Run-up on taxi?

Rolling run-ups are the rule for off-airport operators. Stationary run-ups pick up gravel and sand and that's hard on the equipment yet pointing the airplane down a short strip with tall trees at the end motivates a good run-up. Do what you need to do for the conditions you operate in.
 
jordane93 said:
I think the savings will be negligible. You've probably already spent a good amount on the license. I don't think .1 or .2 extra on hobbs for a run up is going to kill you.
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This. I suspect that any money you might save is going to be lost in increased brake wear.

I have done an occasional mag check during taxi, but it was not to save money. It was more due to lack of suitable runup area and/or trying to minimize delay at busier airport.

It also depends a little on the airplane. If you know what you are doing, you can safely do a mag check during taxi in the Baron. I wouldn't even think about doing it in the Beech 18 (between the tailwheel and the fact that the mag switches are way over on the co-pilot's side it is a recipe for trouble).
 
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I've only done it on grass and only a couple of times. I can run up to 1800 rpm for a mag check on grass without gaining much, if any, speed.
 
News flash. Float planes and ski planes do runups and they don't have brakes!
 
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If a run-up is taking 6 minutes (.1 hobbs) you're doing it wrong.
 
Sorry to upset your blog. You have all the answers so I'll step out.
 
Do your run up when stopped and in a safe position
 
MAKG1 said:
Why?

The restart doesn't affect fuel, mags, controls, or anything else.

You don't even have to do it every flight, though most people will at least check mags. Once per day or per fill-up, whichever is shorter.
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Because that's just how I do it. How do I know a plug didn't get fouled?
 
RudyP said:
I'll do it on occasion if the situation dictates but in general there is no point. My plane is turbocharged and needs 150 degree oil temp before going full throttle so there is no time savings to doing a rolling run up.
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I'd surely hope you have a Preheat installed. :yes:
 
Aside from doing it in the water, I do rolling runups on sand, gravel, dirt strips.

Watch a plane idle in a fixed position over dirt, you'll see what I'm talking about, of course this isn't to save time, it's to save my prop and a few other parts from dings and scratches.

No on a nice clean paved location, meh, unless I have a long taxi I won't bother.

Also keep the stick BACK during runups and be conscious of what's behind you.
 
Fearless Tower said:
This. I suspect that any money you might save is going to be lost in increased brake wear.
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Never mind the money lost if distraction during the run-up leads to departure from the taxiway :hairraise:

Yeah, it's doable. Standard for floats, off-airport ops and some unimproved fields. But those typically have operational reasons for doing it and plenty of room.

OTOH, I've seen pilots doing static run-ups lose situational awareness long enough to not notice the airplane rolling anyway and hitting another aircraft.

A run-up in a complex aircraft at a high density altitude airport - I use it as an example because you are going to cycle the prop and lean the mixture - takes about a minute. That's not a lot of loss of either time or fuel. If your run-up takes you much longer than that, all the more reason not to do it on the roll.
 
fiveoboy01 said:
I personally would not do a run-up, shut down, restart, and take off without doing another run-up.
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It's standard practice in the working airplane world, heck the "run up" used to be called a daily flight check, as in once a day.
 
flyingron said:
I don't do it unless:

1. I have someone qualified in the right seat.
2. I'm on some place with inordinately long and wide taxiways (like IAD).

Otherwise, it's not particularly safe or even advantageous.
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I've only done it when there is a long line of planes stacked up behind and there is no run-up pad to pull out on.
 
James331 said:
It's standard practice in the working airplane world, heck the "run up" used to be called a daily flight check, as in once a day.
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And they're more than welcome to do it their way, and I'll do it mine.
 
fiveoboy01 said:
And they're more than welcome to do it their way, and I'll do it mine.
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Indeed,

However it almost seems like a OCD tick in some pilots, the amount of times they do a runup, the weird back and forth mag checks, think much just has to do with junk that was passed on from their CFIs, it's not causing too much wear on anything flipping mags and pulling knobs so carry on :)
 
I did one once on the departure out of the AOPA Tullahoma fly -in. I didn't like it and would not do it again. I did a run up in line leaving OSH by angling across the taxiway then getting back in line. The line way delayed for landing planes so I had plenty of time.
 
