I'm sorry if the following aspect has been discussed yet:Airport at see level; fmc reduction clmb-1 thrust, fmc clmb thrust at 1500 feet; flaps 5 t/o, lnav engaged, mcp altitude selector at 10000 ft. If I engage a/p between 400 agl and 1500 agl flight level change engages too, and I red N1 in the a/t modes of the flight mode annunciator, so I presume the plane enters climb thrust before reaching 1500 ft. Is this correct? For me in this configuration the best way to t/o is: starting flaps retraction at 1500 ft, engaging a/p at 3000 (with flaps up) and then flight level change or vnav. Is there a right way to engage a/p earlier in the t/o phase?Thanks.Igor

..."and I read N1 in the a/t modes of the flight mode annunciator, so I presume the plane enters climb thrust before reaching 1500 ft. Is this correct?"As far as I know, Climb thrust shouldn't occur until 1500' (above the airport), Igor. "N1" doesn't indicate that you have climb thrust. Only "CLB" on the EICAS indicates Climb thrust. N1 simply shows that the A/T is in N1 mode, which means that the thrust is being held at the current mode limit (TO, CLB, etc).1500' is the default height at which your engines should reduce to climb power, by the way. However, you can select it to whatever height you want. It may be helpful if you set your MINS BARO bug at airport altitude plus 1500' as a reminder to check that your thrust has reduced... otherwise you may overheat your engines. "Is there a right way to engage a/p earlier in the t/o phase?"According to the manuals, you can engage the A/P anytime above 400', Igor. Doing this, forces the pitch mode to go to Level Change and automatically dials in V2+20 in your MCP (This speed is a good initial climb speed which will give you a high rate of climb). This speed will be maintained until you decide to accelerate: With the aircraft automatically climbing, your hands are free to adjust your MCP speed to the Flaps-Up speed (i.e. at whatever height you want to start accelerating). Your imaginary F/O (i.e. your other free hand) can retract the flaps as required. Once the flaps are up, you can select VNAV. It's important not to engage VNAV until after your flaps are up, because the FMC doesn't know what all your flaps are doing.Hope this makes sense.Cheers.Ian.

Hi IanI'm not sure about what you say for the VNAV. Isn't it possible to engage VNAV before the flaps are up? It's just because when I engage the VNAV mode and the autopilot above 400' and just do nothing, the Autopilot is automaticly increasing the MCP Speed to the flaps reference speed for the current flaps position. As soon as I retract the flaps one position VNAV increases the speed to the rev. speed for the new flaps setting. I've never had an overspeed warning with this procedure. If this is not the right way to do it why is the VNAV always doing it right?Was just wondering but I know your knowledge is bigger than mine. ;-)Cheers.Martin.

It's possible but you will not find ANY airline doing it! [h4]Best Wishes,Randy J. Smithhttp://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-5/196432/winglets_lg.jpg

It's not done for safety reasons, Martin (I was told this by a pilot... and I confirmed what he was saying by checking the Boeing wiring diagrams). Also, I don't believe it's operating properly in PMDG. The speed is being held too low.Of course, if you want to use it for flightsimming purposes, it's your choice :-hah (I know how so much easier it is to fly a 747-400 where you can arm LNAV/VNAV on the ground)Cheers.Ian.