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BRITISH AIRWAYS EMBRAER 145

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QANTAS AIRLINES BOEING 747-400

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AQUAPLANING
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Aquaplaning
 Aquaplaning, also known as hydroplaning, is
a condition in which standing water, slush or snow,
causes the moving wheel of an aircraft to lose
contact with the load bearing surface on which it is
rolling with the result that braking action on the
wheel is not effective in reducing the ground speed
of the aircraft.
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Aquaplaning
 Aquaplaning can occur when a wheel is
running in the presence of water; it may also occur
in certain circumstances when running in a
combination of water and wet snow.
 Aquaplaning on runway surfaces with normal
friction characteristics is unlikely to begin in water
depths of 3mm or less.
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Description
 A layer of water builds up beneath the tyre in
increasing resistance to displacement by the
pressure of the wheel. Eventually, this results in
the formation of a wedge between the runway
and the tyre.
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Description
 This resistance to water displacement has a
vertical component which progressively lifts the
tyre and reduces the area in contact with the
runway until the aircraft is completely water-borne.

 In this condition, the tyre is no longer

capable of providing directional control or effective
braking because the drag forces are so low.
 Hydroplaning is a function of the water
depth, tire pressure and speed.
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RUNWAY CONTAMINATIONS & ITS

TYPE
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Runway Contamination
Defination
 A runway is considered contaminated whenever
standing water, ice, snow, slush, frost in any form,
heavy rubber, or other substances are present.
 A runway is contaminated when more than 25 per
cent of the runway surface area (whether in
isolated areas or not) is covered by:
• water, or slush more than 3 mm (0.125 in) deep;
• loose snow more than 20 mm (0.75 in) deep; or
• compacted snow or ice, including wet ice.
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Dry Runway

 A dry runway is one which is neither wet

nor contaminated, and includes those paved
runways which have been specially prepared
with grooves or porous pavement and
maintained to retain "effectively dry" braking
action even when moisture is present.
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Wet Runway

 A runway is considered wet when the

runway surface is covered with water, or
when there is sufficient moisture on the
runway surface to cause it to appear
reflective, but without significant areas of
standing water.
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Damp Runway

  A runway is considered damp when

the surface is not dry, but when the
moisture on it does not give it a shiny
appearance.
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Icy Runway

Icy runways including frost or snow covered

runways, can be very slippery at all speeds
when the temperature is near freezing.
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Tire Braking
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Tire Braking

Braking is the primary means of stopping

the aircraft. When the brakes are applied, the
tire is made to roll slower than its
synchronous or free rolling speed. The result
is called slip.
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Tire Braking

A tire generates maximum braking friction

when it is slipping approximately 10% slower
than synchronous speed. When larger slip
values occur, the braking force is reduced.
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Tire Braking

A vertical load must be placed on the tire

in order to generate a braking force. There
is no optimum level of vertical load, the more
the better. Therefore, actions which quickly
place high vertical load on the tires will
promote more rapid wheel spin up and
higher braking forces.
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Types of Hydroplaning
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Types of Hydroplaning

 There are three types of hydroplaning

– Dynamic
– Viscous
– Reverted rubber
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Dynamic Hydroplaning

 Dynamic hydroplaning happens when

water lifts your wheels off the runway. This
usually happens when a wedge of water
builds up in front of your tires and lifts
them off the runway. When it happens,
you're literally riding on water.
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Dynamic Hydroplaning
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Dynamic Hydroplaning

 During total dynamic

hydroplaning the tire lifts off the
pavement and rides on a wedge
of water like a water ski

 Extreme conditions are

required to initiate and sustain it
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Dynamic Hydroplaning
 When dynamic hydroplaning
occurs it lifts the tire completely
off the runway and causes such
a substantial loss of tire friction
that wheel spin up may not occur

 The conditions required to

cause dynamic hydroplaning are
high speed, standing water and
poor surface macro texture
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Horne's Formula

 V = 8.33 x √P
– P = tyre inflation pressure in psi

 This formula is based upon the validation of

hydrodynamic lift theory by experimental
evidence. For many modern tires the constant
maybe closer to 6 or 7 rather than 9.
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Horne's Formula

 The effect of the relationship demonstrated is

that most jet aircraft, even relatively small ones,
have a significant ‘window’ for the initiation of
dynamic aquaplaning during a landing near to
the maximum approved landing weight
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How To Prevent Dynamic

Hydroplaning
 Don't land fast on a wet runway. Dynamic
hydroplaning happens at about 8.6 times the
square root of your tire pressure.

