Fast Taxi

[antiguogrumete]

This ATR from RAM is taxiing so fast I thought "no faster than a man can run" in the line area, but better as "no faster than a man can ride a motorcycle" , definitely faster than 20kts.
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[PAXboy]

Did you take the video? If not, you cannot judge the speed because you do not know how far away the airfract is.

If the camera has a good zoom lens and the operator has used it, then the a/c appears to be closer than it is and will appear to travel faster.

Given that the a/c is running straight on a parra taxiway with no other traffic (air or ground vehicles) it MAY be the case that they are running at max speed permitted by their company and the ATR operating manual - but we don't know and can never know because there is no accurate frame of reference.

[Gonzo]

20kts is a usual taxi speed at larger airports, I've even seen over 30kts. If all aircraft stayed at a fast walking pace, it would take hours to taxi in/out.

[DaveReidUK]

Did you take the video? If not, you cannot judge the speed because you do not know how far away the aircraft is.

Really?

Provided the aircraft is a reasonable distance away (to minimise parallax) then the focal length of the lens is irrelevant, and it's easy enough to establish the time interval between two points on the aircraft (e.g. NLG/MLG) passing the same point on the ground (for example the taxiway light at around 18/19 seconds into the clip).

[The SSK]

I used to regularly catch the late Sunday evening Sabena LHR-BRU (B737), those guys were in a hurry to get home. - very fast taxi, rolling t/o, tight turn for home when barely airborne.. An STD departure and a 20 minute early arrival were par for the course. They would have overtaken that ATR on the taxiway.

[Skipness One Echo]

An STD departure
The little known reason they went bust, all those STD departures.....

[D120A]

Courageous, SSK, to submit to that repeatedly. Whenever I am treated to a fast taxi and mega-braking before a swift departure, I always think of the Caravelle in the early 1960s (IIRC) that retracted red hot brake packs into the wheel wells after take-off.

The aircraft wing structure caught fire and the aircraft was lost.

Essential teaching on every ATPL course, surely?

[Double Hydco]

I thought "no faster than a man can run" in the line area

Where did you get that from?

My current aircraft type (A320) and airline has a limitation of 30kts for taxying on the straight. This ATR doesn't look like it's taxying excessively fast.

[Hotel Tango]

In my humble non-expert opinion there's something odd about the frame rate, which may give the impression that the a/c is moving faster than it actually is. Nevertheless, I did quite a bit of flying (as pax) on the smaller ATR-42 and I recall that they were pretty sporty with regard to their taxi speeds.

[i_like_tea]

Having stood on an apron with aircraft taxiing past many times, i'd say that looks like a normal taxi speed.. especially when away from anything else!

We taxi at 30kt, as per our limitations... different speeds for corners mind.
We monitor our temperatures and use fans to cool them down if needed..

Rolling take offs? Doesn't mean the airline is less safe?

Quick turns? Might be the usual thing done by ATC or even on the SID.

We have a very safe outfit and we often get in 20 mins early?!

[The SSK]

I never intended to suggest there was a safety issue. I assumed they had requested expedited procedures to get them (and me) home quickly. It suited me fine.

[Kestrel_Stu]

I thought "no faster than a man can run"

Who told you that? I can taxi my A320/A330 up to 30kts groundspeed (35mph / 55kph) in accordance with standard operating procedures.

It might not always be wise to taxi that fast, but I see no issue with the video you showed on a straight parallel taxiway to the runway end.

[zlin77]

Certain airports impose speed restrictions for ground operations, Istanbul Ataturk (LTBA) recently introduced a 10 kt. limit on taxiways in congested ramp areas and 20 kts for other taxiways, the aircraft that I fly has a 30 Kt. limit...

[Groundloop]

Whenever I am treated to a fast taxi and mega-braking before a swift departure, I always think of the Caravelle in the early 1960s (IIRC) that retracted red hot brake packs into the wheel wells after take-off.

The aircraft wing structure caught fire and the aircraft was lost.

However that was a bit more than just a "fast taxi". Before the take-off run they carried out a high speed run down the runway with a high thrust setting in attempt to clear fog using heat from the engine exhaust. That really heated up the brakes!