When setting up the MD11 for a flight, regardless of the aircrafts weight, the FMS gives a opt altitude of FL405, and Max of FL430.

 

Any ideas on the issue?

 

Best Regards

Have you entered all the weights and cog figures in the FMC? Have you entered the fuel load ?

Yep, everythings entered, no matter what it inputted, it gives the same results

Not putting in kg's when it is expecting lb's?

Nope, correct weights are being entered, but always gives the same results

Running flight sim as an Admin with Admin rights to the FSX directory?

Better yet, are you running the load manager as an admin?

Well i have something similar I put 360 as my ALT but some how at about 350 the aircraft is struggling to clime and i get a warning of LOW speed and i have no clue how is 320 KN is low speed ? any way so i rais the speed to 847mac and the aircraft still will not make it to 360 , and keep saying low speed or some times it will make it to 355 ALT and they on it's own drop and then i have an other message saying Altitude Altitude and it is descending to fl 300 ?? can any one tell me please what is going on with my MD 11 ?? and what is the MAX FL Level for this Bird

 

thank you

al1234.... and what is your weight when this happens? At near full t/o weight you will struggle to get aboveFL290/310. What does the FMC say is opt/max cruise altitude?

 

Are you flying with real weather? High temperature in the upper flight levels will also reduce the altitude you can attain.

Yes i am Maxed-out on weight fuel and cargo i will look to see how i can change the cargo weight because i always have more then what is needed

 

So one what is the MAX Altitude for this Bird ??

 

I did download the TOPCAT but i am sadly to say that i says with the trial you can use it fully but this is not the case ,,

It looks like you can only use it for the 747,,, and on every button i press it says to see how it works i get a message this is for full version would you Like to buy it now ,,,,,,, Well yes i would Like to try it out first then buy ,, but it looks i cant even try it out :huh:

I think tha max is 44,000. But near max t/o weight you wont be able to reach that until you have burned off a lot of fuel. The FMC tells you the optimum and max altitude.

 

TOPCAT demo version works only for the 747

Just wondering if you two got your problem solved?

 

This may be helpful. I see one has mentioned about reducing the cargo so as to be able to fly higher, so I'll address that here as well.

 

It really sounds like the data isn't getting into the FMC correctly, which is likely operator error (that's not a criticism, it's very easy to miss putting things where they need to be, believe me!). The FMC will not show an optimum altitude it can't achieve. Large aircraft like the MD-11, 747, 737 (yes, it is "large" in this context) have highly variable performances based on their weight. Unlike a 172 where the difference in weight from empty to full is around 1,000 lbs or less, these plane can vary by many thousands of pounds. The MD-11 for example can't fly at a weight of less than about 257,000 lbs (it'll fly, but not safely, likely due to C of G issues), but it's max takeoff weight is over 600,000 lbs! that's a huge difference. Try a flight sometime where you have almost no cargo and half tanks of fuel and note what your rotation speed is, then load up to max and see how different that speed is there. I'll bet you it's more than 25 or 30 kts faster at full than at empty! The rotation speed (such as it is) on a 172 varies by maybe 5 kts from full to empty, at most by comparison.

 

With that in mind, the FMC will calculate what your optimum altitude is according to your weight and being a computer, it will get it right every time, AS LONG AS it has the right information going in. If you are always seeing FL410 regardless of weight, then it hasn't been given the right info everywhere it needs it. I highly recommend reading through (and flying) the 2 tutorials very closely as there are some entries in the FMC that are not that clear. You also need to use the Load Manager and make sure you have FSX running at the time and you hit the button that says "Send to FSX" (if you don't see that button, then FSX isn't connected). Also (can't remember if you need to do this with this airplane), make sure you are loading the right version of airplane (Freighter if that's what you're using, passenger or combi if using those). That has to be done BEFORE you load the FMC with the flight plan. As I say, I'm not being critical here because every one of us at one time or another has made this and similar mistakes (I seem to be trying to make them all myself <LOL>).

 

