What is a BACKTRACK? explained by Captain Joe

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Have you ever heard that expression ? "We need to backtrack" ? What are they talking about?
Maybe you have experienced a backtrack on your last flight ? Okay I admit it´s fairly rare. Imagine you land on little airport with no taxiways. There are some out there, trust me. So once the plane has landed it needs to taxi back to the terminal so that you can exit the aircraft. But how, without a taxiway ? The tower controller will say, "FlyJoe123, taxi to parking stand one two via"BACKTRACK" on the runway, and exit taxiway Alpha and Bravo". So the pilot has to perform a 180 degrees turn on the active runway and then taxi back to the nearest runway exit. 
So "BACK" for taxiing back the runway and "TRACK" cause the runway alignment is a track and not a heading. BACKTRACK ! 

At some airports the runway is to narrow for the turn, that they have installed turning area, mostly at the end of the runway with a taxi guideline so that the aircraft is clear of any obstacles whilst performing the 180 degree turn. Even aircraft manufactures have procedures published on how to perform the correct 180 degree turn, in order to avoid rolling off the turning pad with the landing gear and to prevent tire abrasion. 

Unfortunately there are a few disadvantages with airports where backtracking is a common procedure. For example in this video you can see that we had to backtrack to end of the runway and turn around for take-off. During that time, the runway is blocked and other aircrafts are unable to land or take-off. This can cause delays during approach as well as for take-off. 

If the runway isn´t equipped with runway centreline lights, backtracking during night operation and bad weather can be hazardous and take up even more time. Also, turning pads can be very slippery in heavy rain due to rubber abrasion and have to be approached with caution. 

In countries like Africa, backtracking for take-off and after landing is a very common procedure, due to rare traffic,there is no need to build an extra taxiway. Also it´s an easy way to check the runway for debris and scare away animals which rest on the warm tarmac. 

At the airport of Funchal on the island of Madeira, they had no other choice than using the backtrack procedure due to geographical environment. There´s no space for a taxiway, obviously if you set up a airport on a vulcano :)

I hope you enjoyed this video and I´ve answered another aviation related question for you. So give me a thumbs up, subscribe my channel, and if you have further questions don´t hesitate to comment below.

Thanks for watching and see you next time
Your captain Joe

So the next time your sitting in your passenger seat, after landing or prior take-off, and you can feel the aircraft turning 180 degree, it´s most probably cause the pilot had to backtrack or he has taxiied the wrong way, cause that is most unlikely :)

[luisperez]

2:37 In "cOuNTrYs lIKe aFRiCa" 🤣

[cdpiv]

Almost in every Greek island airport you need to backtrack!

[Red-qkhv]

I love your enthusiasm . Makes learning easier

[kaseimir]

Great vid. Go Captain Joe! I love the music in the background too "Love on a real train" by Tangerine Dream (but not the original) sounds like a looped exerpt or a cover.

[eliasshedd]

I'm sure it was a simple mispeak. In many countries in Africa is probably what he meant.

[justcruzzy]

I love your attitude! You are always happy in your videos!

[Quasihamster]

"If you set up your airport on top of a volcano...




... you won't have much room for taxiways."

[kbznhxcxlife]

So clear Captain! Thank you. Great channel!

[grassytramtracks]

I used to fly between Southampton and Brest every year (beofre flybe went bust, and last year I went on the new Flybe from Birmingham to Brest), and both Southampton airport and Brest Bretagne airports are pretty small regional airports that require backtracking. It's one of the charms of a small airport that doesn't have taxiways going all the way to the end

[Thorium]

Captain Joe, you are correct at the beginning of the video ! our flight did backtrack today and your video appeared on the recommendations list !

[dwiparnadatta]

Joe, can you explain trimming in airplane and those wheels beside the pilots rotating themselves?

[themoroccanexplorer]

thanks a lot for your all information Captain

[fuckednegativemind]

I just discover your channel, and really like your tone. You make me smile and your videos are very instructive, you sincerely should havec more subscribers!

[theangrynoob]

Hello sir its 2020 years old video still love ur work and love watching it gr8 thx for making this channel and making these gr8 videos 🤗🤗🤗

[davidd]

Thank you captain Joe, we enjoy your videos

[huesuesues]

interessanter kanal, da lernt man ne menge und es werden fragen beantwortet die man sich irgendwie schon immer gestellt hat :)

danke dafür

[kamikami]

Captain Joe really thank you so much for wonderful informations.

[deleloo]

Happy guy you are Joe! Aways smiling :)

[jurgenbrenner]

There are also some small airports in Europe where backtracking is required, for example Genoa. Smaller planes won't need to, but the larger ones that need the complete length of the runway. There is a turning area at the east end of the runway because there was no space for taxiways.

[cianrss]

uno de los mejores canales que he visto con buenos videos y explicaciones gracias capital Joe me gustaría conocerlo en persona algún dia