Rate/Speed of climb for D 737/777

[Guest allblack]

Hiya.Are there any 737-400 / 777-300 drivers out there that can tell me the standard rate of climb for these two aircraft?(Real-life, as opposed to Microsoft-life if the two are different)During my time with FS2K2 I've been using a climb rate of 2500fpm, with an IAS of approx. 240kts.However, watching these a/c in real life, there seems to be a huge disparity between the AOA/climbing rates. From my home I regularly watch 737-400's taking off, and they seem to vary from anywhere between slightly nose-high, to space shuttle!I've tried to mimic what I see in FS, and the best I can do is have the a/c climb at 3200fpm, look at it side-on in Spot view, and it looks about right.Though 3200 seems rather high....Also, what should my airspeed be, and what external factors influence the take-off/climb rate?Many thanksAllblack

[Guest RiddlePilot]

Normally, for a 737, they calculate Takeoff N1 or EPR, V1, VR and V2 before departure. V1 is the point at which they will continue with the takeoff in the event of an engine failure. Before V1, they will stop on the remaining runway. V1 is never the same for the same aircraft on the same runway, as it varies with weight, temperature, runway length, condition (wet or dry) and other factors. It At VR, they pull up to about 15 degrees nose up, put the gear up, and then lower the nose to about 9-10 degrees to maintain V2 or greater. It is not uncommon to see a climb rate in excess of 3000-3500 FPM, as you are experiencing. They then put the flaps up according to the schedule specified in the flight manual (Flaps are usually set to 5 degrees for t/o). They set climb power as calculated (most of the time handled by the FMC/Autoflight system) and maintain 250 knots by changing pitch. Above 10,000 feet, pitch is lowered, and the aircraft accelerates to 280 knots. When 280 knots and .74 Mach meet, the aircraft then maintains a pitch for .74 Mach until reaching cruise altitude.Climb rates will steadily decrease as you go higher, due to the fact that the air isn't as dense up there, thus requiring a lower pitch to keep the same airspeed (air flowing over the wing), and as a result, a lower climb rate.To answer your question about external factors. Temperature, aircraft weight and any limits placed on the engines can hamper the climb rate. The higher the temperature, the harder the engine has to work to produce the same thrust, and once it reaches its working limits, the climb rate suffers. Weight will decrease climb rate as well. The limits of which I am speaking are engine De-Rates and Assumed Temperatures. Both of these are simply reducing the output of the engine to save engine life, but not so much as to increase the takeoff roll too much as to put the aircraft too close to the end of the runway before lifting off.