Run up area

David Kagey

David Kagey

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DMKagey
Question. Other day I was departing an airport with a control tower that I seldom use. Taxied to the runup area. At my home airport (uncontrolled) the normal practice is to taxi in front of the runup area and then circle into the area and line up facing the runway with your aircraft closest to the departing end. This day, I was the only aircraft in the run up area and did this, but the ground controller decided to tell me that I was doing it wrong and that the "correct" procedure was to turn into the runup area, go along the back side and then line up closest to the arrival end of the airport. CAP guy with me said that is the only way to enter the runup area.
So, I looked at the AIM and can find nothing covering this. Was the ground controller just "owning" his space, or is there really a formal procedure for entering the runup area? I always thought it was pretty basic. Line up in an organized fashion, don't line up where your prop wash will blow on another persons aircraft, linger only as long as necessary. Just kinda embarrassing being chewed out over the radio when I was the only guy in the entire runup area. Thanks...like to follow the rules if I know them.
 
There are so many variations on run-up areas at towered airports, there is no way to cover them all in the AIM. Some have dedicated runup areas, some don't. Some expect you to take care of runup in a nonmovement area before even calling for taxi, some don't. How about a variation where you need taxi clearance to taxi to a runup area but once there, have to call for taxi clearance again?

The only "universals" I've seen are (1) run up on an area of the non-movement ramp where you can. as you say, "don't line up where your prop wash will blow on another persons aircraft, linger only as long as necessary," and (2) Ask Ground or the FBO, "where is your runup area?"

So, which airport was this?
 
I was taught to line up from arrival end, the idea is first in, first out, so planes don’t have to cross in front of each other. If you’re going to take a long time then maybe you should do it differently.
 
I perform the run-up closest to the arrival side of the area. As mentioned, I don't have to cross in front of other aircraft that may be ready to exit or have other aircraft cross in front of me when exiting.
 
Rolling run-up. :)

It really depends on the airport. Some are well marked and some are not. Some have good signage and some do not. Some airports have the run-up area so you can only enter the box from one side, others where you can approach from almost any direction. One airport has taxi lines leading right up to the parking T. Another where the run-up area is right in the middle of the ramp.

I don't think I've ever been at a towered airport where ground frequency got grumpy over someone asking for clarification.
 
eman1200 said:
curious to know which airport as well. some are pretty obvious, others take some common sense

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That is a perfect example of variety. Compare it it this one. The airport in your photo is just off the taxiway but still in the movement area. Finish the runup and head to the runway hold short line if no one is in the way. In my photo, the runup area is also just off the taxiway but in a non-movement area so when done, you have to to get a new taxi clearance to go to the runway.


1718211235249.png
 
midlifeflyer said:
That is a perfect example of variety. Compare it it this one. The airport in your photo is just off the taxiway but still in the movement area. Finish the runup and head to the runway hold short line if no one is in the way. In my photo, the runup area is also just off the taxiway but in a non-movement area so when done, you have to to get a new taxi clearance to go to the runway.
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and compare that to my home field where it is just kinda known the highlighted area is where you do your runup. if'n you aint from around here you'd prob never know it and there's no signage or instructions on atis but basically don't be blocking people, not that difficult. my guess is, if you couldn't figure out to do your runup somewhere out of the way you'd prob taxi to the rwy and do your runup there, most likely blocking people at this busy lil class delta.


1718212675947.png
 
Just get a Cirrus. That way you can just pull all the way up to the hold line to do your run-up while everyone else waits behind you.

Joking, of course. For real, I don’t think I’ve been to two airports that have the same local run-up procedure. As others have said, just be courteous and if ground wants you to do something else, they’ll let you know. It may help to ask the ground controller if you aren’t sure. They are usually appreciative if you tell them it’s your first time at their airport.
 
eman1200 said:
and compare that to my home field where it is just kinda known the highlighted area is where you do your runup. if'n you aint from around here you'd prob never know it and there's no signage or instructions on atis but basically don't be blocking people, not that difficult. my guess is, if you couldn't figure out to do your runup somewhere out of the way you'd prob taxi to the rwy and do your runup there, most likely blocking people at this busy lil class delta.
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Funny. At my nontowered home base, the 99s did a great job of painting one of those compass roses and (most) everyone uses it for runup. Personally, other than in the middle of a row or with your tail to the FBO or someone's hangar, I can't think of too many places worse and sooo many places better.

1718214409609.png
 
What if a pilot refuses to follow their special run up procedure? unless they specifically tell you to enter the run up area their way and then you do it differently, I don’t think they can do anything about it. Seems like really splitting hairs.

Something similar at my home field, a sleepy-but-giant class c: there are no run up areas. So, I run up on the taxiway facing into the wind at the departure end of the runway but waaaaay back from the hold short lines. I’ve been hangaring at this airport for 4 years but on every run up, tower asks what I’m doing. Every.Single.Time.
It’s like a funny battle of wills: I’m not going to announce I’m doing a run up (nor do it at my hangar which is next to a mobile home park), and they’re going to keep asking me what I’m doing even though they already know.
 
