsion,
2. the size of aircraft,
3. the aircraft weight and the wheel configuration,
4. the minimum turning radius,
5. the minimum circling radius,
6. speed,
7. capacity,
8. noise
9. fuel spillage
10. Tyre pressure and contact area
11. Range
12. Jet blast
13. Take off and landing distances
 1. Engine type and propulsion
Engines provide movement ; how fast or slow it is, at what
altitude , its size, speed,noise, circling radius , weight
carrying capacity ….depends upon the type of engine and
propulsion
• Types
– Piston engine
– Jet engine
• Turbo jet
• Turbo fan
• Jet propulsion
• Ram jet
– Rocket engine
From piston to rocket, amount of power generation and
speed increase in the above same order
 ……
Depending upon the movt required, we select the engines
• Piston engine-It’s the conventional type used (in highways
and railways); the movt of piston lead to torque and power
generation which in turn used for movt
• Jet engine – It provides jet at the back and thereby lead to
a height thrust which in turn utilised for movt of vehicle in
forward direction
• Turbo jet- jet from the back along with the sucking of large
amount of air
• Ram jet -Sucking of air (used in missiles)
• Rocket engine- (outside atmospheric conditions)
 Influences of the characteristics
• Engine type & propulsion influences
– size of the aircraft
– speed with which the aircraft can move obviously
– length of the runway (more the
speed/propulsion, more the length of runway for
take off and landing)
– Carrying capacity
– Weight of the aircraft
 1.1Speed and Altitude of engines
• Piston engine- Less than 500 km per hour and
at low altitudes
• Jet and Turbo jet-low to high altitudes(1280
to 2400 km/hr)
• Ram jet- middle altitudes(4600 km/hr)
 2.Size of the aircraft

• Wing span (near main gear)

• Fuselage length (from nose to tail)
• Gear tread (distance between main parts)
• height (at tail)
• Tail width
• Wheel base ( distance between nose gear and
main gear)
 Size of the aircraft

• Wing span governs the taxiway width, clearance

distance between the two parallel taxiways, size of
aprons and hangars, width of hangar gate etc
• Fuselage length decides the widening of taxiway on
curves, size of aprons and hangars
• Gear tread decides the minimum turning radius of
aircraft
• height decides the height of the hangar gate
• Tail width decides the size of parking and apron
• Wheel base decides the minimum turning radius of
taxiway
 3. Aircraft speed
Aircraft speed is defined in following two ways:
• Air speed(speed of the aircraft relative to the medium
air in which its travelling)
• Ground speed/cruising speed(speed of aircraft relative
to ground)
Eg:An aircraft flying in the air with a Gspeed of 500km/hr
having wind velocity 50km/hr in opposite direction
Then, 500-50=450kmph will be airspeed
If wind in same direction, then 550kmph will be air speed
• the speed with which the aircraft is landing at
that particular speed is used for designing of
facilities like taxiways or the exit taxiways
 4.Aircraft weight & Wheel
Arrangement
• One of the factors that govern the length and
thicknes of runway is its weight .
• Arrangement of wheels also depend on the
aircraft weight
• Different terminologies:
1. Maximum gross take off weight
2. Maximum structural landing weight
3. Operating empty weight
4. Pay load
5. Zero fuel weight
 5. Minimum circling radius
• A minimum radius in space is required for the
aircraft to take a smooth turn, known as MCR.
• It depends upon the type of aircraft, air traffic
volume and weather conditions
• Knowledge of minimum circling radius help in
separating two nearby airportsby an adequate
distance so that two aircrafts can land or take off
simultaneously.If not possible, timings should be
adjusted.but this will reduce the capacity of
airport
 6. Minimum turning radius
• Minimum turning radius decide the radius of
taxiways
 7.Aircraft Capacity
• Capacity of aircraft is related to size of
aircraft.
• Capacity creates an effect on the passenger
facilities, baggage handling facilities,
equipments for cargo processing
• Size of the apron to be provided also depends
on the size of aircraft
 8. Noise
major sources of noises are
• machinery noise during landing
• jet noise during taking off
• Now jet noise is controlled due to tech
advance
 9.FUEL SPILLAGE

• fuel spillage is the fuel which get spilled over

the pavement from the engine or from the
locations where it has been filled into the
aircraft and this creates an effect in terms of
that it may cost the effect on the speed of the
aircraft while it is moving on the runways or
the taxi ways or the apron areas.
 Tyre pressure and contact area
• Tyre pressure and wheel load influence the
type, width and strength of the pavement
 11.Range
• It is the distance that an aircraft can fly
without refuelling .
 12.JET BLAST
• the blast that comes out of the jet engine at
the rear of the aircraft and it provides the
force which is required for the movement of
the aircraft.so that is required for it's
movement. But in case where the aircraft is
standing and the jet blast is coming from the
rear, that is so hot and velocity of 300kmph it
creates a severe condition for the things on
which it will be falling and also inconvenience
to boarding of passengers
 12.JET BLAST
• Blast fences should be made available as an
effective measure
 13.Take off and landing distances
• It helps in determining minimum runway
length.This distances depend upon
– Altitude of airport
– Gradient of the runway
– Intensity and direction of wind
– Manner of landing and take off
– Temperature
– weight of aircraft during landing and take off