737 Cockpit Preparation Time

[daan_vb 29]

Hi all,I fly the 737 NG's quite regularly and have become pretty good at operating it. My question is how long does it take for you to go from a cold and dark cockpit to fully being prepared for taxi. It usually takes me between 5 and 10 mins including programming the FMC. I feel that it may be slightly too quick and was just wondering if its this quick in real life.ThanksDaniel

[Guest woottsbj25]

Well, I sometimes simulate extra time to do other things, such as passenger annoucements, completing paperwork, going through extra ATC transmission, talking with dispachers etc. So I can normally spend up to 30 minutes before I actually depart. If I were to just do the procedures straight off it would probably only take a few minutes.

[downscc 1,327]

Typical turn-around time for SWA is 20 min, time spent closing out the last flight and getting ready for the next one. So, when I take 10 min to set up flight plan, load ActiveSky, load fuel and do the preflight I assume I'm running on schedule. I enjoy flying a real route and sticking to the gate times that are published by the carrier.

[Guest woottsbj25]

True, but remember that's a turn-around from an existing flight - i.e. the pilots don't do a walk-around, the aircraft normally isn't cleaned, the crew are already familiar with the aircraft, they already have their flight plan, and they don't have any systems to initialise. Starting a brand new flight when the aircraft is cold and dark normally takes longer.