What Is The Tem Heavy???

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CW1NY3478

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My Question is when they land the planes say for example delta flight 1861 heavy decend and maintain.

what is the tem heavy mean???

thanks
 

morfis

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CW1NY3478 said:
My Question is when they land the planes say for example delta flight 1861 heavy decend and maintain.

what is the tem heavy mean???

thanks

Aircraft are catagorised according to the wake turbulance they cause. A "heavy" aircraft will have a big area of turbulance behind it and it would be inappropriate for a light aircraft to follow it closely (but another "heavy" could follow fairly closely as it would be less affected by the turbulence).
There is probably a listing of each type and it's wake characteristics online somewhere.
 
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N_Jay

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morfis said:
Aircraft are catagorised according to the wake turbulance they cause. A "heavy" aircraft will have a big area of turbulance behind it and it would be inappropriate for a light aircraft to follow it closely (but another "heavy" could follow fairly closely as it would be less affected by the turbulence).
There is probably a listing of each type and it's wake characteristics online somewhere.

I think it used to be an actual weight, but has been modified due to some aircraft just less than "heavy" (757s) creating dangerous situations fr smaller aircraft.
 

cookiend15

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Term Heavy for aircraft

To the best of my knowledge the term HEAVY is used to describe the size of the aircraft that is either talking to the Airport or the ARTCC. When aircraft like the massive C-5 galaxy comes into the Schenectady County airport in New York each year for the airshow I hear them contact the control tower like this. Schenectady Tower this is Air Force Heavy _ _ _ _, Etc.

As was mentioned before you dont want a smaller aircraft either taking off or landing directly after a very large aircraft weighing over 500,000 Lbs. due to the fact that the air disturbance from the much larger jet will cause alot of turbulance problems for the smallers jet.

I hope that this helps.

Chris
 
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DaveNF2G

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From the NF2G Scannist Pages Glossary:

Heavy
Appended to an aircraft callsign when the gross weight of the aircraft exceeds 30,000 pounds. Jumbo jets like the DC-10 and Boeing 747 rate a "heavy" designation even when empty. This term alerts controllers to ensure adequate spacing behind the aircraft to avoid accidents caused by wake turbulence.

[edit] That figure might be 300,000 pounds - anyone know for sure from official sources? [/edit]
 

kc2kvz

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From the FAA website:
AIRCRAFT WEIGHT CLASSES

a. Heavy. Aircraft capable of takeoff weights of more than 255,000 pounds whether or not they are operating at this weight during a particular phase of flight.

b. Large. Aircraft of more than 41,000 pounds, maximum certificated takeoff weight, up to 255,000 pounds.

c. Small. Aircraft of 41,000 pounds or less maximum certificated takeoff weight.
 

austinscan1

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Heavy jets

All jets 255,000 pounds or more are heavy jets per FAA. It's based on the max weight for the type, not the specific flight. Covered are all wide bodies, (Boeing 747,767,777, MD DC-10, and MD-11). In addition all Airbus wide bodies (300, 310, 330, 340 and 380). Single aisle types are 707, and DC-8. The B757 has some versions built to 255K, and others get the warning for wake turbulance as large jets. Austin
 
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