Country Flier said:
What if a pilot refuses to follow their special run up procedure? unless they specifically tell you to enter the run up area their way and then you do it differently, I don’t think they can do anything about it. Seems like really splitting hairs.

Something similar at my home field, a sleepy-but-giant class c: there are no run up areas. So, I run up on the taxiway facing into the wind at the departure end of the runway but waaaaay back from the hold short lines. I’ve been hangaring at this airport for 4 years but on every run up, tower asks what I’m doing. Every.Single.Time.
It’s like a funny battle of wills: I’m not going to announce I’m doing a run up (nor do it at my hangar which is next to a mobile home park), and they’re going to keep asking me what I’m doing even though they already know.
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Beats me, except that they have control of the taxiways and at a Class C lots of jets which don’t do runups and are ready for takeoff once on the taxiway. So that tends to be their expectation.

By the second or third Every. Single. Time. I would have taken the hint and runup in a ramp area before calling for taxi.
 
midlifeflyer said:
By the second or third Every. Single. Time. I would have taken the hint and runup in a ramp area before calling for taxi.
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And that’s part of the problem, because there is no ramp. Some guys do like to run up where I do but first tell tower “I’m going to run up here” which keeps them from asking you what you’re doing. Most guys do the run up right outside their hangar but I don’t like to do that because it bothers the nearby neighborhood.
 
Ha!

My class delta the controllers don’t agree! One is very careful to direct you to run up area and contact ground when complete, others “ taxi runway 23 bravo alpha cross 31 at alpha.”
 
midlifeflyer said:
That is a perfect example of variety. Compare it it this one. The airport in your photo is just off the taxiway but still in the movement area. Finish the runup and head to the runway hold short line if no one is in the way. In my photo, the runup area is also just off the taxiway but in a non-movement area so when done, you have to to get a new taxi clearance to go to the runway.


View attachment 129952
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Until seeing this today, I would totally have blundered back up to the whole short line without asking. Makes sense, looking at it from above. Is this run up area charted somewhere on the airport directory? Or are you supposed to just recognize it.
 
Plenty of people do their run ups at the hold short line. There’s no requirement. You don’t have to call tower to say ready for takeoff until you are ready. Full stop.
 
Refresh me… it’s been a number of years…. A run up, you check mags, vacuum, what else? How long does that take? Seems like flight controls & trim could be done before taxi?? Again, I’m out of practice.
In the airlines we do that as a taxi check.

FWIW, I think the OP did it correctly.
 
Kritchlow said:
Refresh me… it’s been a number of years…. A run up, you check mags, vacuum, what else? How long does that take? Seems like flight controls & trim could be done before taxi?? Again, I’m out of practice.
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Cycle the prop ( maybe multiple times )
Check voltages
Check alternators
Carb heat

One reason I don’t do it on taxi is that the engine power is a lot higher than taxi speeds. The 182 run up is 1800 rpm, the cirrus 2200 . That’s pretty fast without riding the brakes.

The other is that my attention is not on where I’m going or what’s happening around.

But if you have two airline pilots, it’s probably easy to have one taxi and the other run the checklist.

If I have to hold short on the way I will run the checklist while I wait if no one is behind me.
 
Tokirbymd said:
Until seeing this today, I would totally have blundered back up to the whole short line without asking. Makes sense, looking at it from above. Is this run up area charted somewhere on the airport directory? Or are you supposed to just recognize it.
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It’s not charted. There is, of course, that taxi hold short line.

Plus, at that airport (KAPA, Denver), the ATIS instructs pilots there is a “special procedure” to contact Ground rather than Tower when ready for departure. That’s not because of the runup areas, it’s because of the traffic volume at this Class D with three runways and a traffic volume greater than most Class Cs.
 
Kritchlow said:
Refresh me… it’s been a number of years…. A run up, you check mags, vacuum, what else? How long does that take? Seems like flight controls & trim could be done before taxi?? Again, I’m out of practice.
In the airlines we do that as a taxi check.

FWIW, I think the OP did it correctly.
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There’s a bit more to the final piston runup, but yeah, there are things you can check way before then. But yeah, a complete runup “should” not take long.

Flight controls - I do the correct check during preflight before ever getting in, but freedom should be rechecked immediately before takeoff. I’ve been in the situation where iPad placed in lap during taxi has blocked freedom of movement.
 
midlifeflyer said:
Flight controls - I do the correct check during preflight before ever getting in, but freedom should be rechecked immediately before takeoff. I’ve been in the situation where iPad placed in lap during taxi has blocked freedom of movement.
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Just a month or two ago, I felt something binding on my control check...returned to the hangar, and found an antenna wire zip tie had come loose, and the behind-the-dash part of the yoke was catching the antenna wire. :yikes:
 
Grimes field (I-74) (no tower)(at least the last time I was there, it's been a while): After you turn on the taxiway to runway 02, there is a sign something like "no runup on taxiway". Thanks. You could have told me that ahead of time... Now what do I do?
 