ATC_av8er said:
Just wondering, after I get my PPL of course, if it was possible to do my run-up on the taxi out to save a little time (and $$$ of course).

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
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Float plane pilots do it all the time.

Bob Gardner
 
dans2992 said:
It was interesting departing OSH - there was never an opportunity to do a run-up unless you wanted to block the entire line.

Not that it was a good idea, but I will say I didn't see anyone stopping to run up...

Of course, I also saw all types of aircraft departing while a thunderstorm was over the field in 2014...
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Think I was in that conga line and had to keep it moving, this was once...

The other time I did not stop for run up was when I was in the middle of the taxi pack at midway and was told to keep rolling so they could get all of us out of the way for incoming traffic. line up and wait was about 10-15 seconds so I did it on taxi.:dunno:

But normal procedure for me is complete stop.
 
Kritchlow said:
Really?? High power on the ramp??

The two minutes you can wait. Most larger airports have either a spot for the runup, or a secondary access to the runway.
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Sure, not every ramp will work, but most have plenty of room somewhere. Just spin it to point the blast out over the grass or an empty part of the ramp.

How do you know I can wait? Maybe I'm trying to make my void-time; Maybe I've got an EDCT I need to make; Maybe I'm trying to beat some weather; Maybe there are arrivals holding and waiting to get released inbound until I'm off. All those are real-world examples which have happened to me. The point is, if it's a public airport, then it's not your decision who gets to wait, but it's your responsibility to operate in a mannor which won't negatively impact others.
 
MAKG1 said:
Why?

The restart doesn't affect fuel, mags, controls, or anything else.

You don't even have to do it every flight, though most people will at least check mags. Once per day or per fill-up, whichever is shorter.
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Why? Because mags can and do fail suddenly.

I've had a mag completely fail 10 minutes after it passed at run-up. Had I opted to depart without doing another run up, I would have departed on one mag.
 
HighFlyingA380 said:
Sure, not every ramp will work, but most have plenty of room somewhere. Just spin it to point the blast out over the grass or an empty part of the ramp.

How do you know I can wait? Maybe I'm trying to make my void-time; Maybe I've got an EDCT I need to make; Maybe I'm trying to beat some weather; Maybe there are arrivals holding and waiting to get released inbound until I'm off. All those are real-world examples which have happened to me. The point is, if it's a public airport, then it's not your decision who gets to wait, but it's your responsibility to operate in a mannor which won't negatively impact others.
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This ----

busy airport = ramp / sleepy airport = hold short

CFI had me do a rolling run up once at a busy airport on taxiway ---- did not like it and will try to never do it again.
 
No needto runup on the runway. Theres always somewhere you can runup that wont bother anything on the taxiway or ramp.
 
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Jay Honeck said:
Why? Because mags can and do fail suddenly.

I've had a mag completely fail 10 minutes after it passed at run-up. Had I opted to depart without doing another run up, I would have departed on one mag.
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+1

I had a mag fail completely once after I taxied to the fuel pump and filled up between flights. No indication of a problem any time during the immediately prior flight.
 
Jay Honeck said:
Why? Because mags can and do fail suddenly.

I've had a mag completely fail 10 minutes after it passed at run-up. Had I opted to depart without doing another run up, I would have departed on one mag.
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That has nothing to do with starting and stopping an engine. The mag doesn't care.

No matter how many times you test the mags, there is always some small chance one may die before you take off.

By the same logic, you should be doing run-ups constantly, right?
 
MAKG1 said:
That has nothing to do with starting and stopping an engine. The mag doesn't care.

No matter how many times you test the mags, there is always some small chance one may die before you take off.

By the same logic, you should be doing run-ups constantly, right?
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latest
 
MAKG1 said:
That has nothing to do with starting and stopping an engine. The mag doesn't care.

No matter how many times you test the mags, there is always some small chance one may die before you take off.

By the same logic, you should be doing run-ups constantly, right?
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Way to twist the argument into something ridiculous.
 
