mad DOG nearly took a dip in the Potomac!

Timbuff10

Timbuff10

Well-Known Member
So I was flying out of DCA today to start my trip back to Denver. Well, I have not been on an MD80 in ages so this may be normal but I totally thought we were going to run off the end of the runway and into the river.

We took off to the south sitting in 17A and I was watching the black distance remaining signs go whizzing by, 6 thousand, 5, 4, 3, 2 thousand, thinking we should be lifting off the ground about now... One thousand, there goes the fatties under me and then finally the nose starts to lift off. I swear, it felt like we were in slow motion! Mains are still on the ground and the 500 footers go zipping by. I thought we were toast! I actually let out a little whimper kind of thing as finally the mains got off the ground just as the approach lights show up and then water is right under us. The guy sitting next to me actually asks if I am a nervous flyer and in the same breath comments on how close we are to the water.

I totally thought I was going to be floating around with that stupid seat cushion today. That was easily the most frightened I have ever been in an airplane!

Is this normal for the MD80 out of DCA? It was pretty humid and probably close to 90 degrees around the time. Full boat (ha, that's why they use the term boat) and I guess we had a lot of fuel since Cappy said we couldn't get over 30,000' till we burned off some fuel.

Oh well, I am alive... I think I will avoid the MD80s out of DC from now on.

Good luck with that thing Doug! :)
 
It is a fairly short runway as airliners go, about 6900 ft. I believe they also prefer the north flow, so they probably operate with a tailwind if they can get away with it.

I've only been in there once so take that for what it's worth.
 
Timbuff10 said:
So I was flying out of DCA today to start my trip back to Denver. Well, I have not been on an MD80 in ages so this may be normal but I totally thought we were going to run off the end of the runway and into the river.

We took off to the south sitting in 17A and I was watching the black distance remaining signs go whizzing by, 6 thousand, 5, 4, 3, 2 thousand, thinking we should be lifting off the ground about now... One thousand, there goes the fatties under me and then finally the nose starts to lift off. I swear, it felt like we were in slow motion! Mains are still on the ground and the 500 footers go zipping by. I thought we were toast! I actually let out a little whimper kind of thing as finally the mains got off the ground just as the approach lights show up and then water is right under us. The guy sitting next to me actually asks if I am a nervous flyer and in the same breath comments on how close we are to the water.

I totally thought I was going to be floating around with that stupid seat cushion today. That was easily the most frightened I have ever been in an airplane!

Is this normal for the MD80 out of DCA? It was pretty humid and probably close to 90 degrees around the time. Full boat (ha, that's why they use the term boat) and I guess we had a lot of fuel since Cappy said we couldn't get over 30,000' till we burned off some fuel.

Oh well, I am alive... I think I will avoid the MD80s out of DC from now on.

Good luck with that thing Doug! :)
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Eh...maybe it just because I live in AZ. but I always see MD-80/90 series aircraft eating up alot of runway on takeoff. Getting up at or before the numbers isn't rare for me to see at least here. I asked FO4eva (think his name is) MQAAORD husband also a 80 driver outa CVG. He explained that it is really the wing think he said its aft loaded or something to that effect...*I believe*. This was back at NJC04. That night was a blur!
 
Yeah, I know they aren't the best performers. I have seen them use over 10,000' of runway here in Denver. Spirit seemed to have problems getting their DEN-FLL flight going for a while in the summers.

Usually when I fly on Frontier out of there we get up in like 5,000' or so. And that is pretty heavy too since that trip is direct to Denver instead of Dallas.

I just figured being at sea level, it would perform a whole lot better. Oh yeah, and we had a pretty good headwind too, had to be 10, maybe 15 kts right down the pipe. Maybe American Airlines needs to redo some of their charts?
 
Never fear, the book says you were safe to accelerate to V1, could lose an engine, and still make it off the runway. Sometimes I wonder about that book, though...
 
Timbuff10 said:
Yeah, I know they aren't the best performers. I have seen them use over 10,000' of runway here in Denver. Spirit seemed to have problems getting their DEN-FLL flight going for a while in the summers.

Usually when I fly on Frontier out of there we get up in like 5,000' or so. And that is pretty heavy too since that trip is direct to Denver instead of Dallas.

I just figured being at sea level, it would perform a whole lot better. Oh yeah, and we had a pretty good headwind too, had to be 10, maybe 15 kts right down the pipe. Maybe American Airlines needs to redo some of their charts?
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Figured you flew AA. Man those things are ALWAYS low on takeoff here in the PHX. I.E. their up on the numbers or like I said previously just before. Its always cool at least here because when taking off to the west the DP calls for an immediate left hand turn to 240 and since they eat up more then half the runway there doin this turn low at maybe 500 AGL.

