Airfield Civil Engineering
Navigate the complex engineering standards of airfield design across FAA and ICAO frameworks. Master geometric design conflicts, advanced pavement mechanics, 3D obstacle limitation surfaces, and specialized arresting systems.
Like Duolingo, but for Airfield Civil Engineering. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
24 levels across 4 sections, about 48 minutes end to end, roughly 10 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Harmonizing Global Standards and Geometry, Airfield Pavement Design and Structural Mechanics, Critical Airspace and Safety Envelopes, and Navigational Systems and Future Operations.
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Key ideas in Airfield Civil Engineering
- FAA decouples wingspan/tail height (ADG) from undercarriage dimensions (TDG), whereas ICAO bundles wingspan and outer-gear wheel span together into the Code Letter
- FAA Taxiway Design Group (TDG) explicitly governs pavement turning fillets via cockpit-to-main-gear distance (CMG) and outer-gear wheel span (MGWS)
- ICAO Code Number isolates balanced field length under standard conditions and does not incorporate airframe dimensional geometry
- A standard FAA Runway Safety Area (RSA) for Transport category aircraft extends 1,000 ft (304.8 m) beyond the runway end or stopway and is graded to support aircraft without structural damage
- ICAO Annex 14 requires an end strip of 60 m plus a standard RESA of at least 90 m (recommended 240 m), meaning a 300 m total distance beyond the runway end
- The 1,000-ft FAA RSA physically encompasses the recommended 240-m ICAO RESA plus 60-m strip (300 m total ≈ 984 ft), allowing both standards to be satisfied within the same physical footprint if transversal/longitudinal slope criteria (FAA ≤1.5% to 5% drop-off transitions) are harmonized
- Simultaneous independent parallel runway operations under baseline FAA criteria require 4,300 ft separation (reducible to 3,000 ft with precision runway monitor [PRM]), whereas ICAO Doc 9643 permits independent parallel approaches down to 1,035 m (3,400 ft) with standard radar monitoring
- FAA operational rules enforce specific spacing and wake intervals including the 'Super' category (and FAA RECAT tiers), differing from traditional ICAO 3-tier wake categories (Doc 4444) unless ICAO RECAT equivalents are specifically designated in state AIPs
- Staggered thresholds modify separation requirements differently under FAA and ICAO rules depending on whether the approach is to the near or far threshold
- FAA Part 139 does not allow airports to self-certify or internally 'grandfather' non-compliant airfield geometry; permanent deviations require an FAA-approved Modification of Airport Standards (MOS) supported by an empirical aeronautical safety study
- Under ICAO Annex 14 and the Chicago Convention (Article 38), contracting states that do not align with an ICAO standard must officially notify ICAO of the difference and publish it in their Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP)
- FAA MOS approval requires proving an equivalent level of safety, while ICAO USOAP audits assess the state's oversight and verification of whether published differences comply with safety risk assessments
- Large aircraft with long CMG (cockpit-to-main-gear) distances exhibit severe off-tracking, making standard simple curves insufficient to maintain minimum taxiway edge clearances (such as 4.5 m for Code F / 4.0 m for TDG 5/6/7)
- Dynamic kinematic swept-path analysis models non-linear steering transitions, slip angles, and bogie swing-out, establishing exact fillet expansion geometry needed beyond static FAA Advisory Circular tables
- Paved shoulders cannot substitute for operational taxiway edge safety margins unless certified as load-bearing width with appropriate paint and lighting alignments
- Transition spirals (clothoids) provide a linear increase in centrifugal acceleration from zero on the runway to the full radius, matching the steering angle rate of the nose gear
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives Airfield Civil Engineering the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
Which specific airframe measurements dictate the FAA Taxiway Design Group (TDG) used to size pavement fillets?
Get it right to open this lesson and 23 more in the app.
Where Airfield Civil Engineering takes you
- 1
Harmonizing Global Standards and Geometry
- Resolving FAA and ICAO Design Conflicts
- High-Speed Exit and Runway Capacity Geometry
- 2
Airfield Pavement Design and Structural Mechanics
- Transitioning to the ICAO ACR-PCR Evaluation System
- Airfield Pavement Mechanics and Joint Optimization
- 3
Critical Airspace and Safety Envelopes
- 3D Airspace Protection and Obstacle Surfaces
- Arresting Systems and Overrun Mitigation
- 4
Navigational Systems and Future Operations
- Visual Aids, Circuitry, and NAVAID Siting
- Accommodating Next-Generation Airfield Fleets
4 sections · 8 units · 24 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
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