Let’s talk about how to taxi. The thing we see the most people not knowing what to do on Live. Now I wont be talking about the obvious things that make common sense. Things like planes and grass do not mix, the dark areas of the airport that indicates where a building is in real life, or the most obvious logic that planes are not meant to touch other planes. No, I want to talk about the lesser known rules of the taxiway, the direction and speed of the taxiway because there are no taxiway directions that ATC can give.
IF has the speed limit for the taxiways set at 35kts. However, almost all pilots limit their taxiway speed to 20kts. Just because you can go 35kts on IF without getting a violation does not mean you should. Controlling an aircraft on the ground is very difficult at 35kts. Think of it this way. Going 35kts in an aircraft on the taxiway would be like going 100mph in a car on a rush hour highway. You’re being too unsafe. For straight taxiways you should be going only 20kts, for 90 degree turns 10 kts. For 10-45 degree turns 15kts is acceptable. Anything over 45 degree treat that turn like a 90 degree turn. When taxiing you should also be traveling at 10kts minimum unless otherwise told to by ATC.
If another aircraft is about to cross the taxiway you are using and a collision is possible you should not slow down but should give way (stop) to the aircraft if it is larger than you. If you are the larger aircraft the other aircraft should give way to you. Similar sized aircraft will give way to the aircraft that is turning into the taxiway or the aircraft using the taxiway that is busier. Also aircraft exiting the runway are always given taxi priority over aircraft taxiing on just the taxiway.
Now about which direction to travel on a taxiway. All major airports designate each taxiway “lane” to be a direction when Progressive Taxiing is not implemented. 99% of the time they will use the taxiway closest to the runway for traffic taxing in the direction of the runway in use. That means if RWY 20 is being used, the taxiway on both sides closest to the RWY 20 is having traffic travelling to RWY 20. For traffic taxing to a gate you will be using the parallel taxiway farthest from the runway. This taxiway will have traffic that is travelling away from the RWY in use. Refer to this diagram.
For taxiing at an airport like KSAN taxiway traffic is managed by the runway. Meaning all landing flights use controlled braking to hit the taxiway that gives them the ability to taxi to parking without obstructing the flow of traffic on the only runway length parallel taxiway. Refer to this diagram.
Finally for airports with two full length runway parallel taxiways the traffic will be divided by the runway. The side closest to parking will have the taxiway direction toward the active runway while the taxiway farthest from parking traveling away from the runway in use. Usually these airports will have a midrunway taxiway. This taxiway’s direction will be toward parking. Refer to diagram.
This is to help those who are taxiing challenged from impeding the flow of traffic. I see a fair deal of people lacking taxiway knowledge when it comes to airports. With people using empty taxiway’s to cut other people taxiing by accelerating to IF’s taxiway speed limit and then using an intersecting taxiway to get in front of them. Not only is this rude to other players but also that not knowing the direction of taxiway traffic should be something that is not tolerated on the Expert server, where I see this happening the most. Most people know this because it’s common sense but there are still a good amount who do not.
. I rarely give a BZ to a Newbe, you deserve it. BZ