Curious to know if the Small, Medium and Heavy gate and ramp designations are based on any fixed parameters in real life.If so which Boeings and Airbus fit into which categories?Radar Contact uses Jet and Heavy in its setup, so does that mean that both Small and Medium are Jet? - and why is important for ATC to know that?ThanksNicholas

Heavy, is a callsign addition for aircraft over 255,000lbs, but there are exceptions, most notably the Boeing 757, which was found to create quite large wake turbulence, so it is treated as a heavy even though technically, some variants of the 757 do not hit that weight. The designation helps air traffic controllers to make decisions regarding separation because of the wake turbulence effect on following aircraft, which can flip inverted in heavy wakes, so the separation gives the displaced air time to settle down.At airports, ground controllers will need to know the weight of an aircraft because the shoulders of some taxiways are not able to support aircraft of unlimited weight, so airport ground controllers might have to route a heavy aircraft along certain taxiways to avoid them damaging weaker taxiways. That is in fact one of the reasons why the B747 has so many wheels, when the first 747-100 was put into service the average footprint pressure of each wheel was the same as a 707 because the larger number of wheels distributed the weight.Al.

Heavy, is a callsign addition for aircraft over 255,000lbs, but there are exceptions, most notably the Boeing 757, which was found to create quite large wake turbulence, so it is treated as a heavy even though technically, some variants of the 757 do not hit that weight. The designation helps air traffic controllers to make decisions regarding separation because of the wake turbulence effect on following aircraft, which can flip inverted in heavy wakes, so the separation gives the displaced air time to settle down.

Didn't FAA remove recently remove this 757 exception? I remember some comments in Airliners.net forums about jokes made by/to 757 pilots saying "DALXXX no longer Heavy"? And I remember about an additional category for A380: Super.Best regards from Colombia,Luis Miguel

Didn't FAA remove recently remove this 757 exception? I remember some comments in Airliners.net forums about jokes made by/to 757 pilots saying "DALXXX no longer Heavy"? And I remember about an additional category for A380: Super.Best regards from Colombia,Luis Miguel

That's probably for the 757 aircraft with winglets, the old design still causes a large wake.Just checked and all 757 types will no longer use the Heavy callsign but special wake turbulence separation orders will still be used by ATCRegards

And I remember about an additional category for A380: Super.

It's not a new category per se, but it's just to differentiate that the aircraft is an A380 given the fact that the superjumbo has a "provisional" larger separation from other aircraft that your "regular heavy" aircraft

It's not a new category per se, but it's just to differentiate that the aircraft is an A380 given the fact that the superjumbo has a "provisional" larger separation from other aircraft that your "regular heavy" aircraft

Effective April 8th 2010, FAA amended ALL B757's to exclude them from the Heavy category as it relates to Wake Turbulence separation. This applies to both the -200 and -300 series. However, extra Wake Turbulence separation is still required (usually 1NM) as compared to other Large category aircraft (e.g. B737, M80, A320, etc.)

You should keep in mind that the FAA is only the North American administration for such rulings, other aviation administations around the globe do not always come to similar conclusions.Al

Thanks for the replies, but I have to repeat: Which Boeings and Airbus fit into which categories?Nicholas

You can work it out. Anything with MTOW over 255,000 lbs is heavy, anything with an MTOW over 41,000 lbs is medium, and anything under 41,000 lbs MTOW is small.Al

You can work it out. Anything with MTOW over 255,000 lbs is heavy, anything with an MTOW over 41,000 lbs is medium, and anything under 41,000 lbs MTOW is small.Al

Again, perhaps this will help to clarify:http://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/N...e/N7110.525.pdf

Are you trying to set up parking areas in AFCAD so planes park in a particular spot? If so the AIG Aircraft Model and Parking Radius Table will help you out.

Thanks guys - thats what I needed.More curiosity than anything else.Nicholas