What is the definition of "take off" ?

Question

a. What is the concise/correct definition of "take off" ?

b. can a certain altitude, tens/hundreds of ft above runway

be considered after take off ?

c. does "take off ends" defined by the altitude above runway ?

d. does "take off ends" defined by the "gear up" ?

e. how about the term "airborne" or "climbing" ?

f. what separates the term "take off", "airborne",

"zooming" and "climbing" ?

which of the terms is/are similar ?

* i've seen air superiority fighters

go vertical (90degrees) "straight up" climb

at about 100-120 ft above runway,

right after take off/rotation

g. are there phases of take off ?

does it include runway run, rotating speed Vr/Vr1/Vr2, etc ?

h. does Vr/Vr1/Vr2 applies to

cargos/fighters/bombers too (B-52, B-1, B-2, B-747F, C-17, C-5) ?

i. The recent B-2 crash, is it after the "take off" phase,

or still in "take off" phase ?

what do you think ?

thanks ;)

Answer 1

Sorry, only one question at a time.  Transport category airliners are considered in the takeoff up to 1500' agl.

Answer 2

i always thought of take off, as just leaving.

Answer 3

take off is when the landing gear doesnt touch the runway anymore and is climbing (gaining altitude)

airborne is when the landing gear doesnt touch runway

and the fighter pilots that go 90 degrees have tens of thousands of pounds of thrust and are going so fast that they wont stall right after take off so they can climb thousands of feet before stalling (aircraft not moving)

Answer 4

Unfortunately I don't have time to answer all of these questions, however the short answer is that "takeoff" isn't actually defined by the FAA.  There are other terms such as "takeoff run", "takeoff path", and  "takeoff distance" which are defined though.

The "takeoff distance" is the horizontal distance traveled by the aircraft from the point of brake release until it is 35 feet in the air, for transport category airplanes.  

There are several phases of the climb after takeoff:

First segment climb starts at 35 (for jets...  recips are 50 feet) feet above the runway, and ends when the gear is up.

Second segment climb starts at gear up and typically ends at 400 feet, although there are some exceptions.  (The learjet second segment climb ends at 1500 feet.)  

Transition segment starts where the second segment climb ends and ends after you accelerate and clean up the airplane:  retract flaps, etc.

Final segment climb ends at 1500 feet.

Cruise climb ends when reaching your cruising altitude.

The Federal Aviation Regulations cover this, and if you want more information I would refer to the FAR's, Part 25 for transport category airplanes (linked below).

Answer 5

The B-2 incident definitely occurred during the "takeoff phase".  In airline flying, and with most high performance aircraft in other sectors of aviation, the airplane is committed to the takeoff when it reaches V1 (takeoff decision speed). After rotation, the "take-off phase" does not end until the aircraft has been configured for a climb (gear up, flaps and power set for climb, etc). In general, this is around 400-500 feet off the ground. Below that altitude, particularly with large aircraft, turns are strictly avoided so the crew's attention is fully upon safely managing the takeoff. After that, you are in the "climb phase" through 10,000 feet where "sterile cockpit" procedures should be observed. After that you enter the "enroute climb" or "cruise climb" phase.

Some may argue over terminology and that there is an "initial climb" phase that starts very soon after the wheels leave the pavement followed by the "intermediate climb" to 1,000-1,500 feet, but this is arguing semantics. In practicality, it is pretty much how I've described it since it all occurs very quickly after rotation.

Answer 6

A few words about the phrase "take off"

Since the fatal collision between KLM flight 4805 and  PanAm Flight 1736 in 1997 in Tenerife, the phrase take off has had a very specific meaning in aviation radio telephony. The accident was caused because of confusion of the meaning of "take off"

As a result of the Tenerife accident, in the United Kingdom CAP413 restricts the use of the words "take off" over the radio and the words are only ever used in relation to the granting by ATC of take off clearance and the acknowledgement of that clearance by the pilot. If a pilot wants to tell the tower his read for take off he must use the phrase "Ready for departure". Similar restrictions affect radio phraseology in other countries.

Answer 7

a) Take off is that phase of flying which starts from the moment the aircraft starts rolling (on the active runway) and gathers speed, unsticks in case of tricycle gear or raises the tail wheel in case of tail wheel aircraft, continues its run till it attains flying speed, until the main gears lift off from the ground.

b) Technically, take off ends with the landing gear lifting off from the surface of the runway.

c) Take off ends as per (b) above.

d) No - gears up is subsequent to take off.

e) Airborne is the stage immediately after take off. Climb starts when the pilot starts the ascent after getting airborne.

f) Take off and airborne are horizontal phases of flight. Zooming and climbing are travel in the vertical plane with zooming being a much steeper version of climbing. Zooming and climbing are similar terms.

g) Phases of take off include take off run, rotation of the aircraft and subsequent lift off.

h) These apply to the larger aircraft including cargo and passengers.

i) I regret I have no knowledge of the recent B-2 crash.

Hope above would be found useful.

Answer 8

The definition of "take off" is the transition from ground machine to air machine. The takeoff is complete when the machine becomes airborne. That begins the climbout. When the craft is no longer in contact with the earth, it is "airborne" and begins climbing until it reaches a cruise altitude. There may be interuptions that cause the machine to level off and maintain altitude for traffic, and when clear is able to resume climbing. It can also be required to level off for a period of time to burn enough fuel before climbing to a higher altitude.

Answer 9

The definition of where the take-off phase ends has caused lots of arguments in the past.  It's something people just won't agree on.  Some say when the landing gear is lifted, others say after 1,500' AGL, while others will say at acceleration altitude.  People will swear they are correct.  Me personally, I think the take-off phase ends when you do the climb checklist.