The instrument clearance pilot of a Cessna 182S Skylane received an IFR clearance about 15 minutes before departure from runway 18R. Witnesses reported seeing the plane pass at very low altitude, just above their workplace, about a mile south of the airport. Radar data showed the aircraft was airborne for approximately 1.5 minutes. After takeoff, the aircraft made a left turn to the east while gradually increasing its altitude to 1,000 feet. The last two returns show an elevation of 900 feet above sea level and a slight change in direction to the south.
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How to achieve an early turn SID
In one of these obstacle projects, we were able to design a (semi) straight start that required less Overcoming obstacles than when starting a turn. In obstacle-heavy environments, the longer the straight-line takeoff, the lower the climb rate required and the more beneficial to the aircraft’s payload.
In a noise reduction case where avoiding a local community would have required a turn that wasn’t possible, we found that starting with two consecutive 15 degree lane adjustments could help significantly. Another runway capacity project found that an initial tracking adjustment of 15 degrees for pairs of SIDs followed by another smaller adjustment (both left and right) was sufficient to achieve the required 45 degree total divergence for SIDs independently and at the same time achieve time to maintain the direct exit criteria.
So what happened to aviation?
To make it even more awesome, it is clear that COVID has caused much pain and suffering and wreaked havoc around the world. But amidst all the economic turmoil it has caused, aviation has been one of the hardest hit industries worldwide, with passenger numbers declining exponentially year after year.
Given historical declines in the airline industry, you might be surprised to learn that cargo transportation has increased instead, as the supply of PPE around the world has certainly resulted in volumes in cargo-only flights. I was lucky enough to see the Cargolux Boeing 747-400F at Bangor in early May and those to the north got to see the Antonov AN-225, the world’s largest aircraft, in July. 3315aviation wrote the few nicely linked blog posts about each of these developments while I snapped the picture below… I didn’t think it was bad for an iPhone.
What are SIDs and STARs?
SID is a predefined route, shown on a map, that an aircraft must follow from takeoff to route phase. It contains important information such as waypoints to follow, speed to keep, and frequencies to contact ATC. The letter also establishes procedures for the route to be followed in the event of an emergency.
STAR is a predefined route through which an aircraft is guided from the en-route phase to the arrival phase. It also contains various information similar to the SID.