hello guys i noticed that fully loaded the 738s and especialy the 900s dont get very high in terms of altitude after a long flight. When I say fully loaded I mean a full load of pax plus a moderate amount of baggage weights calculated from a standard baggage weight based on a real world airline. In otherwords, I calculate(based on a real world airline requirement for their 738s)2 bags per passenger at 70lbs = 140lbsmultiplied by the total # of passengers on the 738sand I load that number in to the loadmanger. but the crafts, through the FMC, wont allow me past the upper flight levels, 360 and up by the end of the flt.My last flight on a real world 738, we when up to fl360 from an initial alt of fl350 just a little after a hour into the 4 hour and something minute flight( and this was during the summertime in the caribbean a couple hundred nmiles from the equator) - and I,m sure we would have went higher if the winds were not beating us up in the excess of an 130 knots cross wind. I normally plan for something between 8 and 10,000 lbs of reserve on my sim flts but after a long flt they struggle to reach those upper level ifr alts. just wondering if im doing something wrong, or if Im missing something - any ideas?

forgive me guys for not signing my name.gideon

Hi Gideon,according to the 737 Flight Manual, the following are altitude capability limits for 737-800 at higher weights (at LRC and Mach .78):Weight in lbs Optimum CRZ ALT180000 31100 ft175000 31700 ft170000 32400 ft165000 33000 ft160000 33700 ftAnd for the 737-900 (Mach 0.79):Weight in lbs Optimum CRZ ALT180000 31100 ft175000 31800 ft170000 32400 ft165000 33000 ft160000 33700 ftFor temperatures at ISA + 10 C or below these values are a little higher for both models, at ISA + 15 C are a little higher for -800 and a little lower for -900, while at ISA +20 C are substantially lower for both models (at the hight weghts, this changes lowering the gross weight).