Having actually flown into SNA many times, I am aware of the short runway and also of the types of jets that frequently take off and land there. Per the current settings, you can land a 738 series there, but you cannot take off. SNA requires the planes to use flaps to take off, requires the flights not be full of fuel, and requires the level off quickly after take-off until they are well out over the ocean. Despite that, SNA routinely handles or has handled ALL 737 series aircraft, all 757 aircraft, all 318-321 series aircraft, and Air Force One along with various regional planes. Re: 737 series, A319-320 series, and 757 series, the jets are able to fly to AT LEAST DTW/CVG airport. I cannot believe that it is the only airport where the hard zero-flaps limit is ignored. Is there a way that you can issue an exception to SNA airport so that it can use the types of aircraft that actually land there?
ahh ur working with a similar runway length to myself. It is known that the performance calculations aren’t as accurate as they could be. This is one of the things sitting somewhere on the roadmap.
I think the main issue is that AS goes for a one size fits all approach. At the same time it’s not like we have a Navigraph type database readily available. So I wouldn’t expect AS to ever be able to cover every angle, unless I’m proven wrong
Its not as ideal but fortunately there are still a few options to work with such as: A319-100 SHARP, A320Neo light SHARP, B737-800SFP, Embraer 190 SR. The Embraer 190 & 195 E2 could also work if your not mimicking the US unions & the A220-100 would be an option. There are a few smaller options but after that it just becomes a choice of how much load factor your willing to sacrifice. Of course any types I’ve mentioned may vary on availability depending on what game world ur on.
I’m not quite sure what your getting at when your talking about flaps. Generally commercial departures will make use of various flap settings for all departures. It might be determined by takeoff performance & it might also be determined for noise abatement. There will always be a sweet spot & the closer you can get to it, the more efficient your departure will be & as a result fuel savings
Smaller airports may require higher flap settings for departure, beyond that weight restrictions becomes a factor & if that isn’t achievable then that aircraft won’t be licensed to fly there.
I can say that I have flown into my AS HQ airport as PIC but since certification is separate to individual A/C types & every flight has different load sheets & therefore takeoff & flight performance differences, I don’t want to assume interpretation but personally I think its worth highlighting that flying anywhere as a pilot shouldn’t qualify as default expertise.
I presume it’s less an issue of the airport rather than it is one of our performance model in general and our performance data for the 738 in particular. We’re working on that, though.
You can use 737-800 SFP, 320neo SHARP, 319 light SHARP, 737 MAX, A221, A223, to take off from SNA with very reasonable payload (if you don’t run tight basic economy cabin configs)
