Vietnam B789 at Munich on Aug 15th 2026, late rotation, tailstrike, runway overrun, tyre damage

[Pilot Fighter]

That would have been an unmitigated death trap.

One day I’ll do a deep dive on Whale losses,
I’m curious about the numbers.

My father’s last five flights had in-flight emergencies, that’s crazy. Imagine the deferred maintenance as they were being replaced by Prowlers.

Maybe the Navy should consider a mix of KC-46’s and MQ-25’s. KC-46’s are cheaper than MQ-25’s.

 

[Beaker]

General rule of thumb applies. 2/3 of rotation speed by half way down the runway. Eg, 165 knot rotation. You should be 110 knots at least by half way down the runway.

It's good to have some approximate gut checks in mind. I'll also agree that if you do not have 2/3rd (or 70% is the rule of thumb also goes) by half way down the runway, you should abort. However, the logic behind the adage is simplistic and you can be in trouble even if you pass this test. It also gives absurd guidance when there is a large mismatch between available runway and aircraft performance. As in, "If I don't have 35 knots in my Cessna Bugsmasher by 1-mile down this 2-mile runway, I don't care what you say, I'm aborting!"

AOPA article on the subject:
Reality check

Within my simple world of light GA airplanes, I follow the recommendation of the article and make sure the runway can support the takeoff ground roll followed by the landing ground roll (with my margin factors applied). The abort point occurs at the end of the predicted takeoff ground roll. Either I'm in the air, or I bring it to a stop. To be clear, I'm not saying this is practical for other contexts.

 

[Beep]

I knew that, I was just testing you.

THAT sounds an awful lot like something old people with CRS Syndrome would say.