Cut out taxying under power.

[matt_hooks]

Originally Posted by Brian Abraham

Richard Branson, of Virgin Airlines, has said that airlines could cut their emissions by 25 percent right now by implementing new procedures, such as taxiing less and carrying less fuel.

WOW what a fantastic idea!

I mean, who needs all that reserve nonsense anyway? Just work out exactly the fuel you need to reach TOD over your destination then switch the donks off and make a nice glide descent, you'd save hundreds of tonnes of fuel a day! Would save a fortune too!

So what if occasionally you might run out too early and crash, at least there'd be no fuel to make a huge fireball, and the "cost of a life" for those extra few thousand deaths a year would easily be made up for with the fuel savings.

In fact, why not cut out the middle man and just shoot the pax at the terminal. That'd save you a fortune and you'd never even have to worry about taxying or anything!

For such a brilliant man old RB can be pretty stupid at times!

my head hurts!

[flowman]

We could look at this from the inbound perspective as well.
As soon as an aircraft is cleared to make an approach he cuts the engines and glides in! Fast turn off, tug waiting (one of the ones that just towed an outbound?) and we've saved another gallon or two.
Missed approach procedures might have to be amended but that's just detail.

I liked the flow control idea

[oliver2002]

Far more fuel woud be saved if

1. the american carriers would be forced not to fly aircraft older than 20 years
2. the silly practice of pushing back from the gate in US airports on time even though it is known that the aircraft is not allowed to depart because of bad weather enroute or at the destination. Its a tragedy to see atleast 2-3 aircraft standing in the deicing bay at every major american hub waiting for the go from ATC.

[kansasw]

Originally Posted by silverelise

Seems to me the airports already have the answer. The baggage conveyor people have already worked out how to get luggage to move without its own power and get it round corners and everything, so why can't the baggage conveyor designers get let lose on the apron and come up with some nifty industrial-sized baggage conveyor between the stands and the threshold?

Silverelise you are treading very dangerous ground with that question. If you can do that, why not turn the whole runway into a giant conmurff!! Let go of me!!!!!! I am allowed to ask OUCH! any questiMurfffff! Unffffffff! OKOKOK I'll shut up...........

Oops I thought this was JetBlast.

[barit1]

Simple. Do away with missed approaches.

Fringe benefit - it'll save the spotters many keystrokes!

[Founder]

This would make great sence if the tugs would use ethanol (E85) or some other kind of friendly fuel, but if they would diesel or normal gasoline I dont think it'll make much of a difference.

Then there is the shortage of E85 in the world today, Sweden is a good example, since the Saab 9-5 Biopower started to sell in extreme numbers there has been a constant shortage of E85 at gas-stations all over the country...

[PAXboy]

Non pilot: Looking at the PDF of the US company that is selling Nose Wheel powered taxying motors, I see the item on page 9.

• No airplane system interfaces.
• Power from cargo mounted auxiliary engine

In their document (obviously converted from PowerPoint) I cannot see any details as to:

1. what this 'engine' is
2. what fuel it runs on
3. how much it weighs
4. how much cargo space it takes up

[TheOddOne]

Originally Posted by HEATHROW DIRECTOR

I'll be interested to hear what the ATC people from Heathrow think.

Bren,

I think they're a tad preoccupied with EFPS at the moment to worry about this little issue.

TOO

[The SSK]

Easy Peasy - tangential runways. Central terminal area surrounded by a circular taxiway. Parallel arrival/departure runways organised in pairs around the circle, at a tangent to it, with the 'end' of the arrival runway next to the terminal, diametrically opposite to the 'start' of the departure runway. Taxiing distances almost zero.

Of course, airports will have to be twice as big but hey, we're saving the planet, aren't we?

[the dean]

OR....

YOU COULD...

scrap the gates...park all aircraft at or near the end of the runways..( of course that means both ends...so now we have miles of concrete at both ends of miles of concrete ( the runway ).. ...and since that will still mean lots of taxying each airline or operator gets frontline in rotation.. so depending on the size of the airport they can hope to get back at the front maybe the same time next year!!! ..AND we now need miles of tugs to get each aircraft to the slingshot and miles of buses to get the passangers to the parking bays....

how am i doing...???

the dean.

[ChristiaanJ]

The SSK,
Why stop at circular taxiways?

What about circular runways?

Have a "shuttle" (like the ones on aircraft carrier catapults, but unpowered) running on a circular track just inside the runway. Hook up a cable to the aircraft at the c.g. and run up the engines. Release the cable at V2 (or whenever).
No more problems of runway length.... essentially your runway is now infinite. If you have to go round the circle three times before T/O, so what?

Same for landing, have a hook at the c.g. to pick up the cable (like an arrester hook on a carrier aircraft, except you don't use it for stopping the aircraft) and just swing round the terminal a few times until the aircraft has come to a full stop. No more overruns.....

Jeez, I can't believe I've just invented a whole new concept for airports. I'll be phoning the patent office in the morning. But don't forget you saw it here first!