OK, a word about loading. You try not to offload cargo for fuel if you can help it because fuel is costing you and cargo is what's paying you. Generally speaking, you load your cargo then you load only enough fuel for your trip + 45 minutes reserve + the amount you need to get to your alternate should you not be able to land at your original destination (weather, accident that closes the airport, moose on the runway - don't laugh - I've had to go around for both moose and bear! <LOL>), + taxi and if you can afford it, + a bit of piece of mind. There are calculations in the tutorials that will tell you how to arrive at all that, but I figure on about 9,000 KG per hour as a rough starting point, which is kind of a block figure that includes all those variables. So if you're only going from Seattle to San Francisco, you sure don't need full tanks. In fact, you'll end up at San Francisco so far above your max landing weight that you'll be blowing tires on landing if you do go with full tanks. Your ultimate landing weight is critical in your calculations, and for short flights with heavy loads, that is sometimes where you DO need to start offloading cargo! These tend to be long-haul airplanes for that reason. Now, if you are going from JFK to Honolulu direct, then you start loading up with fuel, and it is possible that if you have bad headwinds all the way, you will have to offload a bit of cargo to carry more fuel. I've not done a long haul like that in this airplane yet (likely will be going from Whitehorse (Canada) to Evenes (Norway) this weekend so I'll find out then) but my guess is you'll have to be really careful about fuel and load planning. But you never just load to the max your fuel for each flight because you are carrying around a lot of extra weight that will only cause you trouble and reduce your max altitude to a much lower (i.e. expensive) altitude. Now if you are going long distance with the machine, you will have to look at programming in some step climbs. Ideally you want to get as high as possible to save fuel, or at least get into/out of the jetstream to pick up a tail wind or avoid a strong headwind respectively. With a large load though, you just can't achieve it. Fully 1/2 of the Earth's atmosphere lies below 18,000 feet (pressure/density wise) and so as the air gets thinner, the wing develops less and less lift (but also incurs less drag in the process). Trying to climb into the really thin air at FL390 will be pretty tough if you are carrying a huge load. As such, you need to burn off some fuel (read - weight) to get up to the upper regions, so what you need to do is get to your current optimum altitude (let's say FL310), wait until you've burned off enough fuel that your FMC then says your new optimum is FL350 (no point in just going up a couple of thousand feet at a time, but that's a personal feeling of mine) and then adjust your altitude for that, and so on until FL390 becomes available. If you program the steps in the FMC ahead of time (see tutorial/manual), the ND will show you when you will be able to achieve the next altitude in the step. Just before you get there (and assuming ATC has given you the clearance, if you are using ATC), reset your MCP altitude to the next step level and the airplane should start climbing again on its own as soon as it reaches the point shown on the ND (if it doesn't you may need to hit the INV button, but I can't remember now exactly if you need to do that or not).

 

Anyway, really look at those tutorials from beginning to end as they really help. The FMC does work very well but it can be tricky to program. I really think there is a step that's out of sequence here, or one step not being done (I know this from personal experience ) that is the problem. Hope that helps.

Thank you My Friend Beaver

 

First i would Like to say Thank you for taking the time , I have read your Post carefully and i Must say every thing you say is Right, Not to mention there is more then one step i am either missing or dont know how to do it .

 

I have also Noticed that I dont have the Option to put in my Taxi Fuel , and i cant put my BLOCK fuel either ,, I do have the UFOB in there and that is the same number as what i used in the Load manager

 

and My Dump to GW is always set to 270 ..

 

I dont know but i may be loading the Aircraft always as the Tutorial that could be the problem ?? not sure do i need to go back in there and reload a different Panel ??

 

Would you be Kind enough and shoot me some numbers ( as a trip you will do with cargo ) and i will load it up and see if it takes it ???

 

you dont have to do this , just thinking out of the BOX

 

thank you

Just An update It looks like i fixed 90% of the situation all i had to do is Start the Load Manager with Admin right's

 

I have been flying around with full tanks and full cargo and sily me thinking every time i load the Load manager and hit send it has been Gon to the Aircraft ( WRONG )

 

and thats why i keep getting the above max Flight and all the other messages

Also, remember to load your preferred panel state before you load the plane with the loadmanager

 

Cheers,

Just An update It looks like i fixed 90% of the situation all i had to do is Start the Load Manager with Admin right's

 

I have been flying around with full tanks and full cargo and sily me thinking every time i load the Load manager and hit send it has been Gon to the Aircraft ( WRONG )

 

and thats why i keep getting the above max Flight and all the other messages

 

Sorry I didn't see this sooner "al1234". I've been busy with other stuff.

 

One thing to make sure of is that if you are flying the passenger version, your load manager is selected to the passenger version as well. If you are loading the freighter but then selecting the pax version in FSX, that won't work out for you. I have FSX running but I won't have selected the aircraft at that point. I use the load manager to load the aircraft, then select the MD-11 in FSX after that's done. I'm not sure how different panels will affect this though. As soon as the initialization is finished (don't touch anything while that's going on!), I then select the Short Turn panel state from the menu and go from there. I always find my loads are correct. On the fuel, the Load Manager accounts for taxi fuel required (there's a small note at the bottom left or center of the Load Manager window that tells you that) so you don't need to load that yourself. Just the block fuel you want. Also, make sure you are dealing with consitent units. Don't mistake kilograms for pounds, or vice versa. If you put in 35,000 kg thinking they are pounds, you'll be a LOT heavier than you calculated, although your weights are given to you so you can see them in the Load manager window.

 

I fly with different loads each time, so it's hard for me to give you numbers. Where do you normally like to fly, and maybe I can give you a decent sample load and fuel scenario to try out. Let me know and we'll go from there.