Subscriber question:
"On some of your videos, I hear the pilot saying this during the takeoff roll: 'RPM, engine gauges, airspeed, centerline, takeoff point.' What’s that?" — Dan H.
Jeff:
“That’s a REACT check. It’s a series of go/no-go gates you pass to either abort the takeoff or continue. R is for RPM, which means you see the full static RPM for fixed-pitch prop or redline RPM and full manifold pressure for a constant-speed prop. (Static RPM is the RPM you see with a fixed-pitch prop before the airplane picks up speed. It’s well below redline. For a typical 160-hp 172 that might be 2200 RPM.) If you see the RPM you expect, continue. If not, abort the takeoff, turn off the runway, and then debug the problem.
Next, check that all Engine gauges are in the green (or at least where you expect them to be for your airplane). If they aren’t in the green, or if you see an alert from a digital engine monitor, abort. If they look fine, continue and see that the Airspeed is registering. By now, the airplane has really started moving forward, so make any fine-tuning to your position and crosswind corrections so you’re exactly on runway Centerline.
Note that everything to this point sounds much more heads-down than it actually is. RPM will come up before the airplane even starts moving. The sweep of the engine gauges is complete before you’ve moved more than about 30 feet, even in a twin. I usually catch the airspeed coming up out of my peripheral vision as I’m looking at the runway and making any small adjustments to my centerline.
The final T is a predetermined Takeoff abort point. That should be no farther than a point from which you can still abort and stop before running off the far end of the runway. That could be barely enough room to stop on a short runway, or it could be with thousands of feet to go if you’re departing a two-mile long runway in a light single that should be airborne in less than 1000 feet.
The key to this system is that each point is a binary, go/no-go. REACT works because you abort the takeoff and figure out the issue after you’ve cleared the runway and can take a moment to think. That’s much better than continuing a takeoff roll while wondering if that performance will be … good enough.”
See this REACT check in practice.
Do you choose a predetermined abort point before takeoff?