How do you calculate the take-off and landing angle of a jet to prevent tailstrike?

Question

How do you calculate the take-off and landing angle of a jet to prevent tailstrike?

Answer 1

You would make sure you have the correct angle of attack, or the angle at which the aircraft is approaching the runway in reference to the horizon. The angle of attack, combined with the appropiate amount of airspeed and a good flare at final would make it very hard to have a tail strike, in theory.

Answer 2

The manufacturer of the aircraft usually gives you the maximum ammount that you can pitch up.

Answer 3

well, you have to check your handbook, where it's written at which ° of pitch you have a tailstrike. On a B747, it is about 11° or more. The speed is not interesting. Just pitch your plane up, but not more than 10° or so.

Answer 4

Make sure that you have the airspeed bugs properly set for your flap settings. Rotate at Vr, not before. You're looking for about 3 degrees per second rotation rate when you do rotate. Rotate to a set pitch attitude and no greater. The airplane should fly as advertised.

Somewhere in the sim, ground school, or the training manual, there will be some sort of discussion regarding tailstrikes and pilot technique for their avoidance. That's just something that one doesn't calculate beforehand.

On the other hand, just go to the 3 view of the aircraft, get your protracter out and measure the angle between the aircraft level and a line between the main gear and where the tail would scrape. That'll give you kind of a ballpark figure. I wouldn't take it to the bank, but it might help in some situational awareness or a bar bet at least.

Answer 5

Airplanes are generally designed to have limited elevator authority at low airspeeds, to reduce the likelihood of a tail strike.  But it does happen.  As mentioned by one answerer, the 727 is notorious.  There is usually slight, if any, damage.

On most jet airliners, that invisible line between the main wheels and the underbelly of the tail cone is about 1-1/2 bars above the horizontal on the attitude indicator.  So pilot technique is to rotate to no more than one bar until you feel it unstick.  That will quickly become a matter of "feel."

Answer 6

Arctangency.

Level the plane on a level surface, measure how far back the tailskid is from the main tires, and measure the height of the tail skid above the surface.  You have the adjacent and opposite sides of the right triangle.  Look up the arctangent.  That deck angle can produce a tailstrike.

Answer 7

You don't have to.  The pilot flies based on airspeed.  The design of the aircraft handles the rest.

Answer 8

You don't. Tail strikes happen, especially in a 727 which is why they have a retractable tail skid. Proud to say I've never hit it but they do happen.