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2 Answers

Engine run up before taxi?

Asked by: 9095 views Private Pilot, Student Pilot

I'm a student pilot, and have always been taught by my instructors to do the engine run up before calling for take off clearance. However, I often see other (commercial) pilots do their engine run up in the corner of the ramp at the FBO. I think it would be more practical to do perform all aircraft tasks before calling tower, so is it really necessary to wait until right before take off?
Thanks in advance for your help.

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2 Answers



  1. Patrick Flannigan on Sep 27, 2011

    Erik, the reason runups are done just short of the runway is to allow the engine plenty of time to warm up. This is especially important going into the winter flying season where the oil temperature is going to take some time to come up into the normal operating range. It’s a bad idea to demand all that power from the engine immediately after start up. It’s also good to know your engine is operating well right before you take off as opposed to ten minutes before.
     
    At a busy towered airport it may be prudent to accomplish the runup somewhere else. Many pilots choose to do this in the FBO, which is fine so long as you observe the manufacturer’s limitations on engine warm-up times and ensure that the area behind the airplane is clear. Usually these airports have runup pads near the runway and a quick look at the taxi diagram should reveal this.

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  2. Christopher Ryan on Oct 01, 2011

    Also on top of what  Patrick Flannigan said your also find pilots that do the run up as they are taxiing out to the runway. Thats mainly done in the bigger airplanes which include turbo prop and jets due to the fact that they eat up a lot of fuel and they are running short on time. I agree that you always need to do a run up before takeoff and to make sure the area behind you is clear of other traffic so are not to throw rocks and other stuff at them.

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