A quick look at the 737-600

[markadeane 272]

Gents, As you may know, the wide beta team has had their poorly groomed mitts all over the shorter 600/700 series package this week. I thought I might talk to you about an oft-forgotten model in the 737 family. It's so... stubby... The humble 737-600 looks a little out-of-proportion nowadays, what with the longer -800's now comprising the majority of the 737 fleet worldwide. It's easy to forget that the very successful 737-200 was in fact about the same length. For a variety of reasons, the shorter format is no longer the preferred one and so the -600 is something of a rarity with only about 70 produced. I've found that after a few days flying the -600 around my native New Zealand, I've come to love this little airplane. It's true that the systems on the flight deck will be visually quite familiar to the 800/900 drivers, though there are subtle changes for you to learn about. What has really appealed to me, though, is the performance. When New Zealand's dozen or so provincial airports established sealed runways in the 50's and 60's, the length was determined by the need to handle the F-27 and the 737-200. All the runways ended up being about 1,300-1,400 meters long as a result. Even today, a few runway extensions aside, much of provincial NZ is still served by 1,300m strips, and are thus off limits to the bigger 737/a320 traffic. I've been making amends for that this week, at moderate to lower weights, the -600 slots in and out of these runways with complete ease. Tonight I was conducting a test at zero payload on a 230nm sector from Tauranga to Woodbourne and I took these snaps to hghlight the excellent performance of the -600. Moments after passing 10,000ft the nose is coming down as the speed picks up. Even so, check out the flight path vector symbol: the aircraft is climbing at an angle of nearly 10 degrees, equating to nearly 5000FPM! Passing through FL310 not long after, the rate of climb was still about 2000FPM. Short finals into Woodbourne. Note that approach speed of 112kts! In short (excuse the pun), there's a lot for you to look forward to in these new models. Cheers, EDIT: For those who are interested, the scenery is a combination of "Real NZ" airports and "Vector Land Class" scenery packages. If you are a kiwi simmer or enjoy the beauty of NZ, you owe it to yourself to try it out, excellent work!

[RickButler 0]

Thanks Mark, looking forward to this package!

[Murawski 21]

Is the VC the same in the 6700 and the 8900 ?

[markadeane 272]

Mike, The flight decks are largely similar though there are some different systems in the 600/700, and these are accurately simulated.

[jbassue 181]

WOW! This is amazing Is all I can say!

[jasonf 0]

Can't wait to do CYVR-CYLW-CYYC runs in WestJet colors.

[JokersWild 34]

REALLY looking forward to it. Cant wait to do my Area 51 flights in that.

[ZKOKQ 984]

Thank's Mark. Looking forward to doing the harbour circuit into Wellington.

[B777ER 2,484]

I hope for a fictional Delta livery for the -600. Cute little bird.

[kevinp1990 0]

Nice!

[Lemond23 0]

Boeing 737-600 has around 119 seats (Westjet single class), while EMB-195 has 116 seats (Ausburg Airways - Lufthansa single class). Would be nice to compare both specs, advantages and disadvantages...737-600 seems much more safe in case of an engine failure... hugely overpowered... Teo Halfen

[Dumont 9]

My God, how wonderful, I want one for me, and fast!I am curious to know how the fuel and the load was in the final.The 600/700 also exists in version SFP?Thank you Mark. João Alfredo

[saskarider 13]

Can't wait to do CYVR-CYLW-CYYC runs in WestJet colors.

Me to! And flights out of CYQR where I'm from.

[Chock 17,769]

737-600 seems much more safe in case of an engine failure... hugely overpowered...

Except that it isn't, the engines are derated to 18,500lbs on the 600, and it is known to be the most unstable in flight of all the 737s owing to the long wingspan and short fuselage, the wings having to have their body fairings redesigned in order for them to blend into the fuselage. Because of this, Boeing had to thicken the metal plating on the outer wings of the 600 because it was prone to flutter; it has garnered some less than flattering nicknames, including the ''wobblin' goblin'' amongst other things. These are some of the reasons why few airlines have bought it and Boeing dropped it from production, although some of its lack of popularity is owing to its weight class, which means it gets charged similar landing fees to other larger 737s but doesn't pull in as much revenue as them because of its smaller capacity. Be interesting to see if those less than stellar flight characteristics are emulated in the PMDG version! Al

[Tyty7793 0]

I sure hope they are! My 900 is a joy to fly I would love to have to struggle with its smaller brother