On a recent trip to EGLL, our UA 777 got set up for approach about 20 miles east of 27L. By 3000', we were down to a paltry 153 mph (these were indicated groundspeeds (in mph) displayed in the cabin) with an 18 mph crosswind from the SW. At around 1500', the speed had been brought down to 139 mph with flaps 25 or 30 and it then sank to 132 mph before spooling up slightly for landing. The aircraft was jam packed on a flight from KIAD and I would reckon that our landing weight must have been quite heavy. Do these approach speeds loook normal for a 777-200 IGW in such conditions?Happy New Year!JS

Hello JS!132 MPH does sound a little bit slow of a speed, although you need to take into account the effect of the wind; an 18 MPH crosswind still plays an impact.Sincerely,Dennis D. Mullert

Wouldnt MPH read slower than Knots? I think thats the way it works. Please correct me if I am wrongAndrew

>Wouldnt MPH read slower than Knots? NO, the opposite is true. Michael J.WinXP-Home SP2,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8,Radeon X800Pro,36GB Raptor,1GB PC3200,Audigy 2

No, this is a very typical landing speed of this aircraft. Keep in mind that it is usually landing with full flaps, or nearly so, and that they are as big as a bus. Not only that, but there is a pile of fuel burned off after crossing the pond. I too had the same reaction when watching the UAL 777 and the Air Europe 777 DVDs from justplanes.com. Then I started getting into flying by the numbers, specifically on the PMDG 737NG. Even with a relatively high passenger load but with not much fuel left on board, save the holding/alternate airport/reserves left, the landing speed (V Ref) is very low sometimes, around 130-135 KIAS. The same is true for the 747 as well with full flaps. In fact, it wasnt until I started flying by the numbers that I had really good landings, because I was constantly trying to land an airliner with intermediate to full flaps but still at 150 KIAS or above. It's just too fast, and not needed, of course unless it's extremely loaded down!Eric T737NG Flight Simulator Builderwww.freewebs.com/flightlevel180

Yes I was surprised the first time I checked the speed of the 777 when landing (the good thing of having a pseudo GPS in the mini TVs), but since then, every time I fly the T7 (RW as passenger) they land at the same speed.Don't forget the T7 is one of the most modern heavies we have these days and they have been created using very advanced technology, so it shouldn't be surprising that it can land at low speeds.132 Mph, equals 211 Kmh, equals 114Knots.In FS you can land the Meljet model with full load and less than 20% fuel at 114 Knots, as a matter of fact I always land it at about 110 knots.Leo

>No, this is a very typical landing speed of this aircraft.>Keep in mind that it is usually landing with full flaps, orthe landing speed (V Ref) is very low>sometimes, around 130-135 KIAS. Which one is "typical"? "His" 132 mph or "yours" 130 kias. Both are VERY different since 132 mph is about 117 Kts.Michael J.WinXP-Home SP2,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8,Radeon X800Pro,36GB Raptor,1GB PC3200,Audigy 2

>On a recent trip to EGLL, our UA 777 got set up for approach about 20 miles east of 27L. By 3000', we were down to a paltry 153 mph (these were indicated groundspeeds (in mph) displayed in the cabin) with an 18 mph crosswind from the SW. At around 1500', the speed had been brought down to 139 mph with flaps 25 or 30 and it then sank to 132 mph before spooling up slightly for landing.

AddendumWe are looking at an 18 mph ground wind maybe 40 degrees off the nose.As we appear to be talking mph rather than kts in this thread the winds on the approach will be far greater than 18 mph and would be more westerly on the approach.They easely could be 40 mph to 50 mph at 2000 feet (typical with a 18 mph groundwind.Going back to kts this would more than likely indicate that the approach was flown at 155 kts coming back to a VREF of 130-135 kts for landing.Peter

Guys,The speed displayd in the cabin is allways ground speed - and 132mph ground speed is realistic.132mph would not be realistic though, if it was IAS or TAS.Large airliners generally fly their approach slower, than the average people think, but 132mph/117 kts IAS (TAS) for a probably fully loaded B777 was definitely too slow (even when most fuel is burned).Wolfgang

>but 132mph/117 kts IAS (TAS) for a>probably fully loaded B777 was definitely too slow (even when>most fuel is burned).Don't think so... Been flying in a Triple Seven twice, both times with similar low speeds indicated in the cabin.

>>but 132mph/117 kts IAS (TAS) for a>>probably fully loaded B777 was definitely too slow (even>when>>most fuel is burned).>>Don't think so... Been flying in a Triple Seven twice, both>times with similar low speeds indicated in the cabin.I would be astounded if a VREF speed for a full load of passengers and cargo with low fuel plus reserves had a VREF of 117kts (maybe someone can give the actual VREF for those typical weights?the little GPS readout gives groundspeed not IAS so you can typically add at least 20-40 kts to those figures for wind.Peter

Ok, didn't know about the GS instead of IAS. Still, I heard from different sources the 777 lands at surprisingly low speeds, I might be mistaken though. :-)

The 777 and most of the other boeings included (Ive flown the 757/767) land at lower speeds than most virtual pilots think. At typical landing weights seeing 125kts as a vref is not unusual at all. At really low weights it goes below 120 sometimes. Anything abovce 140 is probably adding far too much speed for most typical appraoches unless the wind is very gusty and you are adding speed as a cushion for windshear. Peter, Most(or all) large aircraft don't configure quite the way you are suggesting. We don't set the power then put out drag to slow down. We slow down by reducing power then matching the flpas/slats configuration to provide lift and stall margin for the slower speeds. Power is adjusted as it is with all other aircraft on final, to meet the wing cfg and maintain the glideslope. We usually aren't adding power until we are below about 500 feet AGL to stabilize the path. Just becuase an aircraft is big doesn't mean it has to fly fast! Thats why they design the wings the way they do with all those flaps and leading edge devices. They provide much greater lift at the slower speeds so we land as slow as possible. Its safer and easier on the brakes ;)Hornit

According to Boeing, the 777 approach speeds are between 136-149 kts. That would be INDICATED airspeed so the ground speed would virtually always be somewhat lower depending on the headwind component.That equals around 160-170 MPH. Only RARELY would the headwind component exceed 30 kts which is about 35 MPH so the slowest GROUND SPEED you would ever be likely to see would be 125 MPH.See link below for various data on several Boeing and MD models.http://aolsearch.aol.com/aol/search?encque...llover&ie=UTF-8