Single Engine Taxiing

[Go-Around]

What are your thoughts?
Safety? Fuel savings? Engine wear?
Anything helps.
Thanks,
GA

[Elliot Moose]

What type specifically? And where?

From they types I have flown, I find that it's generally not worth the wear and tear on the structures, unless the taxi involves some serious waiting. Maybe the wear and tear on nosegear isn't as bad on some types, but we have found that the companies that do it as SOP spend a lot more on repairs and down time while saving some on fuel. They figure that it's worth it, most don't. I guess it all depends on the specifics of the operation.

[18-Wheeler]

Not a good idea on an aeroplane with the right number of engines - 4! :D

[m&v]

subject to taxi terrain and traction concerns did it as a standard in the old Airline-cuts down on brake wear too on the V2500 engined 320(high idle).Not too much fuel usage,,call ahead with freq'changes to avoid stopping ,remember to taxi at least 10k..
Not too keen on the one engine taxi out,except in unusual circumstances,Long long taxi,or atc stoppage..A snap on the B727
Cheers:rolleyes:

[Miserlou]

Fairly standard practice with one company I know of.

Saving, perhaps an average of 20kgs per sector, average 6 sectors per day, per aircraft multiplied by 12 aircraft gives 1440kgs.

Thats enough for over 2 hours of flight saved per day.

I've only heard of one incident of a nosewheel falling off but that may just as well have been due to the max rate turns away from the stand.

The company concerned have not forbidden the practice as yet and have many years experience operating their ATRs.

[Go-Around]

It's specifically for twin jets, and only after landing.
Apart from extra wear on the remaining engine, what else is worse off?
Thanks for all the replies so far.
GA

[Lu Zuckerman]

If I remember correctly some operators of DC-10s would taxi out to takeoff position with Number 2 shut down. They would then start the engine and take off. This placed the engine under very high thermal stress and in some cases the pointy tail cone would fracture and come off. I do not believe that if Number 2 were secured after landing the same problem would exist.

:eek:

[Max Angle]

Never felt right on the B737, too much tiller required to steer straight and too much power needed to get going again. We are allowed to do it on our 'bus's now but I never bother.

As far as 727s go, more than one got airbourne (just) with the centre engine still shutdown, I can just imagine the silent moment in the flightdeck when they realised what they had just got away with.

[bluskis]

I had to do it with a piston twin last Saturday, its a pain in the butt and it was fortunate the airfield was not busy during the long backtrack. I think you must be thinking rear engine jets because it felt like the wear and tear was increased during this procedure.

[WhiskeyNovember]

I know of a certain flight school that rented Senecas awhile back. The pilots of these aircraft were charged by Hobbes time, but it was quickly learned that, for some reason, the Hobbes meter would stop running when the right engine was shut down.

Needless to say, this resulted in much single-engine work, very long single-engine taxi times, and some very happy ME students...


-WN

[Capt Pit Bull]

We used to have 2 engine turboprops, taxying in on one engine. Then one day an unfortunate minor tech snag led to a loss of hydraulics at 'just the wrong point in time' resulting in the aircraft becoming embedded in the terminal. Ever after, we taxied on both, convinced we'ed learnt our lesson.

Sadly.....

Then we got 4 engined jets. Shortly thereafter, an unfortunate combination of circumstances (including taxying in on 2) led to an aircraft becoming embedded in an airbridge....

Deja vue,

CPB

[Mara]

Some say yes, some say no. It all depends on your specific operation as to weather or not you can justify the increased maintenance costs against the savings in fuel. In all aircraft that I have worked with (that would be more than I care to admit to) there is a certain amount of wear and tear induced by single engine taxi. I have seen everything from cracks in the nose wheel well to engine gear box changes, attributed to induced cyclonic vibs in the shut down engine. The airframe and engine manufacturers should be able to supply you with their single engine taxi experiences for a given airframe. Check with your rep and follow the manufacturers advise.

[Ignition Override]

You should also avoid single-engine taxi with wing-mounted engines on snowy taxiways etc, or if fairly heavy and a much smaller aircraft is behind you. Have the other pilot(s) possibly open fuel crossfeed valve to prevent an imbalance-just put a checklist in front of some engine gauges or whatever, to remind you to close the crossfeed later and turn on all required fuel pumps, as you plan to restart the engine when near runway and repeat at least one (i.e. "All Engines") checklist! Don't forget to check your total fuel before takeoff, as you quickly brief distant/close-in noise departure and SID, engine/wing anti-ice, tail winds if not already discussed...single-engine return to which runway?

On our planes with tail-mounted engines, I shutdown an engine on two different flights this month during taxi out, once with delays to a de-ice pad, due to lack of a forecast for snow, with fuel burn already near planned taxi burn on flight release before we even got to the pad (would have been there a while for two-stop deicing, but snow quickly stopped and so single step holdover time [4 min.!] was not much of a factor).

And today, due to extra (heavy) cargo jet arrivals due to low RVR on parallel runways and average contingency fuel planning by Dispatch (or was it due to Dispatch $upervisor's fear of carrying any extra fuel?), an engine shutdown probably prevented the need for us to taxi back for adequate contingency needs, already having two alternate airports due to low ceilings all over 'Copperhead Country'.

[swish266]

JFK, 03.07.94. Lufthansa A310 taxiing on one engine. After exiting Int. apron OUR FLIGHT took 57'. We used to dispatch with 2 tons of taxi fuel out of JFK on a B762 with P&W...

JFK, 03.07.94. Lufthansa A310 taxiing on one engine. Correction, taxiing out on one engine. Taxiing in on one is pretty common practice on twin-jets with wing engines, more so in the tropics, with high temps, long taxi and short turnaround. Main benefit brake temps and wear...

JFK, 03.07.94. Lufthansa A310 taxiing on one engine. Correction, taxiing out on one engine. Taxiing in on one is pretty common practice on twin-jets with wing engines, more so in the tropics, with high temps, long taxi and short turnaround. Main benefit brake temps and wear...