GRG55 said:
So when you are running 2000 RPM what do you do to control your taxi speed? Drag the brakes?
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Apply the brakes, yes. It lasts no more than 15 seconds. It's about my only use of brakes on taxi.

I never do it the first leg of the day.
I never do it with pax on board.

It's usually when the engine is warm and I want to leave VFR right meow.

On another note, this thread is getting good. :popcorn:
 
Cpt_Kirk said:
Apply the brakes, yes. It lasts no more than 15 seconds. It's about my only use of brakes on taxi.

I never do it the first leg of the day.
I never do it with pax on board.

It's usually when the engine is warm and I want to leave VFR right meow.

On another note, this thread is getting good. :popcorn:
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Thanks for the clarification.

I can't do the run-up checks in the Aztec in 15 seconds, so as with many things in aviation the specific situations vary considerably and what works well for some may be impractical for others. :dunno:

On my plane the props alone are a bit of a performance as the POH requires a different RPM for the feather checks compared to the governor checks. And that's before touching the mag switches. :goofy:
 
GRG55 said:
Thanks for the clarification.



I can't do the run-up checks in the Aztec in 15 seconds, so as with many things in aviation the specific situations vary considerably and what works well for some may be impractical for others. :dunno:



On my plane the props alone are a bit of a performance as the POH requires a different RPM for the feather checks compared to the governor checks. And that's before touching the mag switches. :goofy:
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Do you do a feather check on each leg of a multi-leg flight?

When I am doing an abbreviated runup, I'm typically doing just a quick mag check. 15 seconds is plenty of time.
 
MAKG1 said:
That has nothing to do with starting and stopping an engine. The mag doesn't care.

No matter how many times you test the mags, there is always some small chance one may die before you take off.

By the same logic, you should be doing run-ups constantly, right?
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No, but you should a run up mag check as close to takeoff as practical.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
GRG55 said:
Thanks for the clarification.

I can't do the run-up checks in the Aztec in 15 seconds, so as with many things in aviation the specific situations vary considerably and what works well for some may be impractical for others. :dunno:

On my plane the props alone are a bit of a performance as the POH requires a different RPM for the feather checks compared to the governor checks. And that's before touching the mag switches. :goofy:
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You nailed it.

 I'm don't have enough time and am not proficient enough to go through an abbreviated check in a multi.
 
As my flying career has evolved I've gone through a complete circle. When I was first starting out in a HP single I would taxi out and then do a complete run up per the book. Then you get comfortable and start doing it during taxi. Maybe you skip it a few times.

Then you move up to something bigger with two engines and it is very difficult/unsafe to do while moving so you go back to being careful in the runup area. Then as you get some more experience and maybe had a few emergency situations and start to realize that these are really important checks and you should be doing them carefully and by the book.

Then you move up again and the procedures and checklists become mandatory and critical for safe flight.

I have to admit that I cringe when I look back with hindsight and think about some of the times I tried to save a little time and the risk I was willing to accept to do that.

BWTHDIK and YMMV. I might have a different theory again in another 1000 hours, but for right now that is how I feel about it.

Eggman
 
I don't do the runup itself while I'm moving, but I do some other tasks that don't require me to take my vision off the ramp like setting the DG, takeoff trim, free & correct movement, and a couple other things.
 
I once had an instructor who liked to complete run-ups on taxi. Personally, that seems like a lot to do while moving on the airport surface. Personal opinion: if the 3 minutes that it takes me to run-up on the pad will cost me too much money, I probably didn't have enough to fly that day anyway.
 
If I'm at a larger airport - say class b or c I will do most of the pre-flight checklist on the ramp. Then I taxi to the hold short line and I check the mags and go..
 
EminiTrader said:
If I'm at a larger airport - say class b or c I will do most of the pre-flight checklist on the ramp. Then I taxi to the hold short line and I check the mags and go..
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For me it depends what airport. There's no way I can do the run up in IAD or BOS because the ramp is packed and I don't want to blast the fancy jets. In CLE and PHL I have no problem doing the run up in the ramp because it's pretty empty. Usually at the busier Class B airports I fly into I'll do the run up on the taxiway because I'm usually taxiing for more than half an hour.
 
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