Hard to Get Above FL 320 and Up to 290 KIAS In Default ...

[Chuck_B 2]

Been simming for only about 6 months now, and I'm flying the default 777 for the first time but with the very cool Ultimate Default Boeing 777 Pack by Kevin Nelson, Quinn Miller (and others) and it doesn't want to get much higher than 33,000 feet, or past 220 or 230 kias, sometimes struggling to get over 200! I had to divert to KPHL and land because I kept losing altitude - and even went into a shallow stall at one point. When I switch to Spot view, it looks like the air brakes are extended just a bit although all instruments indicate "no", and no matter how many times I pump the VC's Air Brake handle or rotate the knob to return them off, no change in the way the wings look. I take off with the brake set to RTO and then switch off over 1,000 feet and this is my first flight with anything larger than a 737. I feel like I'm missing something very basic here.Thanks for any help you can provide to a relative noob!Chuck

[Farlis 2,281]

>I take off with the brake set to RTO and then switch off over>1,000 feet and this is my first flight with anything larger>than a 737. I feel like I'm missing something very basic>here.You're probably too heavy to climb further. For starters just try it with only as much as 15% Fuel load and see what happens.

[Sesquashtoo 2,846]

Also, after FL240, you need to bleed off climb rate to around 500-1200 FPM from the normal aggressive 1800 FPM at takeoff and then 1500 for climb-out.The air at the higher FL's is rarefied, and you need to do a transition to a gentle climb rate in the higher FL's.There could also be an instance of icing, with reduced loft.Cheers,Mitch

[Guest PARADISE]

In " heavy " airplanes that are loaded close to MTOW you will have to perform a 'step climb' to altitude. A loaded 777 can usually climb to about FL280 to FL300 with no problem. After that you may have to stay at altitude to burn off fuel weight before she'll comfortably climb to higher altitudes. This is the way it's done in real life, but most passengers will never notice it unless the crew tells them since they climb at about 300' to 400' per minute.If my memory serves me right, I remember that the airfile for the default 777 has always been in question, meaning it just doesn't fly right. You may want to search here in the library for updated airfiles. John M

[MarkRey 16]

Also you should have transitioned to mach by say fl260. Thereafter expect ias to drop with increasing altitude/decreasing air density etc, but mach to remain stable and/or increase.This is one of the reasons I only fly complex a/c now - too much of an unrealistic crap shoot without proper planning tools for a particular model.regards,Markhttp://www.dreamfleet2000.com/a320/custbanner2.jpgPC Power Silencer 470/3.2HT/2048mb/ATI X1950pro/SB Audigy

[JerryH 1]

Chuck, I believe the basic thing that you're missing is attention to airspeed.It's important to pay attention to climb rate, but it's mandatory to watch airspeed. The aircraft has only so much thrust available for accelerating and/or climbing. As altitude increases, the available thrust decreases and the pilot must be sure to reduce climb rate in order to maintain or increase the airspeed.Here's how I fly the B777. I'm no expert, but it works for me:- Above 10,000 ft, set the throttles at 90% N1 (or use autothrottle).- Climb and accelerate from 250 KIAS to 320 KIAS. The airspeed is increased gradually, at about 4 or 5 KIAS per 1000 ft. Climb rate (VSI) is adjusted to control the acceleration.- When airspeed reaches 320 KIAS, maintain 320 KIAS until reaching Mach 0.76. Adjust climb rate to control constant airspeed.- Continue to climb while holding Mach number at 0.76. Climb rate will increase for a while during this phase.- When climb rate (VSI) is finally down to about 1,000 ft/min, that's my definition of ceiling altitude for that gross weight.Others may offer alternate methods for flying this bird to altitude. The important message here is that airspeed is the primary consideration, because airspeed keeps you alive. Climb rate is secondary and is used only to maintain the correct airspeed.If you follow the above procedure (or something similar) you won't stall the B777 and you can overfly KPHL instead of diverting.Let us know if any of our responses were helpful. If not, keep asking until we get it right.Regards,JerryH

[Chuck_B 2]

Thanks for the pointers, Jerry. And thanks to everyone for their time and help. I believe ultimately the culprit was the fact that my default 777 automatically loads into the sim several thousand pounds over maximum takeoff weight. When I reduced the bird's weight by reducing my fuel weight to, say, 50.0% per your instructions here, the aircraft became much more manageable.Thanks again, all! As always you've all been a big help, not only with this challenge, but with several others I didn't even mention.Best regards,Chuck

[Orlaam 306]

As soon as you get the time and feel comfortable with flying and understanding the basics, ditch that default Boeing and go with something like payware or even a nice freeware version. Those default Boeings are all wrong! Wrong, wrong, wrong. Like trying to drive a car without power steering :-lol And the panels? Don't even get me started....

