AN-124 and traffic
 

Just a question...as controllers i thought you might know,but was on freq the other day behind an antonov 124 departing.it was cleared to line up and wait,and the the controller asked "do you need time on the runway to spool up?".It turned out they needed 4 mins before they were ready to depart.In your experience as controllers,is this normal with this type? how does that affect traffic flow planning?

Yes this is normal for the AN124, and where I worked we used to make a big gap with the arrivals when an AN124 was departing.

Also sometimes with Il-76's.

I'm not a controller, but i've seen similar waiting to depart following an Il-76....It needed a couple of minutes static run up before rolling. Don't know the reason why - could be an SOP thing?

Thanks,interesting stuff.I've departed behind il-76s before but havent seen the static runups done until the 124.would be gret to find out why its done?

I would guess to see if the engines are going to all run properly <G>... I remember some longer run ups on older mil aircraft many, many moons ago to watch it all come up and be stable.

regards

Scott

I believe that the engines have to be above a certain temperature otherwise nasty things happen , ie. the sound of silence . Four or five mins warm up seems to be the norm .

I believe that it may be to ensure that all the engines are run up to the correct speed, as apparently they cannot be just pushed up to the firewall without nasty things flying off. Once there then the temps have to stabalise as well. A 20 mile gap usually works OK.

There was a spate of the An124s and the IL76s suffering engine failures on departure about 6 years ago. It was decided that they would run up to full power for 4 minutes on the runway before departing to ensure that everything will continue running normally when they get into the air. Not such a bad procedure I reckon.... Particularly after having gone down to have a look at one of the IL76s when it was in Heathrow and seeing the state it was in. It didn't inspire faith!!

4 min runup is the SOP for the An-124. I have no problem with this as it can be planned for. What occassionally irks me is when you build a hole in the arrivals for 4 min and it turns into 7. Had a go-around or two because of this. :*

Yeah, T-2s, some TA-4s, F100s.... Sometimes wished for our own catapult...:E

Very interesting...thanks!

Would be nice to hear more of your anecdotes/experiences with the an124s and IL76s,from a controllers perspective you guys must have seen and heard some funny or downright scary things-i did a preflight a few wks ago,and an Angolan il76 was next to us on stand-bald tires were the most striking thing i noticed...right down to the steel belting!

Dont inspire much confidence!

I've been asked once for six minutes on the runway before being ready by an AN 124... That was nice as it was a first for me and as the pilot said it ... after entering the runway. Hopefully we have two runways :D anyway the jet blast behind was quit impressive (Nice spot for kite surfing...).
It's quite a sight to watch this beast approaching a black star airport famous for its low turns, especially when over the city .

You wait till an AN225 graces your airfield!! Allow half a day on the runway!

nothing to do with getting the first batch of pies out of the flightdeck microwave then?

ATCO 1692

Dont you go dissing my big girl:p

She can pull her skirts up when she wants to!!!

VEPS