Trey cool. DL's MD-90's seem to have somewhat better field performance.
 
I've flown fat-assed MD-90's out of DCA without a problem. Remember, the engines are far behind the wing on a DC-9/MD-80 variant aircraft so your sensation of speed is a lot different.

If you "think" something is happening, remember your perspective of the event is based upon a false presumption of something being wrong.

More than likely, everything was alright. If everything wasn't, well, you wouldn't be writing the post! ;)
 
Timbuff10 said:
So I was flying out of DCA today to start my trip back to Denver. Well, I have not been on an MD80 in ages so this may be normal but I totally thought we were going to run off the end of the runway and into the river.

We took off to the south sitting in 17A and I was watching the black distance remaining signs go whizzing by, 6 thousand, 5, 4, 3, 2 thousand, thinking we should be lifting off the ground about now... One thousand, there goes the fatties under me and then finally the nose starts to lift off. I swear, it felt like we were in slow motion! Mains are still on the ground and the 500 footers go zipping by. I thought we were toast! I actually let out a little whimper kind of thing as finally the mains got off the ground just as the approach lights show up and then water is right under us. The guy sitting next to me actually asks if I am a nervous flyer and in the same breath comments on how close we are to the water.

I totally thought I was going to be floating around with that stupid seat cushion today. That was easily the most frightened I have ever been in an airplane!

Is this normal for the MD80 out of DCA? It was pretty humid and probably close to 90 degrees around the time. Full boat (ha, that's why they use the term boat) and I guess we had a lot of fuel since Cappy said we couldn't get over 30,000' till we burned off some fuel.

Oh well, I am alive... I think I will avoid the MD80s out of DC from now on.

Good luck with that thing Doug! :)
Click to expand...

I spent the last three days flying in and out of DCA and what you experienced is the norm. Even in the light little airplane I fly with high bypass engines that are more efficient at lower altitudes it seems like we eat up lots of runway there, especially during the summer.
 
aloft said:
Probably using flex thrust to save on gas. Cheap bastards.
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Someone pointed out to me that in my airplane there has never been an engine failure during a flex takeoff. (Knock on wood!) That's at least some sense of security.
 
Flex=Reduced Thrust.

Because an engine produces less thrust at hotter temps we will look at the hottest temp we could still safely get airborn with. We then look at the amount of power the engine would be producing in that scenario and then we find the N1 number at the current (lower) temp that would produce that amount of power. We take off using the lower N1 number which saves wear and tear on the engines and as was said (knock on wood) hasn't produced an engine failure on the CRJ and as far as I know almost any other plane. And by saying "we" do all that work, I mean the ACARS or our Take Off and Landing Report gives us those numbers. We don't actually do the math.
 
of course it goes without saying that flex t/o's are NOT done on ferry flights for 'safety' reasons :).
 
EDUC8-or said:
The 700 will cliimb like a homesick angel on a ferry flight even with a flex takeoff.
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lol

i remember doing a ferry flight out of canada one day, cold as heck, full power. that was the first and only time I saw 10,000+ on the VSI :).
 
I thought we were toast! I actually let out a little whimper kind of thing
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Haahah. Thats like flying into KLGA. People actually scream because its water,water,water, 500 AGL, water, water, RUNWAY 22. YAY
 
boeing 777-300 said:
Haahah. Thats like flying into KLGA. People actually scream because its water,water,water, 500 AGL, water, water, RUNWAY 22. YAY
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There are a few runways I brief the pax on the pontoon landing. ("Folks we are blah blah miles out the weather is blah blah. Looks like we will be landing on runway Blah Blah today. Why am I telling you that? Because when you look out down low you are going to get a great view of the fish. That's normal. Don't worry about it. We do have pontoons installed, although we certainly don't plan on using them.") Runway 1 and 33 in DC. The river visual as well. 22 and 31 and LGA. One of the boston runways also.
 
AAHAHHAAH for some reason this is just making me laugh so hard. I think it was due to the way Timbuff10 wrote that description.
 
Doug Taylor said:
If you "think" something is happening, remember your perspective of the event is based upon a false presumption of something being wrong.

More than likely, everything was alright. If everything wasn't, well, you wouldn't be writing the post! ;)
Click to expand...

Great observation oh wise one
 
Try flying into DCA on a fully loaded 757. I dont think DCA even has 757 service anymore if so then its not often. We flew in on National Airlines (RIP) from LAS. The landing was very short and break heavy, everyone in the cabin was holding their breaths. For a minute I was certain we were going to pull a go-around. The take off was pretty scary too, we used up every inch of that runway then cut a sharp turn west at about 500 ft or so.
 
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