[Chuck_B 2]

Thanks for the suggestion, Chris! I've already downloaded the MelJet 777 and I love it! In fact, I would fly it exclusively but it was late on Sunday night and I can't figure out which panel I should use in it -- it's aliased to the default 777 panel. And then there's that bloody blue door in the MelJet that takes up the entire left half of my screen in virtual cockpit view -- I can't fix that until I decide on a good panel.What panel would you suggest? I know there are many here at AVSIM -- almost too many! ;-)Thanks again to everybody who took time to respond. Thanks to you guys I'm recreating my honeymoon flights over the next 2 nights -- from KPHL to EGLL to LFPG to LTBA to HECA and back again -- and you can't do that in a 737! :()Chuck B.

[Orlaam 306]

I don't know, sorry. I only fly payware now. I've been spoiled by all the complexity and realism in these offerings.Here are my favorites:Leonardo - MD-82, aka Maddog 2006Level-D - 767PMDG - 747Digital Aviation - Piper CheyenneDreamFleet - Piper Archer IIIFlight One - Piper MeridianFlight One - ATR 72-500PMDG - 737NGRealAir - Scout PackageAeroworx - B200 King Air

[Guest ThrottleUp]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------And then there's that bloody blue door in the MelJet that takes up the entire left half of my screen in virtual cockpit view -- I can't fix that until I decide on a good panel.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hallo,To get rid of that door just paste this into the panel.cfg/s (will work in any panel you choose). They are wing-views I created that will get rid of the door and give you nice views of the 777s wings & engines. Do save a copy of your original panel.cfg :)Meljet 777-200//////////////////////start copying below[views] VIEW_FORWARD_LEFT_EYE=0.800, 0.000, -42.000VIEW_FORWARD_LEFT_DIR=1.000, 0.000, 290.000VIEW_FORWARD_RIGHT_EYE=0.800, 0.000, -42.000VIEW_FORWARD_RIGHT_DIR=1.000, 0.000, 70.000VIEW_LEFT_EYE=0.8, 0.2, -29.000VIEW_LEFT_DIR=5.000, 0.000, 270.000VIEW_RIGHT_EYE=0.7, 0.2, -29.000VIEW_RIGHT_DIR=5.000, 0.000, 90.000VIEW_REAR_LEFT_EYE=-1.700, 1, -13.000VIEW_REAR_LEFT_DIR=12.000, 0.000, 230.000VIEW_REAR_RIGHT_EYE=3.400, 1, -13.000VIEW_REAR_RIGHT_DIR=12.000, 0.000, 130.000VIEW_REAR_EYE=-2.100, 1.000, -5.000VIEW_REAR_DIR=12.000, 0.000, 210.000end copying here//////////////////////Meljet 777-300//////////////////////start copying below[views] View_forward_left_eye=0.8, 0.0, -54.0View_forward_left_dir=7.0, 0.0, 311View_forward_right_eye=0.8, 0.0, -54.0View_forward_right_dir=7.0, 0.0, 049View_left_eye=3.0, -0.3, -38.0View_left_dir=5.0, 0.0, 283View_right_eye=-1.5, -0.3, -38.0View_right_dir=5.0, 0.0, 77View_rear_left_eye=-1.7, 1.0, -14View_rear_left_dir=12.0, 0.0, 224View_rear_right_eye=3.10, 1.0, -14.0View_rear_right_dir=12.0, 0.0, 135View_rear_eye=-1.7, 0.5, -23.4View_rear_dir=2.0, 0.0, 270end copying here//////////////////////Hope it helps.

[Chuck_B 2]

Thanks, Nevin. Your fix worked great on the 777-200 United livery but not on the 777-232 Delta that I'd been flying. Why do you suppose that is? The wing views all work in 2-D panel mode, but that blasted door is still taking up 1/2 the screen in VC mode. And that makes the plane almost unflyable because I can't look around much. In both models I'm using the exact same panel from the default 777-300, too -- the same exact folder, just copied over! Weird.I guess I'll stick with the United livery and/or move up to the 300 soon. This big boy is hard to trim and will take me a lot more practice, though.Thanks again!ChuckEDIT: Your wing views are awesome! Thank you for all your hard work!