DEAR JOHN,
oh how I hate to write.....
I am an enforced pragmatist. Stood up once for my beliefs on the side of angels, and found the whole system stinks. The good news is I saw the light onrushing, and took an enforced career opportunity...
The discussion indicates certainly the performance of all engine case AEO, as guess what, that is what the crew generally get to see.
My career change came about when asking how an aircraft would get to 35' at end of TODA one engine out, when it only got to 12' on all engines, recorded. The casual position of the system regarding such events is quite stunning, and therefore forces one to become a pragmatist.
The matter remains however, I see on various occasions:
CX B747F takeoff 07R VHHH (the nu one...) still with wheels on ground approaching end of runway, looked at Jepps, plane within 1000' of DER.
EVA 3 holer taking off on 21R BKK, dissapearing out over the night, I'm at cargo apron looking SE, and plane still on ground.
United B744 as per CX photo.
Camera shots of another B744 running past this point at night, more than 87% down TODA still firmly attached to ground. Sadly night photo, just blur of lights where they should not be. (didn't hear of any emergencies on any of these)
The great thing about most takeoffs are we have all engines running...which only means we are one turbine disk occlusion away from proving physics. ( bird strike/compressor stall is probably gonna be OK so long as N1 keeps a spinnin...
plant yourself 87% down side of big runways where limit departures happen. watch aircraft taxi past where they are supposed to be at 35' if they didn't blow a motor. (don't bother with 2 holers, they aren't any fun at all to watch, but much more comforting to fly)
