AIRPORT RUNWAY PLANNING

Runway Length Determination

Given: For different aircraft are given the length in nautical mile trip between airport A and airport B
under the following conditions: cruise altitude in thousands of metres, conditions en-route, climb and
descent – for example, standard conditions, Headwind in cruise in km/h, Speed 0.82 Miles/h, Airport
altitude – ex: sea level, Airport surface wind – ex: zero, Runway slope ex: level, Airport temperature,
example 160 C, Operating mass empty in kg, Payload in kg, Fuel reserve in kg.
Solution:
Step 1, 2 and 3: The operating mass, the payload and the fuel reserve considered
Step 4: All above to be summarized to find the lending mass in kg, which should not exceed the maximum
structural landing mass of the aircraft in kg, given in appropriate tables.
Step 5: Fuel required to climb to the known cruise altitude is considered in kg; to descent to airport also in
kg and to cruise to the required altitude in m at a speed of Mach as specified is given in kg. All these are
summarized to find the total fuel burnout in kg.
Step 6: The take-off mass is equal to the sum of masses in kg, which does not exceeds the maximum take-
off structural mass, which is given in kg for the particular aircraft.
Step 7: The airport conditions, which are listed in the statement of the problem, should be considered.
Step 8: Using the approved flight manual of the specified aircraft, check if the climb-limited mass is less
than the said total mass in kg. If it is not bigger, one can determine the runway length using the airport
conditions cited in the problem. The required runway length is given in metres, for example 2 135m.
From particular tables find:
The aircraft wing span in metres, the length in metres
The take-off structural mass in kg and the number of seats.
From a particular table find:
The Code number, which characterized the runway length – for example 1 800m length and over
According to the wing span, as classified in ranges from some m to some m, but not including certain m,
the width of runway D is to be determined in m plus shoulders (it is specified to be not less than some m)
From the table are determined the maximum transverse slope, e.g. 1.5%; the maximum longitudinal slope,
e.g. 1.25%; the maximum longitudinal slope change, e.g. 1.5%; the maximum effective gradient, e.g. 1%.
Width of runway strip is also determined from the table, e.g. 300m for instrument runway or 150m for non-
instrument runway; the strip longitudinal max. slope, e.g. 1.5%; and strip transverse max. slope, e.g. 2.5%.
From a table the taxiway width is also determined, for example width with shoulder is to be 38m.

Table 1. Airport classification

Type Basic runway length (m) Pavement Max. longitudinal
Maximum Minimum width (m) gradient (%)
A - 2 100 45 1,5
B 2 099 1 500 45 1,5
C 1 490 900 30 1,5
D 899 750 22,5 2,0
E 749 600 18 2,0

Table 2. Taxiway geometry

ICAO class Width (m) Max. longit. gr. (%) Min. transv. gr (%)
A 22,5 1,5 1,5
B 22,5 1,5 1,5
C 15 3,0 1,5
D 9,9 3,0 2,0
E 7,5 3,0 2,0

Speed (km/h) for exit taxiway 65 80 95

Radius (m) 517 731 941