Draft EUG Master Plan Update, February 2010

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FORECASTS OF AVIATION DEMAND CHAPTER 2 Graph 2-3: Based Aircraft Forecast – Comparison Historic Forecast Sources: Airport management records, Mead & Hunt, FAA 4.5 Critical Aircraft The critical, or design aircraft, is defined as the most demanding aircraft that operates at an airport on a regular basis. Typically, an aircraft must conduct 500 or more annual operations to be considered the critical aircraft. The design aircraft for EUG through the 20-year planning period is the Boeing 737-500. This is the same aircraft stated in the current Master Plan Update (and on the approved ALP) as the design aircraft. Since the airfield has been built to this design standard, it is considered logical to not change it at this time. The FAA organizes airport design standards by Airport Reference Code (ARC) and the ARC is defined based on the airport’s design aircraft. The ARC incorporates characteristics of the most demanding aircraft that operates at an airport on a regular basis and includes the following two components: Aircraft Approach Category and Airplane Design Group. The aircraft approach category, denoted by letter, represents the operational approach speed characteristics of the critical/design aircraft. The airplane design group, denoted by Roman numeral, is based on the wingspan and relates to the physical characteristics of the critical/design aircraft. The ARC for the Boeing 737-500, EUG’s critical aircraft, is C- III, based on an approach speed of 140 knots and a wingspan of 94.8 feet. 2-17 Eugene Airport Master Plan Update (February 2010)