Through the type rating, the quite new aspect for me was looking at runway analysis both in terms of contamination, factors and departure procedures single engine. Cessna has its own app for that purpose (CPCalc) but APG also looks to be an interesting option for those time when you are departing hot, heavy or from a high altitude runway. When departing from Denver on a 10000ft runway when it was 25 degrees C, it was quite eye opening the impact some small hills seemingly a long way away would have had if you were departing into IMC at MTOW.
Departing somewhere like Geneva I can also see how the inability to meet the departure climb gradient could pose problems if you didn’t have an emergency departure procedure planned.
Interested how those flying jets approach runway analysis in their AOC and private operations.
We run as a private op on the Learjet and have an account wi APG to do all our analysis.
APG have a good mobile website and a very good iPad app (iPreflight3,) both of which I use. Both the app and the website allow you to set up and store default W&B settings for your aircraft so you just vary fuel, pax and baggage and it does the full shebang. Happy to email or post screenshots to show you the kind of output if you want.
We operate to AOC requirements in terms of Perf A although we only require private standards. I guess in general given the airports you tend to operate from you will have plenty of excess runway in general too. The APG app has various settings allowing you to use whatever factors you wish, and things like wet runway, rolling/static takeoff and various MEL items too.
The one thing I’m afraid I can’t tell you is how much the whole thing costs as I don’t do the budget.
JasonC wrote:
Interested how those flying jets approach runway analysis in their AOC and private operations.
Airplane flight manual, (Jeppesen) charts, paper, pencil and a calculator. With a little practice it can be done in less than ten minutes and has the additional benefit to give you a clear picture where you will encounter evil terrain/obstacles and what your limiting factors are. And we have a scenario considered as “safe” that covers over 90 percent of all flights that does not require any calculation: dry runway longer than 5000ft, no slope, no contamination, no tailwind, elevation less than 3000ft, tepmerature at or below 30°C, required climb gradient (obstacles – airspace structure is irrelevant for the single engine case which has to be considered!) less than 4 percent.
However, following endless discussions with SAFA inspectors our company has now surrendered and subscribes to the optional runway analysis package of PPS, our flight planning tool/partner (http://www.airsupport.dk/flight-planning/business-aviation/runway-analysis/). AFAIK, these calculations are not done by PPS but are subcontracted to another company whose name I can not remember now (but I could find out if necessary) and whose services can also be used without being a PPS customer. The service is not cheap (in the order of 100 Euros per aircraft per month) but the briefing package they provide is very good and also contains “escape procedures” for the really difficult airports like LOWI which are a bit difficult to generate from charts and manuals.
Thanks. I am trialling APG and it is a good comprehensive package.
Just had a look at the APG website. This is the same stuff we get through PPS, so it seems there is no choice anyway. But it is really good and recognised everywhere and makes French ramp inspectors happy. What more do we need 
One thing I would say if you choose to use the freedom that private ops gives you is be very aware about what Perf A actually offers you. If you choose a landing distance less than the factored distance (APG will give you the actual unfactored distance as well as the factored distance) you need to be sure you can achieve it. Have you had a chance to try a performance landing in the aircraft yet and see what kind of distance you can achieve? I try to do one a month on an empty leg to make sure I can achieve the distances on a sensible runway with no traffic behind us to scare.
Also be aware of exactly what the takeoff data actually means, especially the difference between gross and net wet and dry data – this is something that a lot of professionals using it day in day out don’t always understand. For normal all engine takeoffs,when they construct the normal flightpath (gross) they then apply a safety factor for equipment, technique &c to allow for failure to achieve the “book” numbers which gets you net all engine data. It is this net flightpath that clears the obstacle margins.
Assuming an engine failure at V1, they consider the actual flight path and don’t allow any degradation (gross=net.) For a dry takeoff, the performance will mean you hit a minimum of the 35ft screen height at a minimum speed of V2 at the end of the TODA. On a wet runway, your performance is actually significantly degraded – you have the same 35ft screen height at the end of TODA, but instead of V2, you only have to be at a speed that will allow you to achieve V2 at an unspecified time in the future, so your climb/obstacle performance is more limited.
Regarding OEI special departure procedures (some also call them Emergency Turns,) the turn radii are based on flying the turn at V2/15°AoB, whereas if you are following FDs/using the automatics, they may not give you that, so you need to be aware what your avionics will give you and what you need to select to fly the procedure accurately.
There are whole inch-thick books on this stuff if you are as boring a chap as I am (Swatton – Aircraft Performance is the one I have on the shelf if you’re that way inclined) but a solid understanding is important if you want to start playing with short runways.
Exactly – if the French are happy, I am happy.
And Josh, yes I have done a perf landing and a takeoff in the aircraft as well as in the sim (which counts less due to the poor ground handling). On the numbers we went through the manual method on a lot of perf calculations so while still learning I think I have a good feel for the the terms mean (and their impact in practice). The advantage of something like APG is it shows that you are limited in some circumstances when you may not have thought you were due to gut feel.
Josh wrote:
but a solid understanding is important if you want to start playing with short runways.
This is one thing. The other is not to be scared of “slow” flying. I see that a lot with my colleagues, also experienced ones. The moment you are down to Vref on an approach, they start getting nervous. But if you need to achieve book figures, you must not be a single knot fast. So Vref over the threshold and slowing down until touchdown, otherwise short runways won’t work.
Josh wrote:
…whereas if you are following FDs/using the automatics,…
Especially the usual go-around pitch attitude (typically 10 to 15 degrees on many small jets) will take you nowhere close to V2. Even in the single-engine case. For some small jets, especially when lightly loaded, flying V2 on a single engine climbout will require more like 20 degrees of pitch which of course feels much to steep. But you need the discipline (and training) to fly exactly that, otherwise you will not achieve your climb gradients.
what_next wrote:
Josh wrote:
but a solid understanding is important if you want to start playing with short runways.
This is one thing. The other is not to be scared of “slow” flying.
I saw this more flying the real aircraft, Vref feels slow. But as you say you have to fly it if you need to hit the performance numbers. The Mustang benefits from the green circle doughnut (calculated Vref off an AoA sensor so you have real time confirmation that the calculated speeds are correct).
what_next wrote:
Especially the usual go-around pitch attitude (typically 10 to 15 degrees on many small jets) will take you nowhere close to V2. Even in the single-engine case. For some small jets, especially when lightly loaded, flying V2 on a single engine climbout will require more like 20 degrees of pitch which of course feels much to steep. But you need the discipline (and training) to fly exactly that, otherwise you will not achieve your climb gradients.
I saw this flying a Vx (114kt) climb on two engines at takeoff power. The deck angle felt far too steep and I had to force myself to keep it there. Well above 20 degrees. In the simulator it was very easy to let speed increase above V2/Vapp which of course loses you the performance you may want when OEI.
