Aerodrome Data

Define “aerodrome”

• An area on land or water (including any buildings, installations, and equipment) intended to be used either wholly or in part for the arrival, departure and surface movement of aircraft

Airports are divided into 2 areas, what are they?

• Landside area (all area that are not related to aircrafts)

• Airside area (all area accessible to aircraft only!)

Give 3 examples of landside areas

• Parking lots

• Public transportation

• Access road

Give 3 examples of airside areas

• Runways

• Taxiways

• Ramps

True or false: “Access to landside areas is tightly controlled at most airports”

True!

Airside area is decided into 2 structures, what are they?

2 structures

• Movement area (maneuvering area + apron)

• Maneuvering area (runway, excluding apron)

What are the 6 concepts of passenger terminal?

• Simple

• Linear

• Pier (finger)

• Satellite

• Transporter

• Hybrid

Explain “simple concept”

• Low traffic volume airport

• Parked angled nose-in or nose-out for self taxi-in or taxi-out

• E.g. regional airport

Explain “linear concept”

• จอดได้ฝั่งเดียว

• Parked in an angled or parallel parking configuration

Explain “pier (finger) concept”

• Aircrafts are parked at gate positions on both sides of the piers.

  • Angled

  • Parallel

  • Perpendicular (nose-in)

Explain “satellite concept”

• Consists of a satellite unit, surrounded by aircraft gate positions

• Separated from the terminal

• Normally access via an underground/elevated corridor

• Aircrafts are parked in radial, parallel, or some other configuration “around” the satellite

Explain “transporter concept”

• “Open” or “remote” apron concept

• Ideally located for aircraft close to the runway and remote from other structures

• Provide advantages for aircraft handling (e.g. shorter overall-taxiing distance)

• Some types of vehicle is required to transport passengers to this terminal

Explain “hybrid concept”

• The combination of other concepts

• Most common combination = transporter + something else

What is “aerodrome reference point”?

• “ARP”

• The designated geographical location of an aerodrome

• “Notional center point of an aerodrome/airport

• Location: Near the initial/planned geometric center of the aerodrome and shall normally remain where first established.

What is the unit of ARP?

• Degrees (องศา)

• Minutes (ลิปดา)

• Seconds (ฟิลิปดา)

What is “aerodrome elevation”?

• The elevation of the highest point of the landing area

• Measured to the accuracy of ½ meter or foot

Define “runway slope/gradient”

• The difference in elevation from the beginning to the ending of the runway

• Reported in percentage (%)

• To find the slope, units must be the same (e.g. feet- feet, meter-meter)

What are the 2 types of runway slope?

• Upslope

• Downslope

What will happen if an aircraft take off from an “upslope runway”?

• Has to overcome weight in adding to drag

• เครื่องมีแรงต้านเยอะ ต้องใช้กำลังมากขึ้นในการทำให้เครื่องเคลื่อนตัว

• Result in:

  • Slower acceleration

  • Longer take-off distance

What will happen if an aircraft take off from an “downslope runway”?

• Weight acts in the same direction as thrust

• เครื่องบินไหลลงตามความชัน ไม่ต้องใช้แรงเยอะ

• Result in:

  • decreases take-off distance

How to find runway slope?

1. Find runway elevation difference

2. Divided by runway length

3. Check if they’re the same unit

4. Multiplied by 100

5. Answer in percentage

Explain “global reporting format”

• “GRF”

• A methodology for assessing and reporting runway surface conditions

• Developed by ICAO

• Help mitigate the risk of runway excursions

What are some purposes of having GRF?

• To standardize

• Establish a common language

• Allow pilots to accurately determine airplane take-off and landing performance

• Improve aerodrome safety

• Improve airport operations efficiency

• Reduce environmental impact

What agencies are involved in an aerodrome-related-information?

1. Aerodrome operators

2. Aeronautical information services (AIS)

3. Air traffic services (ATS)

How many categories does the “runway condition assessment matrix (RCAM) have?

7 categories (from 0-6)

Which RCAM categories are primarily used in Thailand? What are their conditions

• Code 6 → dry

• Code 5 → wet

• Code 3 → slippery wet

• Code 2 → standing water (deeper than 3mm)

True or false: “runway condition assessment is needed to be reported to pilots before landing”

True!

What does “RCR” stand for? What is it?

• “Runway Condition Report”

• A standardized, global reporting format (GRF) used to assess and communicate runway surface conditions, such as water, snow, or ice

What are the 2 types of RCR report? Simply explain them

• Upgrade RCR = runway is in a good condition

• Downgrade RCR = runway is not in a good condition

True or false: “when reporting RCR, you report from the lower runway designator to higher runway designator”

True!

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