NG west departures at LOWI

[Guest ALT2024]

Hi, I've been flying the -700 and -800 in and out of LOWI, Innsbruck quite a lot recently and both aircraft really do hand-fly beautifully on the visual approach to 08 with the tight turn to final. Practically on rails, with trim and power set right. :)I've got a little more ambitious and have been trying some departures from 26 which require a tight left turn after take-off to establish on the OEJ llz. What's the best way to do it... let TOGA control power during the roll and initial climb, then knock off the A/T and hand-fly the turn, or hand-fly the roll and initial climb (without TOGA) and only engage the AP and A/T when becoming est on the OEJ llz? I ask because the aircraft seems very heavy and sluggish in the turn after take-off, much more so than she feels on the hand-flown approach to 08, and I always end up losing height in the turn and getting an uncomfortably close view of the pine trees.On approach I'm fully configured for the turn, flaps 30, gear down, about 155kias.For the turn on climbout I'm at about 175kias, flaps 5, gear up.ThanksRob

[downscc 1,327]

I recommend letting the A/T maintain safe max power, hand fly the turn keeping the nose lower than you normally would on a straight climb-out to accelerate through flap retraction. Also, don't start the turn until above 400 agl. She should perform very well unless your airspeed bleeds off.There will be a marked difference between approach behavior and departures for a number of reasons.

[Guest ALT2024]

Thanks Dan. Let me see if I've got it right... TO/GA for roll and initial climb, then A/T LVL CHG, maintain manual control of pitch, roll and yaw, start turn about 400' AGL, retract flaps on schedule... as soon as I get chance I'll give it a go.ThanksRob

[martinboehme 492]

Rob,the German language FS magazine FlightXpress did a series of articles on Innsbruck approaches and departures a few issues back, and in response to that I tried that departure a few times, though in the 737 Classic by a company that shall not be named here... ;-) I wouldn't expect the PMDG to handle much differently, though.You can find charts for the departure on www.vacc-sag.org, though it's all in German -- try this page:http://www.vacc-sag.org/?PAGE=airport_overviewFrom there you should be able to get what you want even if you don't understand German.I would suggest that you should delay acceleration at the very least until you have completed the turn. Two reasons: You want to keep the turn radius small, and you want to achieve the maximum climb gradient. 175 knots sounds a bit too high... Edit: On second thoughts, that's coming from the -300 at relatively light weights, and if you're maintaining V2+20 in a heavy -800, then that could well be in the ballpark of 175 knots...Another important point: Once you're airborne, you should initially make a slight turn to the _right_ to a heading of about 270 -- this will give you extra manoeuvering space to the left, and you'll want all the space you can get.You definitely shouldn't be losing altitude during the turn -- make sure you "nail" the airspeed for the initial climb all the way through the turn.Have fun... and try a Salzburg runway 16 departure as well...Martin