I downloaded the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer. At the moment I'mover the atlantic ocean. The plane suddenly starts to swing to leftand right. This goes on for half an hour and then stops. The weather is fine (I'm using FS2004 Real Weather), no strong winds or turbulence. Both boom tanks contain the same amount of fuel, so Ithink the aircraft's weight is balanced.Anyone know a solution?Eric

I experienced much the same thing. There is a very strong corelation between altitude, speed and amount of fuel on board(weight). You may have to drop down in height until fuel is burned off. I was almost into the Middle East, as I recall, before being able to travel at 44,000 feet.I tried to keep the GPH(fuel burn) around 20, or less and ground speed between 281 and 285 Mph. I arrived back at Salina with about 15% fuel left, so I probably could have sped up a bit. Obviously, your mileage will vary!

Thanks for your reply!I forgot to mention that I was on FL450, with 132 kts. I will try to decent a lower altitude. I also have a fuel burn of around 20 GPH.Eric

I have found that once the plane begins to "swing" it is a sign that your airspeed may need to be increased. I let my airspeed get to slow over Chicago and fell from the sky very rapidly. With full tanks, the airplane weighs 11 tons and is supported by one engine.What is the best rate of climb for altitudes over FL25?Tom

Which aircraft are you talking about?

The Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer. This is the aircraft that travel around the world in about 64 hours on one tank of fuel. It completed its mission last week. You can pull down the model from most sites that have free aircraft downloads or go directly to the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer Home Page.The aircraft fully loaded is approxamately 83% fuel. You need a VERY long runway for take-off. For both take off and return, the actual flight was Salina Kansas.Tom

I should have mentioned in my previous reply that there is flight plan available for download from the Library here which strongly resembles the actual path flown by Steve Fossett.

The file is called: globalflyer_gps_route.zip by David Reeves. Curious is that is the same David Reeves who went to school in Sonora California?Zane

I think 200-300 ft/min above FL250 is OK. The manual is talkingabout a very little AOA when climbing.