DF737

[Guest]

I am having trouble flying the DreamFleet 737-400. My cruise alt. is FL360. I get somewhere inbetween FL310 and FL320 and cannot climb anymore. My V/S is 2500fpm. My airspeed drops to about 160 or lower. Engines are at full power and the airplane has positive AOA and still doesnt climb. I got it so I could hold somewhere around FL320 but I try and climb my airspeed goes down and I begin to stall. What is the alt ceiling of a 737-400?

[Guest]

I had the same trouble flying her the other day. Wish I had the answer. Larry :-wavehttp://eagleexpressva.com/forum/templates/.../logo_phpBB.gifwww.eagleexpressva.com

[Guest RiddlePilot]

Make sure you're not trying to climb above your max altitude. Upon programming the FMC, you should go to the CRZ page and it will tell you the optimum and max altitudes based on your weight. Choose an altitude nearest (but not above) the optimum altitude based on your direction of flight...even flight levels for heading 360 to 179 degrees and odd flight levels for 180 to 359 degrees, until reaching FL290. At and above 290, it is as follows: FL290, 330, 370, etc. for all flights between heading 360 and 179 degrees, and FL310, 350, 390, etc. for flights from heading 180 to 359 degrees. If you have full fuel, optimum altitude will not be very high, and at light loads, it could be almost at the service ceiling of the aircraft. After that, takeoff using the V speeds calculated for you, and away you go. Set your cruise altitude (or any temporary altitudes) on the MCP and activate the VNAV button to let the aircraft manage the climb. Once you're cleared on course, activate LNAV, and you're home free until approaching your arrival airport.You say the aircraft has positive AOA. Make sure its not above the critical AOA, or you will stall, of course.

[Guest abent]

IMHO you have way too high a v/s rate for that altitude. I usually follow about this climb schedule:0 - 10000 @ 2600-3000 ft/min *10000 - 20000 @ 2200 - 2500 ft/min20000 - 26000 @ 1500-1800 ft/min26000 + @ 1000ft/min. And if I'm going above say FL350, I reduce to about 500 - 700ft/min.* this is reduced significantly, I find, if you are taking off from a high elevation airport on a hot day.A nice advantage is you can climb quite easily at mach .72 or .74 above FL260 while keeping N1 less than 90% An added bonus of course is that you also cover a lot more distance in a shorter time.Of course this all depends upon your loadout, but I find DF will accomplish the above quite nicely at under say 130 000 lbs.I read a fact some time ago that the Concorde climbs at 50ft/min during its final climb phase.An airline pilot once told me that it takes about 1/2 hr to reach cruise alt.Anyway, I have found this to get me the best performance with DF734.Give it a try if you like and see how it works for ya. I'm no airline pilot, just know it works for me. :)Adam

[Guest RiddlePilot]

In addition to my post and Adam's, a climb profile of 280 knots above 10,000 feet until 280 IAS and .74 Mach meet is what the charts tell you to climb at if doing it manually. If you do this and can't get above a certain altitude, it more than likely means that you've reached your max cruise altitude.