I just want to find out the proper way of climbing. After take off, I usually do 2500 fpm, then decrease it to 2200, then 2000, then finally 1800 fpm. I'm not sure if that's correct. Maybe someone can corrct me if I am wrong. Also when should I retract my flaps? I'm not real sure If retract it at the proper time. Cheers

I'm no expert but I think it very much depends on what plane you are flying.

The climb will depend on the aircraft, as every aircraft has a different climb speed. You need to read the aircraft POH for climb speed and Flaps. You should decrease speed once you are in a SLF as decreasing power during a climb will result in a drag. Read the POH and for a SLF if your intended altitude is 2500 AGL and your climb speed is 700 fpm take 10% of the VSI (2430) and start leveling off.

I just want to find out the proper way of climbing. After take off, I usually do 2500 fpm, then decrease it to 2200, then 2000, then finally 1800 fpm. I'm not sure if that's correct. Maybe someone can corrct me if I am wrong. Also when should I retract my flaps? I'm not real sure If retract it at the proper time. Cheers

What type of aircraft are you referring to? If you are flying a jet or a turbo prop you never climb in VS-mode but always using either FLCH / VNAV / IAS mode.All these modes keep a certain (preset) airspeed and automatically adjust VS to keep the desired airspeed.About flap retraction: That depends on the aircraft you are flying and the takeoff weight. PSHere's a link to some aviation manuals published by the F.A.A.Should keep you busy for a short while http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/aviation/

I usually fly the 747's, 777's, A330's and A340's

Well then you should be using FLCH/VNAV to climb the Boeings and OP CLIMB/Managed for Airbus.As Mentioned above, gross weight, temperature, pressure altitude etc all affect the optimum climb rate. Same for flap retraction schedule. Many factors come into play. Obviously I am unable to post direct links but a quick search on google will provide you with the FCOM for any of the aircraft you mentioned. Regards

I agree with all that has been said above. But as a general principle, once the gear is up and you've passed through about 800 ft, you should be looking to raise flaps in increments as soon as you reach a safe IAS to do so. You want to get the aircraft in clean configuration for best climb performance and the sooner you can do so (safely) the more efficiently you will climb.CheersIan

Whilst i agree with what has been posted above, i would question the statemant that you "never climb in VS" A small jet (ERJ /CRJ) climbing in very windy/turbulent conditions, would run out of sick bags pretty quickly if insisting on using IAS to climb. Athough not the norm, V/S has its uses during the climb.

The what is the primary purpose of V/S? Why is it there?

V/S is primarily used for descents or step climbs. You have no protection in v/s so it is foolish to use it in climb when you have much more powerful tools at your disposal. I should add I am not familiar with the ERJ /CRJ however I cant understand how V/S would provide a smoother ride since the aircraft will be fighting the turbulence to hold a vertical speed. Every SOP I have come across suggest slowing to turbulent air penetration speed and if the automatics cant keep up disconnect and handfly the machine. Does IAS work like FLCH adjusting pitch to maintain speed? always happy to learn something new :) Regards

You should find placard speeds for flap retraction right there on the panel in an airliner (usually located near the gear lever), which tell you what the Vfe speeds are. As you climb you can pull the flaps in based on those limits if you like, although in reality that will sometimes be determined by other factors, for example there are often noise abatement procedures that require specific N1 or speed settings to be maintained and often these or SIDs will demand a minimum climb rate as well, so it's not always quite so simple as: 'climb, increase speed and pull the flaps in as you go'. A classic example of this is the B727, which could be incredibly noisy on the climb, especially without a hush kit fitted (and it wasn't just noise from the engines, the wings were slightly redesigned on it over the years to reduce noise as well), so there were often specific speed and altitude parameters that had to be adhered to for aircraft such as the 727. Of course there are not many 727s about these days, but in Flight Simulator we have the luxury of flying whatever we like, so we differ somewhat from the real world in that regard and can fly stuff that has long since been consigned to the boneyard or museum. To do all that stuff as per the real world operations, you therefore need the Flight Manuals for the aircraft and the Aerodrome Booklet for the airport you are flying from (since that is the publication which lists noise abatement procedures that are in place), although the SID chart will often also carry that info, so that's an alternative thing you could use. All of those you can find online (much of the time for free), but you may possibly have to get your hand in your pocket for some of these things, so www.esscoaircraft.com is a good place to look, although many payware aircraft and airport sceneries come with PDF versions of this documentation, so be sure to look at your manuals that came with stuff before you spend money unnecessarily. Al

Interesting topic, the issue of V/S versus IAS in turbulent conditions. I can see pluses and minuses for both but would be interested to hear what contemporary practice is. The old rule of thumb was always hand fly in severe turbulence and try to maintain an attitude that gave the best compromise between a safe airspeed and good rate of climb to get through it as soon as possible. Maintaining an AP-held IAS in turbulence would not have been very practical "back in the day" but if someone knows what current procedures are I'd be interested to hear.... (BTW, another good reason to hand fly in severe turbulence is it keeps you busy and so you're less likely to get queasy! LOL)

The what is the primary purpose of V/S? Why is it there?

Hey Chuck! Haven't seen you on here for a while. How did you make out with all the flooding in Jersey?

I usually fly the 747's, 777's, A330's and A340's

Are you talking about payware aircraft or simpler freeware planes/panels? If the latter I doubt you have any climb mode beyond basic v/s control anyway.... ?

Are you talking about payware aircraft or simpler freeware planes/panels? If the latter I doubt you have any climb mode beyond basic v/s control anyway.... ?

I use the POSKY models.