Flying the 737-700.On climb to FL350, 22000lbs of fuel on board and 37000lbs of bodies and junk below the floor the aircraft has a steady and normal (1800 - 2000 ft per min) climb rate in Vnav until it reaches FL240 then the rate decays to around 800 then below 500 ft per min.I have to engage Lvl Chg for a while and finish the climb using vert spd. The airctraft maintains 293 kts.Is this within parameters or do I have something wrong like perhaps a drogue chute or something?TIAAndy b

Hi, Andy->On climb to FL350, 22000lbs of fuel on board and 37000lbs of>bodies and junk below the floor the aircraft has a steady and>normal (1800 - 2000 ft per min) climb rate in Vnav until it>reaches FL240 then the rate decays to around 800 then below>500 ft per min.Seems right to me- 22k fuel and 37k payload is a pretty full aircraft. Remember that as you approach service ceiling (FL 410) at light to medium loads the a/c will barely be able to climb at all. At heavier loads like the one you described you might have to step climb to get even close.-SEdit: Sorry- S = Simon B. I think requiring real names is a good forum policy.

Thanks SimonLooks like I'll have to open the doors and chuck some passengers out.Andy b

>I have to engage Lvl Chg for a while and finish the climb>using vert spd. The airctraft maintains 293 kts.Andy,at that high altitude knots are more or less irrelevant. If you want to use LVL CHG or V/S you should also maintain a much number during climb (take the one the FMC has calculated for climb).Best regards,Markus