Kritchlow said:
Refresh me… it’s been a number of years…. A run up, you check mags, vacuum, what else? How long does that take? Seems like flight controls & trim could be done before taxi?? Again, I’m out of practice.
In the airlines we do that as a taxi check.

FWIW, I think the OP did it correctly.
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This. Mag check, cycle the prop lever just enough for an RPM change, carb heat check. The CIGA and S parts of the traditional CIGARS before takeoff checks are done before taxiing. My runup takes less than 30 seconds, and that includes running the checklist afterward.
 
Kritchlow said:
Refresh me… it’s been a number of years…. A run up, you check mags, vacuum, what else? How long does that take?
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"Hold for IFR release. Departure advises 40 minute wait."
 
midlifeflyer said:
There are so many variations on run-up areas at towered airports, there is no way to cover them all in the AIM. Some have dedicated runup areas, some don't. Some expect you to take care of runup in a nonmovement area before even calling for taxi, some don't. How about a variation where you need taxi clearance to taxi to a runup area but once there, have to call for taxi clearance again?

The only "universals" I've seen are (1) run up on an area of the non-movement ramp where you can. as you say, "don't line up where your prop wash will blow on another persons aircraft, linger only as long as necessary," and (2) Ask Ground or the FBO, "where is your runup area?"

So, which airport was this?
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I abide by #1, and if it's tight quarters on the ramp then #2 as well. But if it's a wide open ramp with plenty of space I just pick a spot and do a runup before calling gnd.

Only one airport called me out for doing it "wrong". Me and 2 other planes taxiing to the rwy, I'm in back. The two in front of me pulled off to the side into a big designated runup area. I skipped it and continued to the runway because I'd done my runup before calling ground. Ground got peeved and asked why I didn't wait my turn before finishing my taxi to the rwy and essentially accused me of cutting in line lol. Oh well.

But it's ops like this that I find obnoxious. Little defacto procedures that airports enforce which are not published in the A/FD and you'd only know by being based at the airfield. If it's not published and not in the NOTAMs, nor clearly denoted on a visible sign -- then you cannot expect people to just know it (or even know to ask you). Same goes for tower ops.
 
I line up as close to the arrival end as possible, I'm not very hung up on pointing into the wind. But I do angle as to not get the guy behind or next to me. The idea is to leave room for others to line up and run up in the area.

I take my time and get what I need done, done. That said, I have seen guys stop pretty much in the middle of a runup area, leaving room for one more, who has to run up in his prop wash while 5 others wait for their chance or run up in the taxiway. Don't be that guy.
 
ArrowFlyer86 said:
I skipped it and continued to the runway because I'd done my runup before calling ground. Ground got peeved and asked why I didn't wait my turn before finishing my taxi to the rwy and essentially accused me of cutting in line lol. Oh well.
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"IvoryTower Ground, Bugsmasher N1234A -- I can only pilot one aircraft at a time, which is ready for departure. If you're forcing me to guess, I'd guess that the pilot of those other aircraft which pulled into the runup area will call you when they are ready for departure. Was I not cleared to taxi to RWY ##?"
 
DJTorrente said:
"IvoryTower Ground, Bugsmasher N1234A -- I can only pilot one aircraft at a time, which is ready for departure. If you're forcing me to guess, I'd guess that the pilot of those other aircraft which pulled into the runup area will call you when they are ready for departure. Was I not cleared to taxi to RWY ##?"
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That is more or less how it went.
I essentially said "you told me to taxi to 35 via bravo. You didn't say 'follow the cessna in front of you to rwy 35, you are and shall remain #3 for departure' :p".
It wasn't a big deal. They didn't grill me hard on it but they were clearly annoyed enough to have me switch from twr back to gnd just to get mildly scolded by the guy. Oh well.
 
ArrowFlyer86 said:
But it's ops like this that I find obnoxious. Little defacto procedures that airports enforce which are not published in the A/FD and you'd only know by being based at the airfield. If it's not published and not in the NOTAMs, nor clearly denoted on a visible sign -- then you cannot expect people to just know it (or even know to ask you). Same goes for tower ops.
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If it’s not written down, it doesn’t exist.
 
I see so many pilots
Clobbering the whole runup area with their little airplane’s blasting all the crap back to anyone else trying to enter it. There’s no one way to correctly do it. But there’s a couple of ways to do it wrong.
 
asicer said:
Rolling run-up. :)
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HA!...one of the best lessons my CFI taught me how to do...as we were running back to the plane and get wheels up before the thunderstorm hit the field to get back to the home drone just a few miles away or we were gonna be stuck for a while!

There is no universal procedure other then don't "prop block" someone else in that may be ready to depart before you...may be a local custom but that is on them not you.
 
There's no official "right way."

Two rules:
1. Don't block other people who need to get by.
2. Don't point your prop blast where it will blow crap into other people.
 
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