After landing, which speed shall we use to exit from high speed taxiway? Max. 60 knots ground speed or indicated air speed?
-
5$\begingroup$ Depends on what you are flying. In a Cessna 150, 60 knots means you are low-altitude flying, not taxiing... $\endgroup$– Ron BeyerJun 4, 2016 at 3:39
-
$\begingroup$ You may restrict your question to certain types of aircraft in certain categories of airport (e.g. airliners on international airports) $\endgroup$– Manu HJun 4, 2016 at 9:48
-
2$\begingroup$ Possible duplicate of What is the maximum taxi speed and who defines it? $\endgroup$– LnafzigerJun 4, 2016 at 15:21
1 Answer
According to the ICAO manual on Aerodrome Standards (based on Annex 14) (link) - maximum 35 knots for code 1 and 2 runways, and maximum 50 knots for code 3 and 4 runways.
Since you are moving on the ground, it makes sense to use your ground speed as reference.
I imagine most aircraft operators have procedures for using rapid exit taxiways in their standard operating manuals. As a result, the actual speed used by air crews is likely to vary depending on which company they fly for.
IFALPA recommends that you slow down to normal taxi speed on the runway, and then use rapid exit taxiways with normal taxi speed (as opposed to the very low speed you would need to use to turn off the runway using a pendicular taxiway). (link)
From the ICAO manual:
3.8.15
A rapid exit taxiway shall be designed with a radius of turn-off curve of at least:
- 550 m where the code number is 3 or 4; and
- 275 m where the code number is 1 or 2;
to enable exit speeds under wet conditions of:
- 93 km/h where the code number is 3 or 4; and
- 65 km/h where the code number is 1 or 2.
Note: you can find the definitions of the code numbers (1, 2, 3, 4) on page 17 of the manual to which I linked above.