 Keep your tires inflated. Under-inflated tires

hydroplane easier than properly inflated ones.

 Use back pressure and aerodynamic braking to

slow down. The more weight you have on your
tires, the better.
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Viscous Hydroplaning

 When oil or accumulated rubber combines

with water on a runway, it can form an
impenetrable layer of liquid your tires can't
break through. This is especially
problematic on smooth asphalt runways.
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Viscous Hydroplaning
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Viscous Hydroplaning

 Occurs on all wet

runways and is a
technical term used to
describe the normal
slipperiness or
lubricating action of the
water.
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How To Prevent Viscous

Hydroplaning
 Land on a grooved runway, if possible.
 Do not land fast.
 Keep your tires inflated. Under-inflated
tires hydroplane easier than properly
inflated ones.
 Use back pressure and aerodynamic
braking to slow down, and use light brake
pressure.
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Reverted Rubber Hydroplaning

 Reverted rubber hydroplaning happens

when your tires lock up, the rubber begins
to melt, and trapped water under the tire
turns into steam. 
(When it happens, you're riding on steam,
and melting your tires in the process.)
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Reverted Rubber Hydroplaning

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Reverted Rubber Hydroplaning

 Occur whenever a locked tire

is skidded along a very wet
or icy runway for a time long
enough to generate frictional
heat in the footprint area
 Reverted rubber
hydroplaning can be initiated
at any speed above about 20
knots and results in tire
friction levels comparable to
that of icy runways
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How To Prevent Reverted Rubber

Hydroplaning
 Use light brake pressure, and use aerodynamic
braking to keep maximum weight on your
landing gear.
 Never lock up your brakes on landing.
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Recommended Procedure

 Approach
Set up the aircraft for landing in the touchdown
zone, on centerline, with minimum lateral drift, and
without excess speed. This allows the maximum
practical runway remaining on which to stop, and
minimizes the speed from which the stop is made.
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Recommended Procedure

Flare and Touchdown

 The landing flare should be performed so that the
touchdown is moderately firm.
 Attempting to achieve a very smooth touchdown can
consume excessive amounts of runway and jeopardize
directional control capability by failing to provide wheel
spin up to establish runway tracking forces
 Lowering the nose as soon as the main wheels
touch down helps plant the aircraft on the ground by
placing load on the tires.
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Recommended Procedure
Landing Roll
 Deploy the speed brakes as soon as possible after
main gear touchdown to place a high load on the
tires. Lowering the nose and deploying the speed
brakes may be done simultaneously

 Initiate reverse thrust as soon as possible after

main gear touchdown.
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General Airmanship Considerations

 The pilot should be aware of the aquaplaning

speed derived from the fully-inflated tyre pressure
for both the maximum takeoff weight and
maximum landing weight.

 Careful attention should be paid to the

appearance of the tyres during the pre-flight
external check, as far as is possible, especially
the depth of tread.
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General Airmanship Considerations

 The main gear touchdown on a wet runway should
always be firm and made without any bounce in order to
break through the surface water film and make effective
contact with the runway surface to spin-up the wheels
 A significant crosswind component may result in a
difference between the amount of weight transferred
onto each main gear assembly. This is because, even
with the wings being held level by into-wind aileron,
fuselage shielding partly blanks the downwind wing. This
increases the likelihood of difficulties with directional
control 
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LANDING PROCEDURES
(all models / all runways)
APPROACH :
- On speed
- On centerline (no drift)
- On Glide Path

TOUCHDOWN :
- Moderately firm
- On target
- Immediately lower nose

STOPPING :
- Speed brakes UP
- Brakes when : Nose DOWN & Speed brakes

- Reverse thrust
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